Homework Posting #3:
Frankenstein

Topic: Based on your reading of Chapters I-X in Frankenstein explore one of the following topics: "(mother) nature vs. (father) culture," "imagination vs. science," "normal science vs. revolution." Your posting should be 250-300 words.

Sample Postings:

How Does Cultural Influence Affect our Decisions?

Think back to when you were in elementary school. Remember ever teasing a fellow student that was different in some way. Perhaps they were not as smart in class, or less athletic in gym. Perhaps that student was you. Now ask yourself why those select few were singled out, the subject of ridicule. Was it truly because they were different; or was it because everyone else was taunting? Does cultural influence affect our decision making process. Possibly a more applicable question would be does societal views persuade our actions?

In Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein a young scientist, Victor Frankenstein, steps out of the spotlight of societal views, or does he? By creating the monster, Frankenstein strove to accomplish something never done before. In a societal hierarchy, which Frankenstein lived, those, which accomplished new feats, were often rewarded. Scientist such as Newton, Galileo, Darwin, and Einstein were in later years revered for their accomplishments in their fields. Conceivably, in Frankenstein's own mind he may have believed his creation of life would yield endless bliss. Unfortunately his creation only spawned the hatred and disdain of society for that which is different.

"All men hate the wretched, how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things" (Shelley 95). When the monster spoke these words one must wonder the reason for the townspeople omnipresent hatred. Was it simply because of the visible differences, or was it something more. If Victor had not fled his house after creating a life, but instead taken the monster under his wing would the story have been different? Think about how society perceives those that are different from us, but have the love of others. Usually they are accepted for who they are in the end, a person. The monster, however, will never experience acceptance in society, simply because he is different.

On a side note have you ever thought about the comparison in the names Frankenstein and Einstein? Both breached the conceptions of societal bounds with earth shattering ideas. Just something to think about.

How does Victor's childhood lead him to be more imaginative in his research than scientific?

Victor's imaginative actions leads him to discover that he has the ability to create life, these actions, based on our readings, can be traced back to his days as a child. According to psychoanalytic beliefs, there are three stages of crucial development for a child. First, there is the pre-oedipal stage. This stage is when the child communicates without the medium of language; he also does not recognize his independence from its mother, this stage is also called the pre-verbial stage. The next stage in the development of a child is the mirror stage, or as Lacan refers to as the imaginary stage. During this period, a child begins to recognize itself and its mother as independent selves. This period is also when a child begins to have feelings of sympathy and remorse for others as well as the want to compete with others for the same objects. The third and final stage in development is the oedipal stage or what Lacan refers to as the symbolic stage. This stage is when a child recognizes his father and mother as separate selves, as long with recognizing gender differences. This stage is when the child establishes a bond with his father and kind of breaks away from that pre-verbial bond with his mother. After discussing the stages of development, Lacan and many others concluded that Victor really didn't complete that last step between the imaginative stage and the symbolic stage. Victor was more attached to his mother than he was to his father, therefore, leading us to believe that he didn't quite cross into the symbolic stage of development. Victor further expresses that nurturing need that a mother expresses with her child when he tried to create the monster. He felt that he had a void in his life, with the death of his mother, that needed to be filled. That is why he created the monster. All of this, the need of nurturing and the need to be creative, can be traced back to the incomplete development of Victor in his symbolic stage of growth.