AdrianneSchow

FRANKENSTEIN:
When man makes man without God.

DoestheideaofFrankensteinrebelagainstreligion,orisa
classicnovelactuallypossible?
BreakingdownthestoryoftheVictorFrankenstein,whomadeamanoutofrecycledbodypartsfromgraves
andscience.HowdoesaScientistbuildanentirelivingbeingwithoutourmoderntechnology?Couldthis
storybeagainstorganizedreligion?IsitpromotingSatanismordarkarts?Orisitactuallypossibletocreate
life,withouttheneedtoreproduce,andmakeourimaginationscometolife?

Themanbehindthemayhem:Dr.Frankenstein.
Delvingfurtherintothescientistwithavision,andthecreatorofaMonster.

ManVS.God

For a general description of Victor Frankenstein, he was a very well educated and imaginative man. He saw outside
the classroom of what could be done using science, and he pushed those boundaries to see if making a life was
possible. Religiously, God is the only one with the power to do that But he showed that there was no need for a
God to make a man. With grave-robbed body parts, a makeshift lab in a very remote house, and pure electricity.

Raised by an extremely wealthy family, a future marriage to his beautiful cousin Elizabeth, a mind that was going to
make history. It is debatable if he did his final experiment for the sake of science, or for his own selfish ego, but he
will be confronted with the damage he has done, and the wreckage that follows his creation. After falling ill, he must
leave the safety of hiding in his house, and returns to be brought back to good health with his Father and Elizabeth.
But when he departs, he also leaves the freshly born monster, who eventually escapes. Riddled with guilt, he seeks
to right his wrong, and kill his animalistic invention. Having successfully made a living thing, he neglected to teach it
basic human knowledge and emotional protocol.

When you want to commend him for making the laws of science even broader; but almost hating him for the
treatment and the short, confusing life the monster lives. You would think being a scientist, he would want to maintain
and groom his invention to be an impressive modern marvel, but leaving the monster makes him seem less visionary,
and more selfishly mad and unattached. Thinking of more simpler terms, should he have spent the time with his
monster, and taught him the things our parents have taught us? Was the lessons that were never taught that makes
science vs religion different? Is that why there needs to be a religious figure in homes, and with upbringing? Does Dr.
Frankenstein have the same obligation as a parent that has intimately reproduced?

Thecreatedlife,theMonster.

Acloserlookathowhewascreatedandtheshort,misunderstoodlifehestruggledthrough.

Thelifethatdidnotasktobecreated.

His body made completely from fresh bodies that have been recently buried, a brain stolen from another man.
Stitched together with elegant precision, and every detail checked twice, then woken with electricity from the sky. You
would think with the creator being so obsessed by where these body parts come from, and how long the body they
were stolen from was expired, that he would want to nurture his creation, making in medically, and publically viable.

Instead, instantly left to his own devices, and the immaturity of his thought process, he obviously had the odds
against him from the start. With his appearance being less than unattractive and morbid, he couldnt talk or
communicate with others, and he didnt have anyone watching out for his almost childish well being. There was no
one to teach him right or wrong, what was threatening from what was kind, he was shockingly unstable mentally with
all the stimulation, but emotionally unable to process what he was going through. But hiding underneath a home, he
teaches himself how to read and communicate. He learns basic human nature to listening to the family above him
interact with one another, and watches them live. After devoting himself to finding his creator, and telling his father
figure what he has been through, he gets brutally rebuffed. This angers the emotionally juvenile monster, and he
murders Dr. Frankensteins to be bride, Elizabeth. Running from what he knew he had done wrong, his creator
begins to chase him, having promised to kill what he had started. Considering being a full grown human being, with a
mind that may have been less than satisfactory, you could see why you are so empathetic to the beast. He was
made without a safety net, which we all call family.

Wanting only a companion and the basic human need to be happy, he went to his creator for help, only to be chased
down to be murdered himself. Is this a cruel injustice on the scientist, or should the monster have just run?

Comparingaclassicnovel,agraphicnovel,andamovie.

Whatstaysthesameineachstory,andwhereisartisticvisionmovingittoanotherend?

MaryShelley,originalauthorofthestorypublishedin1818.
GrisGrimlysgraphicnovel,basedontheoriginalstory,publishedin2013.
MoviedirectedbyJamesWhalein1931,*adaptedfromtheplaybyPeggyWebling
(1927)*,basedofftheoriginalnovel.

Mary Shelley was born in England, and was the entire start of all the books, media, and movies that are created and
spawned from her gothic novel. Her romantic, yet science fiction novel with a young scientist creating a grotesque
monster. The name Frankenstein has been embedded in our minds as the monsters name, but it is truly the name of
the creator. With the book making the beast on the table comparable to Adam, you get the feel that this man is
playing with God, and (ex: catholic) religious texts where God creates man. There are letters from one outside
character to another (the sea captain that finds Victor in the North Pole, the other unknown), detailing all the trouble
and problems that came from the monster being made. The creation kills Victor Frankensteins brother, after Victor
falling ill and leaving, giving the creature time to escape. The creature seeks out to find his scientist up in the
mountains, and articulately tells him what his first few days have consisted of. The monster is intelligent and
thoughtful. He had learned to read, and taught himself to speak. He swore revenge on Victor, because even though
he could talk the talk, his appearance was making people fear him. He demands a companion to spare Frankenstein
his life, and promises to run away, and never return. He would finally have what every human spends their life trying
to find, someone that understood him. He wants to be happy. Threatens again to harm his family, and lets the creator
get to work. Victor begins to make a woman for the monster man, but destroys his progress when he starts to fear
that if there was two, there would be chaos and evil unleashed on the world

.
The monster is infuriated, and threatens harm again, to no avail. The monster turns his anger to Victors soon to be
bride, Frankensteins adopted sister. Victor is devastated by the death of his love, and begins to chase the beast to
the North Pole aiming to kill, where he is found by one of the communicators in the letters on the verge of death.
This is definitely a hard read, and can be dull since the language is a bit old fashioned. But I like the way the
monster teaches himself how to read and write, and also how to communicate. But he still is misunderstood,
and feared because of the way he looks. He only wanted a companion.

Then, we take Gris Grimlys graphic novel, that was published in 2013. Here you have some fantastic artwork and
detail that really impacts the story in a cool way. The letters written retelling Victors stories are in two different
handwriting styles, immediately drawing you in. The entire stories wording is true to how Mary Shelley wrote her
novel, it just really makes it more dramatic and intriguing. With the telling of what happens, there is insanely
organized in thought, and dramatically descriptive, where words would possibly fall short. The artwork where the
monster is telling Victor what has happened to him are all black and white, with a pop color to get your attention on a
specific detail. I will leave some work below to give you an idea, but since the original story was written in the tone
you would immediately imagine being 1818, it really modernizes it for the 2000s.

Next, lets get into my personal favorite, the 1931 movie by James Whale, adapted from a stage play, based on the
original novels. So not only is this one, but this is a retelling of a retelling. The characters are all different people from
the book to the screen. It can be confusing if you do not have your wits about you. But to give a general look into
what this is about, it opens with Dr. Frankenstein and his assistant Fritz sitting above a graveyard, waiting to be able
to steal the fresh corpse below. The Dr. is very strict on what he takes because he refuses the corpse of a punished
criminal; saying that when they hung the man the neck would have snapped- rendering the brain a waste. They get to
the makeshift lab in a remote house, where he is busy working on the creation, and Fritz has broken into a college to
steal a brain. A lecture has been given on a criminal VS. normal brain. Grabbing the normal brain, the assistant to
the mad scientist gets spooked, and drops it. Not wanting to return empty handed, he grabs the criminal brain and
runs to the abandoned house. The monster comes to life, and is immediately locked up and tormented by Fritz, and
his terrified of fire.He cannot speak, or communicate his thoughts. Just a big, clumsy mess of skin and black clothing.
The doctor falls ill, and cousin Elizabeth has come to get him. The monster kills the pain in the ass assistant and
flees. While trying to find his scientist, he accidently kills a young girl. Then he finds where Henry (aka Victor) is
hiding with the soon to be bride, and roughs her up a bit. Henry is angry and chases after the monster, with a mob of
people who are upset about the young girls death. Henry and the monster fight it out, which ends with the monster
carrying him (unconscious) to a windmill. The mob catches up to the windmill where they (Henry & his monster) are
hidden 3 stories high, with Henry fighting the monster to escape. Finally, he gets out of the windmill, and into the
mob. As they check his well being, they also set fire to where the monster is still taking refuge. The entire place goes
up into tremendous flames, killing the poor monster.

This is where I have a hard time, because the scientist makes a being, and deserts it yet again without
giving lessons in basic knowledge. He neglects to give humility to the monster, and does not stay involved in
the growth as he did the process of making the being. He falls to a fate of the worst kind, all because there
wasnt anyone that understood him, or could communicate with.