Frankenstein Free Will

At the beginning of life, humans are exposed to the outside world with an open and blank mind. A newborn has no knowledge, no concerns or worries and it only seeks to fulfill its main necessities. Surrounded by the outside world one lives through many experiences where knowledge is accepted. Encountering other human beings reflects upon one's perception and brings about ones self decisions. Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, written in 1816, demonstrates through characters that an obsessive desire for more knowledge may ruin ones life.

Eve’s hunger to become independent from Adam and all she is commanded to do is similar to Satan’s situation in that their yearn for power and singular identity lead them to revolt against their creator. Her desire to separate from Adam is first seen when she is introduced to the audience in her state of narcissism. She sees a reflection of herself in a pond and is in awe of her beauty “of sympathy and love,” (IV, 465) which shows the parallelism to Satan’s own arrogant vanity. He catches on to this similarity they share and decides she will be an easy target of persuasion. He quickly takes charge and plans how he will lead her to eat the apple from the “Tree of Knowledge,” which is the only tree that God prohibited to pick fruit from. Satan first catches her attention by being a serpent who speaks; something she had never encountered before. He smooth talks her into really listening to him by focusing his words around her and how much better life could be if she just took a bite

In the infamous novel, Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley, there have been a variety of recurring themes throughout the book, one of them being good versus evil. Good versus evil is a popular theme that appears in several movies, TV shows, as well as literature itself. According to Wikipedia.com, it means: “[...] the battle between ideologies, with one side Good, and the other Evil. Another variation is the inner struggle in characters (and by extension, humans in reality) between good and evil.” This theme is specifically crucial to the plot because it ultimately asks the readers what it means to be “human.” Shelley supports her representation by manipulating society’s behavior, questioning the limits of humans, and

When someone brings up the term “artificial intelligence”, a variety of connotations tend to arise, connotations that often are unfair or unrepresentative of the true real-world applications of such a term. Due to the incidentally fear-mongering nature of the media, artificial intelligence can refer to something as basic as a robotic arm in a factory, as well as the implied extinction and/or enslavement of the human race as caused by robo-revolution. As of today, however, when applied in the world of modern technology, artificial intelligence is defined as any innovation that performs a task usually completed by humans. Of course, with this definition, artificial intelligence holds the potential for both societal harm and benefit, and its fate

Parents and creators set the main foundation to their creation or offspring. Though Sharon Begley portrayed that the environment in where the creation or offspring were raised also hindered their outcome as an adult and the amount of violence contributed. Mary Shelley’s fascinating science fiction novel, Frankenstein, conveyed how the creation was a living proof of how without a creator or parent to guide him through as a child he would have a higher chance of committing a crime or becoming violent. Shelly further suggests that since the creation grew up isolated and rejected by the people around him it increased his aggression as he grew older and hindered his behavior vastly. The responsibility of a creator is not just to create, but to love and protect their children. They are a product of not just their own inherited nature, but also as important of their creator’s nurturing or lack thereof.

In the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, there are two constant struggles. One is the

Topic: Mary Shelley has Victor Frankenstein create a living being, who then becomes a murderer. Who or what is responsible for the wretch’s behavior? Is Shelley casting blame on a society that refuses to accept the wretch? Does she hold Victor responsible for his negligence as a “parent” (both father and mother) or is the wretch himself responsible for the chaos he creates?

Victor’s driving, obsessive ambition ruined his life and led to his own death and the murder of his loved ones. Illustrate how ambition affects not only Victor and Robert Walton, but also the creature in Frankenstein.

Impulsivity. It hunts, it haunts, and occasionally it can eat a person alive to the point of sheer destruction. Impulsivity can alter a human’s life in just one single second. An impulsive decision has power far beyond what one might imagine or originally perceive. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein deeply senses the repercussions of his impulsive as well as passionate decision to create a creature without thinking about the major consequences that could occur. As a result, his life is transformed. The primary truth of consequences of impulsive and passionate decisions are revealed in this novel through experiences and warnings of loneliness, rage, and unhappiness of Frankenstein.

The existence of fate and free will also play a huge part of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Shelley uses the foil characters of Victor and his monster to illustrate the differences between the beliefs in fate versus free will. While Victor Frankenstein listened to his professor speak on the powers of modern science, Frankenstein feels as if the professor’s words were “the words of fate”, that they prompted him to find the secrets of creation, and that that day “decided [his] future destiny” (Shelley 27-29). This quote prepares the audience for the upcoming events and that to Victor, those events were fully prompted by fate. Victor uses the existence of fate to rationalize his actions which helps the audience understand his motives more thoroughly. This quote also features a slippery slope

Temptation is a desired action that attracts a person and can often result in a negative effect due to the ignorance of lasting consequences. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, we watch as temptation works its evil on a inspired scientist Victor Frankenstein, who seeks to create a life form using dead body parts from a graveyard. Remarkably his knowledge leads him to success, yet Victor was too focused on whether he could instead of worrying about whether he should. In Frankenstein, Shelley shows throughout the book the temptation and power in knowledge can lead to danger when boundaries are overstepped or knowledge is misused.

In the novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein shows the cruel karma that joins in the achievement of attaining knowledge. With countless examples to support this statement, the opinion of this reader holds strong with the opinion of Mary Shelly, that the power of knowledge, though incredibly tempting to grasp hold of tightly, can be a dangerous achievement that can lead to more destruction than it can recover.

Creation is the act of producing or cause of something to enter into existence and destruction is the act of eliminating something from existence. In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, the main character Victor Frankenstein has a duality of character in which he is both creator and destroyer. This is evident in the novel through examples such as his self-isolation to develop an understanding of anatomy as well as to construct the monster, destroys his relationships with his family. Even through his creation of the monster Victor unknowingly brings about the deaths of people close to him; William, Henry Clerval, and Elizabeth. Victor Frankenstein’s duality as a creator and destroyer has a negative impact on himself and others, due to the

Christopher Falzon, philosophy lecturer and author of Philosophy Goes to the Movies and "Philosophy and The Matrix," points out that The Matrix employs Cartesian-style skepticism in its attempt to inundate the viewer in this cyber-world (“Philosophy and the Matrix” 99). This is seen in Neo’s choice between the red pill and blue pill in The Matrix, which can be likened to Descartes’s employment of the acid test. Neo, a computer hacker, is told that a man named Morpheus can tell him the meaning of ‘the Matrix,’ a term that Neo has encountered several times. Upon meeting Morpheus, Neo is given a choice: he can take a blue pill which will make him forget about his quest to discover the meaning of ‘the Matrix,’ or he can

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley explores the fight between man and nature through the story of eager scientist Victor Frankenstein, who artificially creates life from the body parts of the deceased with disastrous consequences. By highlighting the intense power of nature, Shelley comments on the folly of attempting to subjugate nature to bend to one’s will.