Guillermo Ruiz

Molly Fenn

HP English

Period 3/4

                                            v                       Conflicting Human Nature

        On the surface, Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, may seem like a typical horror novel, the first of it’s kind and a pioneer for the genre itself. It may be easy to brush Frankenstein aside as simply one of the first horror novels, however looking below surface meaning, Mary Shelley's novel, originally published in 1818, makes timeless statements on human nature and the naturally contradictory forces progress and tradition that have shaped society since the beginning of time. In modern times one of the best ways to see these opposing ideals of progressivism and traditionalism in action is through politics. Politicians are a reflection of public opinion; if public opinion is leaning more traditional than politicians sell themselves as traditional candidates if public opinion is more progressive politicians come off as progressive candidates. The statements made in Shelley's Frankenstein translate to the world as it was to Shelley in 1818 but the morals and messages in Frankenstein are just as applicable to the world today and even the 2016 presidential election.    

        At the beginning of the book we meet Victor Frankenstein, although we originally meet him as a child it becomes clear that he has an adventurous spirit and a pursuit of greatness that will not be tamed. Later Victor finds a passion for science saying “My father was no scientific and I was left to struggle with a child’s blindness added to a student's thirst for knowledge”  (Shelley 36) Early on we see that Victor is no ordinary man, Victor, from the very beginning had to carve path for himself, a path of progress. But the path of progress and innovation is never easy, it full of blockades in various forms later in the book Victor encounters his first obstacle,  “they know that metals cannot be transmuted and that the elixir of life...They (people) ascend into the heavens... Such were the professor’s words—rather let me say such the words of the fate—enounced to destroy me… I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers” (46) Here we see the natural resistance towards progress. Victor’s professor is a traditionalist and Victor, is a progressive. Victor is denounced, treated like an outcast because of his scientific endeavors. His theories of “combing the works of alchemists with modern natural philosophy to create something incredible”(Shelly 43) are considered unnatural and against the way of life. Because of this Victor becomes determined to prove his professor wrong, to “pioneer a new way”. But this resistance is natural, right? There will always be people who want things to stay they way they are because it has always worked for them. At every corner we turn well there it’s scientific progress or it’s social progress there are people there to say ‘no that’s not the way it should be’. But from that, as we see sprouts Victor’s determination to prove others wrong, which is a the heart and soul behind all revolutions.

          Revolutions occur every day through various form and under a variety of names. In the 2016 election, one Bernie Sanders ran as a candidate that delivered a message of liberalism and progressiveness that appealed to many Americans, but just like Victor, this message was met with resistance. Throughout the entire election process, Sanders was preaching a theme of change and revolution at one point saying “What my campaign is about is a political revolution - millions of people standing up and saying, enough is enough. Our government belongs to all of us, and not just the handful of billionaires.” (Talbot) This spoke to many people and from it, as Sanders said himself, sprouted a political revolution that changed the way the game politics. Like Victor, Sanders sought out to not play by the rules, to revolutionize science and politics respectively. Yet just like Victor Sanders revolution did not come without pushback. Republican Senator Marco Rubio during the election said: “I love Bernie’s ideas and I wish they were possible but that’s just not the way it works.” (Rubio) Just like Victor, there are na sayers people who say that what you want to accomplish isn’t within the realm of possibility. It may appear that I am glamorizing progress as our only option to move forward but it’s not. Shelley also makes bold statements on tradition and reasons why we as humans prefer to stick with tradition and what's established in this world.

        I’ve already addressed the perspective of progress and why people are inspired to enact change, but Shelley also makes statements about tradition and what tradition means to society, after all, there are characters that oppose progress and wish to stick to tradition in Frankenstein. In the film Frankenstein Victor's father begs him to stop his experiments saying “it’s unnatural, Victor, please come home” similarly in the film Victor’s mentor begs him saying “it’s not natural science has limitations Victor give up this experiment”(Whale 1931) Of course, as we all know, Victor adheres to none of this advice and continues to pursue his scientific advancements. But how could Victor know any better? He’s been considered a scientific outcast his whole career, he’s never experienced the benefits of tradition and the scientific establishment. How does Victor know that he doesn't need to go outside of the scientific establishment in order to separate himself? It is always possible to work within tradition and what is established to achieve what Victor sought after; greatness. Similarly to Shelley’s theme of progress, her theme on tradition translates to our world today and the 2016 presidential election.

         In 2016 there were several candidates that would themselves as people who were going to restore tradition in America and to re-establishing what has already been established. One candidate stood out from the crowd, one Donald Trump. He sold himself as a candidate who was going to undo many of changes that had made in recent years saying “we’re going to make things the way there where we are going make America great again.”(Trump) This message was an easy sell, things used to great for people and here is a candidate who claims that they will make things back to the way they used to be;  to restore tradition. For many people tradition has always been the route from them to talk, tradition has served them well and allowed them to prosper. Why embrace progress when tradition has served you so well? Why make a change when tradition is serving you well? After all, if it’s not broke then don't fix it.

       Humans are naturally divided. There are always those who have it well off and inherently want things to stay the same. There are also those who are not so well off and naturally want to see a change in the world. This division is something that has put us at odds since the beginning of time. The people who are not so well off have are poor, underprivileged, and regarded as outcasts of society, they have been oppressed by “tradition” and as a result want to see an advancement in a world that has called them harm. People who are well of resisting change because they fear that it will comprise what they have accomplished; riches, fame, social standing all to waste there is a change if there is progress. But how would they know? How could they possibly know what other people are going through at their expense? And on the flip side how could they possibly know that there needs to be a change? They have never experienced the benefits of tradition. This statement on human nature and the natural divide between people that has dictated human history is why Frankenstein remains a statement on human nature even 200 years after its publication.