Sunday, February 16, 2014

On Frankenstein

The tale of Frankenstein’s monster as depicted in films and in the novel shows us that man has desperately been trying to unlock the mysteries of the universe and of life and to break the boundaries of man’s limited capacity through advancements in technology and science. Over the past century, technology has indeed progressed at such a rapid pace that we are now able to enjoy the ample benefits of modern machines and instruments to make our daily lives more comfortable and convenient. Knowledge has also grown by leaps and bounds from the time of the Greeks to the present day and now scientists continue to uncover the secrets of the known world and even to delve into the depths of the unknown.

However, in the tale of Frankenstein, we also see morality at play and that we should think about the consequences of our decisions and our actions and consider our own humanity as well whether or not our actions may have a direct result upon the people around us. Is it right for man to play the role of God in taking control over life and death? In my opinion, we have no right to question the authority and power of God as supreme Creator and the Ruler of nature and as history shows, man’s arrogance will be his own undoing just as shown in the story of the Tower of Babel. But this does not mean that science is inherently bad but simply that man needs to settle his intentions and ensure that his motivations of using science are not to play around morality nor to play the role of God because I believe that we are stewards of the earth and of everything that God has created so we must take care of it and that it will not be corrupted.

Furthermore, as we have seen in the film, the monster was made to be dumb which is in contrast to the novel where the monster was eloquent in speech. I believe the message here is that, although science and technology can be used to create innovations that can help us in our everyday lives; there are still flaws and limitations to them, just as man has limitations in his abilities. The film clearly showed the concept that this world, though it holds wonders, has its own imperfections.

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