Title: Frankenstein
Rating: 5 Stars
Why am I bothering with writing about a 200 year old novel? Good question. Let’s see where this goes.
I’ve read Frankenstein before. I’m sure that it’s been at least twenty years, if not much longer than that. I last rewatched the classic 1930s film sometime during the pandemic.
For those whose view of Frankenstein comes from either the 1930s film, or even better, Young Frankenstein, you might be surprised by the novel.
Victor Frankenstein is a young man that has been sent off to study. At university, he becomes enthralled with natural sciences. In particular, he develops an interest in how life forms. It’s more than an interest; it’s an obsession. For two years, he reads all available books on the subject. He masters the subject so much that he eventually moves beyond the books and makes new discoveries. In his zeal, he neglects his friends, family, and health.
He creates a human body. Because of the difficulty of working in the small detail of a normal human body, the body that he creates is eight feet tall. One night, he imbues it with life. When Frankenstein sees the dull eyes of his hideous monster gaze upon him, he collapses.
It takes many months for Frankenstein to regain his health. After he does, a great tragedy befalls his family. His younger brother is found strangled and a woman that was almost a sister to him is arrested, convicted, and executed for the crime.
In his grief, Frankenstein seeks solace on a remote hike. There, his monster accosts him. The monster, now with the power of speech and reasoning, only wants the same love and companionship that all human desires. He curses Frankenstein for making him such a hideous creation, doomed to be forever alone and scorned by humanity. He confesses that he killed Frankenstein’s brother and implicated the woman. He claims that if Frankenstein creates a mate for him, that he will abandon all violence and will live in peace and solitude with his mate.
Frankenstein agrees but as he progresses along with the development of the female form, he gets second thoughts. What if the two mate and create children? Their superior strength will ultimately doom humanity. Knowing that he couldn’t live with himself, he destroys the woman that he was creating.
The monster, enraged, swears vengeance. He first strangles Frankenstein’s best friend. Even in his grief, Frankenstein plans to wed his childhood love, Elizabeth. On their wedding night, the monster creeps in and strangles Elizabeth.
Now Frankenstein vows vengeance. Frankenstein, abandoning all else, pursues the creature all over the planet. The creature, always just a step ahead, leaves Frankenstein chiding notes to further enrage him. The chase takes them all of the way to the Arctic region. There, Frankenstein, who has destroyed his health in his zeal to track down the monster, dies. The monster, seeing Frankenstein’s corpse, both feels avenged but also mourns the death of his creator. The monster plans to go to the North Pole, set his sled ablaze, and to perish in the flames.
If you’ve seen the film, then you know that the novel and the film diverge widely. The film is much more of a conventional horror story. The monster terrifies the villagers and they, in a mob with literal flames and pitchforks, ultimately chase down and burn the monster trapped in a windmill.
In the novel, it’s a much more personal horror. The monster, with his own moral code, only wants vengeance upon his creator. Except for a few rare sightings, no one other than Frankenstein even knows that the monster exists. The final third of the book is a long running duel between Frankenstein and his creation.
Also, in the film, while the monster is not without intelligence, it’s clear that he’s somewhat simple. After all, he throws the little girl into the pond when they run out of petals to throw in. In the novel, the monster is not only verbal but is also intellectual, persuasive, and well read.
Here’s my hot take. In the novel, it’s Frankenstein that’s the real monster.
In Frankenstein, you see the arrogance of science. Frankenstein is a man that becomes possessed and driven to accomplish something without once questioning whether or not he should. He created a powerful, intelligent eight foot man without once considering how dangerous he might be. He never once gave a thought to how lonely and miserable the life would be for such a wretch. Even God gave Adam an Eve.
This arrogance of science lives on today. My career was spent in software. In my own experiences as well as stories told to me, there’s many examples of engineers in a room, caught up in the thrill of creation, coming up with simply amazing ideas and barely giving a thought to the moral / ethical concerns that might arise. It’s in rooms like these that our right to privacy is being slowly eroded away as well as unexpected consequences such as Russia’s impact upon our 2016 election via Facebook.
Shelley’s subtitle for the novel is The Modern Prometheus. Prometheus gave man fire and was eternally punished for doing so. Frankenstein was no Prometheus. At best he is a lesser, shortsighted, incompetent god. He created something without understanding or even caring of how ensuing events might unfold.
The monster did not ask to be created. He certainly did not asked to be made in a form that would be universally despised by all humanity. The second volume of the novel is given over to the monster. Here you can see his despair and anguish. The monster, who simply has a thirst for learning, love, and kindness, is repulsed by everyone, even by his creator. Is there any wonder that he felt the need to lash out?
Although known as a great gothic novel, it’s also considered to be the first science fiction novel. I can see that. If so, then it sets the pattern for a lot of science fiction by being pretty implausible. There are gaping holes in the narrative. Seriously, how does an eight foot tall monster that not only can’t talk to people but has to actively hide from them, track Frankenstein from Switzerland to Scotland (where Frankenstein started building his mate)? Not only Scotland but a tiny Scottish island with something like five inhabitants. Which brings me to my second question. How does Frankenstein find the body parts to create the monster’s mate on a remote, desolate, Scottish island that has five inhabitants on it? Sure, this was written in 1818 when Shelley was 19, so I should give her a break, but still.
Frankenstein is the blind hubris of unbridled science and the unintended consequences of its fruit. In the ever increasingly complex technical world in which we live, this makes Frankenstein a novel for our time.
dorkenstein 