Essential Questions
o What is the ethical relationship between the creator and his creation?
o How do writers structure their work to reflect their message?
o What consequences do we face if we do not take responsibility for our actions?
o How does lack of compassion lead to prejudice and stereotyping?
o In what ways does scientific advancement present positive and negative consequences?
o Which has a greater impact on human development – nature or nurture?
o Who in the story is the “real” monster – Victor or his creature?
o What is to become of man if he cannot find love?
o When is the soul present? Does the creature have a soul?
o What happens when science assumes the role of creation?
I chose the "Who in the story is the “real” monster – Victor or his creature?" question. I personally think that both Victor and the Creature both share characteristics of being a monster. I personally think that Victor is a monster for creating one and not knowing the consequences of making such a being. Then he also could be considered a monster for not caring for his creation and by damning it from all mankind. However, I also feel as though the Creature is a monster, not for actually being one physically, but for what he did to Victor. The ways in which he exacted his revenge for being abandoned and being outcast was to me out of line. Throughout Frankenstein, my feelings toward this question swapped from one side to the other quite frequently and it still does.
ReplyDeleteIn "Frankenstein" there are many examples of consequences. Victor never really took full responsibility for what he created, he also didn't think about what the creature would be capable of. Throughout the novel there were parts where the creature would think positively about victor and his creator, but as the novel continued he grew to despise him because he didn't accept him. As we grow up we are taught to always tell the truth, that lying can only get you into more trouble. A huge example of how not telling the truth can lead to consequences is when victor doesn't tell that the creature was the one that killed William so Justine had to take the blame when she was innocent. One of the biggest consequences we can face for not taking responsibility is guilt. Though it may not always be something someone feels when they do it is hugely impacting. Through the end of the novel you can see that Victor feels extreme guilt for his actions when it cam to the creature. He became obsessed with the idea of destroying him, but throughout the process he only really told a handful of people about the creature. The guilt began to actually take control of Victor which showed an immense about of consequences. He became so infatuated with the idea of revenge and destroying the creature that he stopped taking care of himself. By not taking care of himself and doing things he needed to do he died. This is an extreme consequence of course and it doesn't always lead to those type of actions but it shows a great deal of what could happen. This book holds a lot of hidden signs and lessons and taking responsibility is a huge one. Had victor taken responsibility for his actions before the end of the book he could have found enough help to do something about the creature. The creature didn't always know the amount of power he really possessed had he done something before he found out it could have all ended differently. Or he could have simply shown the creature love and realized that he brought him into the world and he needed to make sure he did good things.
ReplyDeleteWhat consequences do we face if we do not take responsibility for our actions?
ReplyDeleteIt is important for people to take accountability on their on actions. Quite a few people do not do this which can cause conflict. For example in Frankenstein Victor created a monster that he wanted nothing to do with and left it on the lose. He did not tell anyone about his creation and the monster starting causing problems and killing people. Consequences can be minimal or they could be major. You may be labeled as a liar, not trustworthy, unreliable, and many more things. By not taking responsibility of your own actions can cause harm in other peoples lives as well. An example of that would be the creature killing Henry Clerval and the blame went on Victor because the creature had set him up and did not take responsibility for his action. The blame could also be placed on Victor for creating the creature in the first place. Victor did not want people to see him as a failure and have a bad reputation that is why he did not take responsibility for his actions. Taking responsibility for your actions is very important in being a trustworthy person.
How does lack of compassion lead to prejudice and stereotyping?
ReplyDeleteHave you ever seen someone walking down the street or even just in a public place and thought to yourself "I better stay away from them, they look dangerous." If you have its completely normal most people do it anyway, but why do we make these assumptions on people we don't even know. Is it the lack of compassion, that we simply do not care about another persons background, and would rather jump to conclusions than to stick around and get to know the person. The preconceptions that we have today are different than preconceptions hundreds of years ago, but the fact that when someone looks different than the social normal we shut the out as an outcast is still the same. We don't give people who are different the chance they deserve without a question asked or a second look given.
In what ways does scientific advancement present positive and negative consequences?
ReplyDeleteScientific advancement is a common thing in today's ever changing world. The consequences and outcomes can be negative, positive, or both. Often times the negative is not intended or meant to harm anyone.
The negative effects of scientific advancement can range from minor to major problems. In the case of Frankenstein the negative effects were many. Death, fear, and mental harm were all results of Frankenstein's creation. I don't think that he thought about what repercussions could come about through his creation. The fact that he left the creature to fend for himself with no knowledge of the outside world was essentially detrimental to the creature and caused him to want to seek revenge against Frankenstein, resulting in him murdering the people closest to Frankenstein. Although the negative can be very harmful and terrible the positives can be extremely beneficial to mankind.
Some positives of advancement include saving lives, advancing technology and improving everyday life. Some people believe that if the scientific advancement will save one life, that all measures in achieving that advancement are worth it. One positive reflected through the creation of the creature in Frankenstein is the fact that through the creation they now knew that it was possible to create a living human out of body parts. Often times we hear about the detrimental disasters in innovation and don't hear of the many times that advancements are made successfully, without harm. Practically everything we use today is a result of some kind of advancement whether it be scientific, technological, etc which highlights the obvious positives.
Throughout this novel many positives and negatives are glaringly obvious. There are also some less obvious impacts in the novel, as there is in the real world. Overall I believe that the positives often outweigh the negatives in the long run, except for in extreme cases. Without scientific advancement we would be nowhere near where we are today as a society.
What is to become of man if he cannot find love?
ReplyDeleteThe main purpose of man is to find a female and be with her, but if he cannot find love, then the purpose seems to change, because something else that man wants to do is create some type of destruction or fight, because it is in his nature. He is strong by nature and he would like to prove his strength. He must, in a sense, assert his dominance and not let anyone stand in his way, even if he does want a woman to have.