Can Science go too Far?
The battle between faith and science has been ongoing for a long time. Mary Shelley uses a mythical monster called Frankenstein to express some ethical issues surrounding religion and science. Human beings react differently to life situations depending on their perception of science and faith. In the Frankenstein, Shelley uses the relationship between morality and science to show how human controversies on life situations increases with the advancement in science. The novel by Shelley describes the horrors that accompany scientific experimentations, and the novel provides insights that are valid in today life as the time when the novel was written. Shelly in the novel Frankenstein provides a story that merits careful analysis by those involved in ethical review and scientific research while seeking to address ethical dilemmas surrounding science and faith and also life and death.
Life conveys hope while death conveys hopelessness as depicted in the Frankenstein. Mary Shelley, in her novel, Frankenstein, tries to explain to the audience that there is a fine line that exists between life and death. Shelley narrates the story of Walton and Frankenstein in the novel on how they undergo through their life journeys. The book starts with Walton narrative who likes to search for knowledge. Walton is at hos golden age, but he is not afraid of death. Walton aspires ocean that s bottomless and formless symbolizing death. Walton does not understand what death is, he suffers on the voyage, and he does not want to survive. Similarly, Frankenstein is approaching death, and he is saved by Walton from an iced ocean. Frankenstein complains to Walton, “You have hope, and the world before you, and have no cause for despair. But I – I have lost everything, and cannot begin life anew” (Lang, 2015, 891). A great contrast exists between the living Walton and dying Frankenstein. Frankenstein mentally dying and his heart is lifeless, and he eventually dies while Walton, who is full of hope survives. Mary uses the story of Walton and Frankenstein to show the relationship between life and death. In the end, Walton, who is full of hope survives while Frankenstein, who is hopeless dies.
The whole story by Mary Shelley is a battle between science and religion. Mary brings a dilemma on whether creation is science or creation is by faith. Victor Frankenstein desires to learn the secrets of heaven and earth. Frankenstein uses science and technology to create a monster. After creating the monster, Victor abandons the monster, but it decides to kill Victor’s loved ones (Stuehser, 2018, 8). “Have a care; I will work at your destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth.” Here, Shelley gives a life lesson that when a man attempts to cross into God’s domain by using unnatural technology, he is repelled by several consequences. Victor tried to play God by creating a monster using science, but he ended up destroying himself.
In conclusion, Mary Shelley uses the story of how Walton and Frankenstein undergo through their life journeys to show the line that exists between life and death. Life conveys hope while death conveys hopelessness. Frankenstein whose heart is lifeless and hopeless, ends up by dying but Walton, who is hopeful survives. Science and faith have been in odds for a long time. Victor Frankenstein, in the novel uses science and technology to create a monster. By creating a living creature, Frankenstein crosses into God domain of creation, and as a result, he is destroyed together with his loved ones. The conflict between science and faith continues today with a debate between cloning and stem cell research. Mary Shelley, in her story, depicts how faith and science oppose each other.
Works Cited
Lang, Joan A., and Marc M. Seltzer. “Karen Ann Quinlan: Dying in the Age of Eternal Life; and Death Dying and the Biological Revolution: Our Last Quest for Responsibility.” DePaul Law Review 26.4 (2015): 891.
Stuehser, Amber, and Brother Derek Jensen. “Monsters Without and Monsters Within: A Study of Creativity in The Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley & Charlotte Perkins Gilman.” (2018).
