It does not seem to me that Mary Shelly was a Christian, and so I doubt that she intended for the themes that I extracted out of her novel, to be extracted out of it, but I got them anyway.
The novel is told in epistolary form, which means it is written as a series of letters or other documents. (Like Paul's epistles to the early church.) In this case, the letters are from a ship captain to his sister. The captain, Robert Walton, runs into Victor Frankenstein in the ice of the arctic. Victor proceeds to tell Walton his story.
(Spoiler Warning)
A young Victor Frankenstein was a very blessed guy. He was bright, his family loved him, and he had a girl just waiting around to marry him. Things couldn't really get a whole lot better. What could he possibly want?
As his education grew he started reading alchemy books by authors like Cornelius Agrippa. His professors at university taught him about science, and eventually, he decided he wanted to play God.
Oh, that's what he wants.
Stopping right there, and taking that point, there is already a theme emerging in the book. Ever since Eden, man has been tempted to be like God. It says in Scripture:
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made:and he said to the woman, Yea, hath God indeed said, ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, we eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the fruits of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, ye shall not die at all, but God doth know that when ye shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. So the woman, (seeing that the tree was good for meat, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired, to get knowledge,) took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat. ~Genesis 3:1-6
As Victor built his creature, his "Adam", he talked of how how beautiful it was, how wonderful it would be when it was finished. When the 8-foot-tall creature finally awakened, (details to the creation are not given in the book,) it is while Victor was sleeping. Surprised and disgusted by his creation, which once beautiful, was now hideous in his eyes, Victor fled and left his monster behind.
Eventually, Victor's younger brother was found murdered. His close friend Justine was tried and convicted of the murder, despite Victor's knowledge that the killer was really his own, twisted child.
Victor retreated into the mountains, ashamed and disturbed. One day, he ran into his creation in the woods. The creature, (now educated by watching the actions of a small group of humans. He learned to speak, write, and even read Paradise Lost.)
The creature demanded that Victor make him an "Eve" whom he could flee with.
The creature demanded. Specifically he said,
"Do your duty towards me...thou hast made me more powerful than thyself, my height is superior to thine, my joints more supple."
The creature had taken control of Frankenstein's life. It is, (to me,) the embodiment of Victor's sin. Sin has taken over Victor's life, and it now haunts and pursues him.
The visitation of the consequences of sin is a theme prevalent in scripture...
And David sent and inquired what woman it was:and one said is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, wife to Uriah the Hittite? Then David sent messengers, and took her away:and she came unto him and he lay with her; (now she was purified from her uncleanness) and she returned unto her house. And the woman conceived, therefore she sent and told David and said, I am with child. ~2 Samuel 11:3-6
And he wrote thus in the letter, put ye Uriah in the forefront of the strength of the battle, and recule ye back from him, that he may be smitten and die. So when Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew that strong men were. And the men of the city came out, and fought with Joab:and there fell of the people of the Servants of David, and Uriah the Hittite also died. ~2 Samuel 11:15-17
Wherefore hast thou despised the command of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house, because thou hast despised me, and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus said the Lord, behold I will raise evil against thee out of thine own house, and will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with the wives in the sight of his sin. For thou diddest it secretly:but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. ~2 Samuel 12:9-12
The story of David and Bathsheba is just one of many in scripture that show the consequences of sin. Sin starts out so tempting, and seems so not wrong, but eventually it catches up to you. Victor is as David, the Monster is as Bathsheba; representing the sin, and the consequences of it.
Eventually Frankenstein conceded and started to create a mate for the cause of his terror and fear. The mate never tasted life however, because Victor destroyed it before giving it the vital seed of life. As it so happened, the monster was watching when its Eve was killed.
It vowed vengeance upon Victor, saying:
I will be with you on your wedding night...
Victor returned home, and married Elizabeth, the girl who had waited for him all of this time. (Patient lady, isn't she? They've only been destined for marriage since...like...12.) When the creature swore to make Victor pay on his wedding night, Frankenstein assumed the creature would try and kill him, not his wife.
Idiot. Stupid, stupid man. You killed his mate, why would he not kill yours?
Sure enough, when Victor came to the room where his bride was waiting on the honeymoon night, she was dead; murdered by the creature.
At this point in story, Frankenstein swore to pursue the creature until one or the other of them is dead. He pursued him all the way into the arctic, where he died. The creature, regretful of what he has done, left, never again to plague humanity.
Throughout the entire story, our tragic hero's sin returns to visit him again and again, in the most horrible and frightening of ways. What was his sin? He tried to play God. His pride, his hubris, got in the way of everything else he had been blessed with.
Pride goeth before destruction, and a high mind before a fall. ~Proverbs 16:18
The entire time I was reading this, I found myself comparing myself to Victor. I always think I can do it. I have that manly urge to fix things myself, I don't ask for help nearly often enough.
I can do this, I can handle it.
No. I. Can't.
And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves breeches. Afterward, they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and the wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said unto him, where are thou? Who said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid:because I was naked, and therefore I hid myself. And HE said, who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? ~Genesis 3:7-11
Adam and Eve wanted to play God. They did not trust God as they should have when he told them not to eat of the tree, and because of this they, and consequently we, fell.
They thought they were right, they thought they could do it. Look at the consequences that followed.
None are stronger than the humble, few are weaker than the proud. ~Rich Mullins
I am a pridefulman.
A young Victor Frankenstein was a very blessed guy. He was bright, his family loved him, and he had a girl just waiting around to marry him. Things couldn't really get a whole lot better. What could he possibly want?
As his education grew he started reading alchemy books by authors like Cornelius Agrippa. His professors at university taught him about science, and eventually, he decided he wanted to play God.
Oh, that's what he wants.
Stopping right there, and taking that point, there is already a theme emerging in the book. Ever since Eden, man has been tempted to be like God. It says in Scripture:
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made:and he said to the woman, Yea, hath God indeed said, ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, we eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the fruits of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, ye shall not die at all, but God doth know that when ye shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. So the woman, (seeing that the tree was good for meat, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired, to get knowledge,) took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat. ~Genesis 3:1-6
As Victor built his creature, his "Adam", he talked of how how beautiful it was, how wonderful it would be when it was finished. When the 8-foot-tall creature finally awakened, (details to the creation are not given in the book,) it is while Victor was sleeping. Surprised and disgusted by his creation, which once beautiful, was now hideous in his eyes, Victor fled and left his monster behind.
Eventually, Victor's younger brother was found murdered. His close friend Justine was tried and convicted of the murder, despite Victor's knowledge that the killer was really his own, twisted child.
Victor retreated into the mountains, ashamed and disturbed. One day, he ran into his creation in the woods. The creature, (now educated by watching the actions of a small group of humans. He learned to speak, write, and even read Paradise Lost.)
The creature demanded that Victor make him an "Eve" whom he could flee with.
The creature demanded. Specifically he said,
"Do your duty towards me...thou hast made me more powerful than thyself, my height is superior to thine, my joints more supple."
The creature had taken control of Frankenstein's life. It is, (to me,) the embodiment of Victor's sin. Sin has taken over Victor's life, and it now haunts and pursues him.
The visitation of the consequences of sin is a theme prevalent in scripture...
And David sent and inquired what woman it was:and one said is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, wife to Uriah the Hittite? Then David sent messengers, and took her away:and she came unto him and he lay with her; (now she was purified from her uncleanness) and she returned unto her house. And the woman conceived, therefore she sent and told David and said, I am with child. ~2 Samuel 11:3-6
And he wrote thus in the letter, put ye Uriah in the forefront of the strength of the battle, and recule ye back from him, that he may be smitten and die. So when Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew that strong men were. And the men of the city came out, and fought with Joab:and there fell of the people of the Servants of David, and Uriah the Hittite also died. ~2 Samuel 11:15-17
Wherefore hast thou despised the command of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house, because thou hast despised me, and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus said the Lord, behold I will raise evil against thee out of thine own house, and will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with the wives in the sight of his sin. For thou diddest it secretly:but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. ~2 Samuel 12:9-12
The story of David and Bathsheba is just one of many in scripture that show the consequences of sin. Sin starts out so tempting, and seems so not wrong, but eventually it catches up to you. Victor is as David, the Monster is as Bathsheba; representing the sin, and the consequences of it.
Eventually Frankenstein conceded and started to create a mate for the cause of his terror and fear. The mate never tasted life however, because Victor destroyed it before giving it the vital seed of life. As it so happened, the monster was watching when its Eve was killed.
It vowed vengeance upon Victor, saying:
I will be with you on your wedding night...
Victor returned home, and married Elizabeth, the girl who had waited for him all of this time. (Patient lady, isn't she? They've only been destined for marriage since...like...12.) When the creature swore to make Victor pay on his wedding night, Frankenstein assumed the creature would try and kill him, not his wife.
Idiot. Stupid, stupid man. You killed his mate, why would he not kill yours?
Sure enough, when Victor came to the room where his bride was waiting on the honeymoon night, she was dead; murdered by the creature.
At this point in story, Frankenstein swore to pursue the creature until one or the other of them is dead. He pursued him all the way into the arctic, where he died. The creature, regretful of what he has done, left, never again to plague humanity.
Throughout the entire story, our tragic hero's sin returns to visit him again and again, in the most horrible and frightening of ways. What was his sin? He tried to play God. His pride, his hubris, got in the way of everything else he had been blessed with.
Pride goeth before destruction, and a high mind before a fall. ~Proverbs 16:18
The entire time I was reading this, I found myself comparing myself to Victor. I always think I can do it. I have that manly urge to fix things myself, I don't ask for help nearly often enough.
I can do this, I can handle it.
No. I. Can't.
And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves breeches. Afterward, they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and the wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said unto him, where are thou? Who said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid:because I was naked, and therefore I hid myself. And HE said, who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? ~Genesis 3:7-11
Adam and Eve wanted to play God. They did not trust God as they should have when he told them not to eat of the tree, and because of this they, and consequently we, fell.
They thought they were right, they thought they could do it. Look at the consequences that followed.
None are stronger than the humble, few are weaker than the proud. ~Rich Mullins
I am a prideful
Make that, I am a prideful young man.
I am a failure at being like Jesus. I am a horrible, dirty, unclean sinner, who's works are all as filthy as rags.
I deserve to be cast into hell, forever separated from God. Thankfully though, I don't get what I deserve. When Adam and Eve were cast out the Garden, a promise was given.
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. He shall break thine head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. ~Genesis 3:15
The serpent's head has been crushed, and it has been crushed by God's one and only son.
For God so loveth the world, that he hath given his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ~John 3:16
Unlike Victor Frankenstein, a character in a book, I have hope. There is no savior built into the world of his story, and his sins have caused him to perish. I have a savior.
I have hope in the grace of God, through Jesus Christ, that I am destined to eternal life despite my heinous crimes.
There is so much stuff involved in true manhood. Faith, love, and humility are just a few traits that a man of God embodies. True manhood, biblical manhood, calls us to be like Jesus.
I have hope one day, I will be a loving, humble, Godly man.
I want to be a man of God, more than anything. I want to be exactly where God wants me to be to do exactly what he wants me to do.
Dear God, thank you for the gift of your son, born to die so that I, and all who call on him in faith, might live. Humble my heart and make me the man that you want me to be. I do not call on you nearly enough, nor do I use properly the tools you have granted me on this earth.
I am yours Jesus, save me and shape me.
In Christ, and his grace and mercy alone, and to his glory,
Interesting post, Andrew. I really enjoyed the book and found its morality themes rather engaging.
ReplyDeleteNice parallels between biblical truths and Shelley's narrative.