Frankenstein

I recently reread Mary Shelly's classic novella, Frankenstein, and was deeply shaken. The book is nothing like the movies. They were great fun, but lacked the depth of the book By the way,  the scientist is Frankenstein. His creation is simply called the Monster.

And, in an odd way, he is not so monstrous. He is a huge, immensely powerful being and, unlike Boris Karloff's movie creature, is very intelligent and becomes far more articulate than most men. He is. however, hideous in appearance. For this reason, he is shunned by humans. He is, at heart, a reasonable and gentle being, living on acorns and berries. But, he is possessed, when treated unfairly, as he generally is, by horrific rages and terrible violence.

The real monster is his creator, Victor Frankenstein is a genius who is far too enamored of his own brilliance. He creates this creature and immediately, out of fear and loathing, abandons him to a world the poor thing in no way comprehends. As time goes by, and the monster learns the ways of men, his rage at his creator grows. I'll tell no more of the tale. You really should read the story yourself.

I find the story disturbing for 2 reasons. First, our modern scientists and industrialists all have a belief in what is called trans humanism. Basically, they seek immortality through the merger of human and machine. To do this, they must know how to build a truly high function robot, conscious and self aware, a metallic version of what Frankenstein created. This is not in the least a good idea and, if they are successful, they will regret it. Fortunately, as of this moment, the robots made are about as intelligent as an especially stupid house fly. Still, the efforts continue. They wish, as Victor Frankenstein did, to be God, They are not.

That brings me to my second disturbing point. The relationship of Frankenstein and his creation is similar to the way some, I suspect many, view our human relation to God. As a result, a lot of people are really, if they were honest, are very angry toward their Creator. This is behind many atheists, and some religions. Gnosticism, in many of its permutations, posits an evil and/or stupidly incompetent Demi-urge, the creator, not of all Creation, but of the physical universe. This stems from a very poor and limited view of life and its Creator, but it is an understandable misconception, and I fully believe that this is the metaphysical root of the stunning violence in the World. However, this is not the time and place for an introductory lesson on Gnosticism.

All such side issues, while interesting, do not justify the novella unless it is a good, well told story. It is. Shelly tells a fine tale, and I urge you to read it. It  any trigger some thought in you and even if it doesn't, it is an entertaining read.