Science and Nature

Throughout the novel, Victor constantly seeks domination of human nature. In creating a being like himself he proves to the world that the natural state of life and death is broken. Victor’s immense fascination with the vast opportunities that science offers turns him obsessed with the idea of manipulating life. He closes himself to the world and devotes the next 2 years of his life to his new project.

Bringing the dead back to life is something that goes clearly against the natural flow of nature. Because of this, nature goes against Victor and punishes him greatly through his own creation. The monster kills many people close to Victor. He went against the natural flow of nature and now he is to pay the price. By creating the dead he broke the link between science and nature and his comfort in life was the cost.

Victor at first loves the look of nature, the mountains, the lakes and the beauty that it offers him. He feels refreshed and respects its beauty. But  Nature had no more to give to Victor because of what he had done and soon he became ill and frightened by the monsters threats. Victor could no longer go anywhere without the feeling of being watched and possibly getting killed. Thus, Victor does not see nature as a place of peace and relaxation and by the end of the novel, he becomes so consumed by hatred for his creation that his only purpose is to hunt down the monster, no longer depending on nature nor seeking any peace from it.

The book demonstrates the dangers of science and what it can achieve if we are not careful. Though the book does more than just show us the dangers of science, it shows us the consequences that we might encounter when we are not careful in the advancement of our technology. It makes us reflect on our decisions and what can come from it.

Rant on De Lacey Post

The De Lacey Post. Explaining how De Lacey was able to interact with the Creature without being judgment by his looks.

[Continuation]

A lesson can be learned from this. What if we were all able to walk in the shoes of a blind man for a couple days and meet new people? Even people we absolutely loath. The power of words and bonding without sight can reveal something new in every conversation. By loosing our vision we actually see more then before. This is because our senses obscure our judgment on everything. We are quick to judge when we smell something bad or “feel” hostile presence. In reality we can’t know about any of those unless we encounter them and experience their true essence.

In reality, no one’s perfect. People are weak and unsightly. We grow jealous and try to kick each other down all too easily. Strangely enough, the greater the man, the more he suffers in life. Maybe De Lacey is better than all of us, not because he’s blind but because he knows what it’s like to suffer and loose everything.

Is De Lacey Nice To the Creature Just Because He’s Blind?

De Lacey originated from France, he lives in a cottage with his son and daughter. He’s a kind aged being. P.144 “descended from a good family in France” , he’s the only person we read who treats the monster kindly. But is this only because he’s blind?

His vision isn’t clouded by prejudice of the creature’s ugliness. He doesn’t see the outside of the creature only, his true self. Compared to every other character, he encounters with. Even animals are seen keeping their distance from him. As an example, when he saves the girl from drowning he is “rewarded” with a bullet shot at him.

p.175 “But that cannot be; the human senses are insurmountable barriers to our union.” This is saying that the Creature can never be accepted for the sole reason of his looks. Are people so shallow as to instantly reject and judge him straight away without even considering his story? The creature never asked to be created.

 

 

Part 2: A Trend Setter for Science-Fiction

“Frankenstein is considered as one of the most subversive attacks on modern science.”

During the 19th century, Shelley published one of the most important works science fiction ever created. To do so, she spent a considerable amount of time on researches for her novel. She based her book on scientific theories, travels and places from several authors. Thus, she had an impressive reading list that included important works at this period as the work of extreme accounts of polar exploration in George Anson’s 1748 Voyage Round the World; the distinction between alchemy and chemistry in Davy’s 1812 Elements of Chemical Philosophy; the new concepts of brain development explored in Lawrence’s physiological lectures; and she encountered the psychology of guilt and abandonment; in John Milton’s 1667 Paradise Lost. All these works were the predecessors that help Shelley to push this genre to a new level. Moreover, she based the places of her book on several actual loci. For example, she inspired the location for the central confrontation between Victor Frankenstein and The Creature with the Mont Blanc, which is an important scene in the novel.
Another important reason Frankenstein is considered as one of the first real work of Sci-Fi is that she was one of the first to be able to create a story that was futuristic at the time compared with the scientific resources that she had. However, she was still able to include several human characteristics that everyone could relate to them. Thus, she had an incredible sense of creativity and created a story that included future issues that can happen in the future even though she did not have actual knowledge about these probable situations. It is quite impressive because Shelley started to write Frankenstein when she was only a teenager, which demonstrates that she had an outstanding mind.
Finally, Shelley’s work has influence society throughout different decades, which makes her one of the most influential Sci-Fi authors of all time. Even nowadays we can see similar patterns of Frankenstein in several novels and movies that has astonishing sales on the chart. We can say that Shelley has set the rules and standards for not only her generation but also for future generations that still nowadays view her work as a pioneer in this genre.

Credits: http://www.bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamericanfiction/frankenstein-as-a-science-fiction.html#.WQuj1dLyuUk

http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/stable.htm

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v535/n7613/full/535490a.html

Part 1: Evolution of Science-Fiction

Science-Fiction has a lot of history. The first antecedents from this genre were found out by Historians from the 2nd century. In this era, they were using speculation and storytelling to understand the world and creating a dividing line between the mythological and historical tends. Thus, they were trying to make the difference between actual situations that happened and others that were only based on beliefs and had not enough possible facts to happen.
After a while, Science-Fiction continued to evolve after the 2nd century, but its bigger development occurred in the 19th century with the arrival of the first science fictions novels. This development occurred mostly because of the arrival of some significant technological advances such as electricity, telegraph and so on, in modern societies, which ultimately change science. An excellent example of the use of these new technologies was in Frankenstein. Moreover, the genre continued to evolve and became what we are used to seeing nowadays, which is mostly works that demonstrate potential innovation and new technologies.
Furthermore, the genre nowadays mostly consists of speculative fiction, which is a narrative based on supernatural and futuristic elements. It also deals with original concepts such as futuristic science, technology and extra-terrestrial existence that are most of them based on science and theory, instead of only creative thoughts.
Finally, the genre became so popular and so diversify that Sci-Fi needed to include sub-genre. Thus, it was divided into two significant sub-genres: Hard Science Fiction and Soft Fiction. Their primary differences are that hard science fiction usually includes attention to detail in the natural sciences like physics, astrophysics, and chemistry. On the other hand, soft science fiction is based on social sciences such as psychology and economics.

Here’s the link for PART 2:
Credits: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction

http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/SF-Defined.htm

The first true work of Sci-Fi

The outstanding piece of work that Mary Shelley created with her novel Frankenstein is still a significant influence on several writings and movies that we can see in the industry. It is particularly the case in the genre of Sci-fi where we can see some great similitudes with Shelley’s work. However, even though the genre called Science-Fiction became immensely popularized throughout the last years and had become an important part of the novel and film industry, we often forget where its origin came from and who are the pioneer that influenced this genre. Thus, I would like to dedicate an article divided into two parts that will first start by explaining the characteristics and origins of Sci-Fi and in the second part talked about how Frankenstein was the first true work of this genre.

 Part 1: Evolution of Science-Fiction

Part 2: A Trend Setter for Science-Fiction