Frankenstein

As we look at the many ways of reading literature, let’s not forget that Frankenstein’s monster is an undead creature, once dead and now reanimated through mysterious ways. This particular story includes a “scientific” aspect as Dr. Frankenstein uses chemicals combined with electricity to reanimate his creature.
Frankenstein’s creature, seen as a monster, demonstrates what Cohen talks about in his Monster theory theses: monsters often ask us why we created them, and it is clear that we create them for myriad reasons, such as to make us question ourselves, and to fulfill multiple needs.

What can the creature in Frankenstein tell us about human desires, human arrogance/hubris, fear of the Other, issues of abandonment, or any number of human fears and desires? What does the doctor’s ability to challenge “Nature or God Himself” to create life from dead flesh tell us about the dangers of incomplete information? What are the dangers and implications of using science this way? What were the protocols that the doctor might have followed to avoid creating a monster that he could not control? These are merely questions to get you thinking of the novel’s bigger themes and are not meant to be answered definitively.

In a full two to three page response, discuss these or other ideas of the ways that Frankenstein’s creature complicates our ideas of humanity. Use compare and contrast between the novel and any of the film versions, if you wish and cite any outside sources you quote or paraphrase.