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How Frankenstein’s Monster Became Human
- firasd 10y agoI really like this essay on the general theme (referencing Frankenstein, Blade Runner, Her, Ex Machina, Paradise Lost, Prometheus, etc.): http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/06/04/robots-are-winning/ http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/06/04/robots-are-winnin... Perfect quote from 'Ex Machina' that captures the dilemma: “It’s strange to have made something that hates you.” What's interesting is how similarities in these narratives span ancient Greek ideas (Prometheus) to Genesis to Christ-like figures. Consider how Robocop is cruelly killed then 'resurrects'... There is also the childbirth angle mentioned in this article.
- x5n1 10y ago> “It’s strange to have made something that hates you.” Welcome to the world of being a parent.
- zappo2938 10y ago"One can’t help noting how often in the novel physical beauty is assumed to be an indication of good character, while ugliness is the manifestation of some moral flaw. This seemingly superficial but sadly accurate observation of how humans make judgments will become all the more important as the book progresses and as the monster—whose ugliness, size, and obvious abnormality are ultimately what make him a pariah—takes over the narrative and tells his own sad tale." This makes us wonder who the real monster is?
- firasd 10y agoHarold Bloom (spoilers?): "As the hideousness of his creature was no part of Victor Frankenstein's intention, it is worth noticing how this disastrous matter came to be. It would not be unjust to characterize Victor Frankenstein, in his act of creation, as being momentarily a moral idiot, like so many who have done his work after him... As he works on, he allows himself to dream that "a new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me." Yet he knows his is a "workshop of filthy creation," and he fails the fundamental test of his own creativity. When the "dull yellow eye" of his creature opens, this creator falls from the autonomy of a supreme artificer to the terror of a child of earth: "breathless horror and disgust filled my heart." He flees his responsibility and sets in motion the events that will lead to his own Arctic immolation, a fit end for a being whom has never achieved a full sense of another's existence."
- theoh 10y agoTendentious. "Children of earth" need not be terrified, and supreme artificers need not be arrogant.