One
of the first things I thought of when reading Genesis was the connection between it and Frankenstein. The two texts are very similar, especially the roles
that God and Victor play as creators. However, God and Victor see their
creatures very differently.
The
roles God and Victor play in the creation of their creatures are similar. God
made Eve when he “built the rib He had taken from the human into a woman” (Genesis
2:22). In the exact same way, Victor “collected bones from charnel houses; and
disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame”
(Shelley 81). Neither Victor, when creating the creature, nor God, when
creating Eve, are making human life from nothingness, but rather taking and
repurposing parts of humans to create life.
The superior attitudes of Victor and
God to their creations are also alike. God commands Adam that “from the tree of
knowledge, good and evil, you shall not eat” (Genesis 2:17). In a very similar
way, after the creature’s creation, Victor makes an absolute decision regarding
the creature. Victor tells the creature that he will never “create another like
[him]self, equal in deformity and wickedness” (Shelley 175). Both creators make
one-sided decisions regarding their creations. The creators feel an entitlement
over their creations. In addition, in both cases, the creations develop free
will, and they try to disobey their creators, with unfortunate consequences. Both
creators state that safety is the reason for their decisions, which makes the
consequences (in the case of Adam and Eve, banishment, and in the creature’s,
death) ironic. Victor claims his duty to protect human life as his reason to
not create the creature a companion arguing that he did not have the right “to
inflict this curse upon everlasting generations” (Shelley 174). God’s motive is to keep Adam
alive because if he eats from the tree of knowledge, he is “doomed to die”
(Genesis 2:17).
However, God and Victor see their
creatures differently. God, obviously, sees Adam as human. The writer also
makes a point to say that “God created the human in his image” (Genesis 1:27).
Victor, though, distances himself from his creation. He refuses to call it a
human, even though Victor composed him of human parts, at times even calling it
“the animal” (Shelley 100). Unlike Victor, God creates Eve as a companion for
Adam because “‘it is not good for the human to be alone’” (Genesis 2:18).
Victor, who does not see his creation as human decides against making a
companion.
The dichotomy is very fascinating.
While God and Victor see the natures of their creations very differently, they
have the same attitude and create their creatures in a similar way.
Emma's blog on the similarities and differences between Victor and God are very fascinating. I really enjoyed reading about this. On Emma's last point about Victor's refusal to make another for his creature and God's creation of Eve, I found especially interesting. In the text, it mentions in the footnotes that this is the first time Adam speaks and he says that she is "flesh of [his] flesh" (2:23). Interestingly, Adam did not request to have another partner like him. It might be the lack of knowledge of what is to come into the world. The creature is created into a world that already exists and sees that most humans eventually gain a partner and longs for one. Adam didn't seek one, but God makes one for him from his own ribs (2:21). The creature seeks one, but Victor refuses to provide one for him.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Emma and Liezel that the similar relationship between God the creator and Victor the creator is very interesting. Both essentially created offspring in their image, Victor using human parts to replicate human life and God forming the first human which he proclaims is "in his image," an act which suggests some level of attachment to the creation (Gen 1:27). However, like Emma states, Victor doesn't seem to feel this attachment. For me, this showed once again that Victor is an unlawful creator and that he doesn't have the right to be creating life. Because he isn't a godlike being, he doesn't have the abilities of one to regulate his actions and to foster a fledgling life form.
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued by the differences between Victor and God's treatment of their creations throughout the development of Frankenstein. In particular after the creatures references himself as Victor's "Adam". As I read Emma's blog post the thought occurred to me that if the creature saw himself as Frankenstein's Adam then he would have a context to understand the disparities that Emma pointed out. I would also assume that his request for a companion is also derived from his reading of Genesis. This puts much of the creature's reactions into better perspective for myself, having no example for what a creator should act like i was surprised by the creature's coercion of Victor. But if the creature did have a perspective for how the creator should act; I'm much less surprised that the creature was ready to challenge Victor who failed to meet expectations laid by Genesis.
ReplyDeleteI would disagree with Emma on the point that Victor never sees his creation as human. While it is certainly true that in the beginning of the novel Victor frequently denounces the creature as a "daemon" and "wretch" his attitude changes as he lays dying at the end of the novel. Perhaps out of regret at a life and family so wastefully destroyed, perhaps out of a new found respect for the creature after their duel through the frozen wastes Victor pronounces to Walton at the end of the novel that he had "executed the creation of a man" (211). To me that shows that Victor did regard the creature in human terms at the end of the novel.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting to consider how God considers humans in Genesis. After finding that Adam and Eve have tasted the fruits of the tree of life, he hopes that they do not eat from the tree of life lest they become immortal and "like to us". I thought that this particular phrase was especially meaningful. In that particular sentence, it seems that much as Victor fears the power of his creation, so does God fear the same thing. He defends the tree of life from man by placing fearsome creatures between the tree and the man, and a sword of fire to complement those formidable. It seems that both the God of genesis and Victor might have a common trait - a fear of what they have wrought.
ReplyDelete