Frankenstein Essay #2

Myths are used by authors to create novels all the time because most authors need the background of something else in order to write their own novel. Most of these myths are from Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman literature because they were thought to be the best developed in the area of art and literature. Mary Shelley took the idea of "Prometheus" and the idea from "Dr. Faustus" to create her novel. 

Like most myths, "Prometheus" has changed many times through the course of history but all of them have the same moral to it. The myth is about a Titan which is a form of god in Greece who defies the other gods by making man from clay and lighting the fire in human growth. In order to punish this Titan named, Prometheus, Zeus who is the king of all gods turns him into a stone and sends an eagle every day to eat his liver because the liver is thought to hold all human emotions. The liver grows back everyday just to be destroyed again which shows the striving for struggle that humans can have.

In her novel, Mary Shelley does an excellent job in portraying the concept of human struggle and striving. Victor Frankenstein devotes all his time in order to understand the concept and the secret to life. He ignores his family and everyone he loves and distances himself from everyone. This backfires on him because once he made his creation, it goes wrong because his creation becomes evil and starts to kill everyone that he had once ignored but had still loved. Since his creation was shunned from everyone, people, monsters, and even Victor Frankenstein himself, the monster became bitter and did kill everyone so Frankenstein was the cause of every death that had taken place including his own.

The myth of "Dr Faustus" was also an influence on Mary Shelley's novel. The story was about a man who sold his sole to the devil in order to achieve knowledge which means he gave up everything he cared and loved about in order to learn more than he already knew. Victor Frankenstein portrayed this myth perfectly because he stopped talking to his family and stopped talking to his friends in order to learn what the secret of life was. Once he thought he had figured it out and was ready to return to his family, he thought wrong because the knowledge he had gained would end up killing what had been important to him even when he forgot it was. 

The two myths of Prometheus and Dr. Faustus have a lot of parallels with the story of Frankenstein. All three characters wanted to gain something and were punished because of it. They all lost what they once thought to be important. Greek and Roman myths are very alive in novels because most artists look towards them in order to expand the myth or create their novel off of it.

Frankenstein Essay #1

Man should pursue science to the best he can. Science can be a very controversial topic in today's day in age but it doesn't mean that we should not try to expand our knowledge. There will always be the fear of how society will take the stance about the topic but we cannot base our future on guessing what is going to happen. Back in time such as the Age of the Enlightenment or during the Renaissance, scientists argued against the church and the scientists were eventually seen as the accurate ones. this would never have happened if they were afraid to pursue what they had believed in. It is better to see what would happen as we pursue science more and more.

Chemists and philosophers played a very important role in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein because Victor had studied people such as Agrippa, Magnus, Paracelsus, and Darwin. These people were not considered modern scientists and their work was thought to be old and no longer accurate. He became so obsessed with learning and studying these scientific ideas that he wanted to make life out of non-living things. This was good in the fact that he was trying to pursue science to the best a person could but life is not something someone can alter. He tried to find the secret to life but then his creation was shunned and ended up being what we would call a "monster." 

Some say that science is something to be afraid of because it can bring unwanted news or discoveries into our world. However, those discoveries would come whether you were trying to find them or not. Science is not something people should be afraid of. They should embrace it and try to discover new things because even if the discovery is negative, someone can come up with a way to fix it, leading to more discoveries. Some discoveries such as nanotechnology could be considered negative because you are manipulating atoms and molecules that should not be manipulated. Everything that scientists attempt to discover can go either way, positive or negative impact. That impact can also change but it doesn't mean we should stop trying to research and learn new things. The more we discover, the better prepared the next generation will be and the more likely they will be able to fix the problems within our society.

Mans morals can also play a very large role in discovering new things. It is said that knowledge and learning are the best thing someone can have because no one can take that away from them. As man's knowledge becomes more expanded, it makes him want to only learn more and expand even further. The only problem is that sometimes a person's beliefs can get in the way of what they have discovered which can cause an internal conflict for that person. This is a decision that almost everyone will find themselves making at one point, whether to believe facts, or to follow what you believe to be true. This morality could keep people sane and not compare themselves to a godlike figure which no man should think they are.

When asked the questions should man pursue science to its limits, even to the point where man can create life from non-life, essentially becoming a god or should man fear the powers of science and the reach of his own intellect most would tell man to not stop researching and expanding their knowledge. It is an instinct to want to know more than you already do and keep learning. No man should overlook how much they know though. Do something with the knowledge they have and keep your morals in tact. Don't let it get the best of you and assume that you are a god when in reality you are just another person on this Earth.