Frankenstein | Madison Cimler

Title of Book: Frankenstein
 Author: Mary Shelley
# of Pages 324
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Why This Book has Value:

Despite common misconceptions about Frankenstein, there is no scene where lightning flashes and a scientist screams “it’s alive!”, and the monster’s name wasn’t even named Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein, the scientist (not the monster), discovers a way to create life. He spends countless months working, neglecting even his own health, to create life. Once his project comes to fruition and Victor sees what he has created, he immediately runs away, leaving the “monster” on it’s own. With the monster left on his own to essentially “raise” himself, you could guess that things are going to go wrong! Experiencing great loneliness, the monster begins to seek revenge.

This book explores many important themes and question about beauty, life, existence, and science.

Does society equate beauty with goodness? Is it because of the monster's ugliness that he is ostracized from society? Does society turn “ugly people” evil by the way they are treated? Beauty is also capable of great destruction as discussed in this quote: “As I stood at the door, on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak which stood about twenty yards from our house; and so soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak had disappeared, and nothing remained but a blasted stump. When we visited it the next morning, we found the tree shattered in a singular manner. It was not splintered by the shock, but entirely reduced to thin ribbons of wood. I never beheld anything so utterly destroyed.”

The whole idea of life and the creation of life is an important topic. The book also explores the nature versus nurture debate. Are we all born good but become bad through our experiences or are some people simply born evil? Also, are creators responsible for their creations, and to what extent? What are the consequences of “playing god”? “I was dependent on none and related to none. The path of my departure was free, and there was none to lament my annihilation. My person was hideous and my stature gigantic. What did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them.”

Science is also a major issue of this book. What happens when we become too scientifically advanced? What are the dangers of the misuse of science? "I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me; I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge."

This is also a hot topic in today’s society. Think about GMO’s or how powerful of technological devices are.

If you are in search of a book to inspire you to question life, existence, science, and beauty then search no further. Despite being an older book the questions and moral dilemmas easily relate to today’s era.