Romantic Literature

       

Topic: “Science v/s Nature in Frankenstein”

Name: Patel kavita

Roll No. – 11

Semester: II

Batch: 2011- 12

         SCIENCE VS NATURE IN FRANKENSTEIN

               Now a day’s people have reached in the depth of ocean. Discovered and invented gadgets have not been remained utilized and they are running behind new. Now, science is becoming a basic essential not only that but an intoxication. Sometime why people don’t find good result in the age of science and technology? Frankenstein deals with this topic.

        The question arise in our mind that why Victor Frankenstein motivated to plunge in bringing new life from life from inanimate body parts? Frankenstein‘s life was destroyed because of an obsession with the power that he possessed by an education of science to create new life where none had been before. Victor’s evolving mind reminds us Charles Darwin’s famous lines:

                                Man is not the first and final creation of God.

                         It is just an accident from an ameba to an ape

                         And ape to man and their might be super men

                         To come.

        But becoming supermen, human being has to suffer a lot and it is because nature does not remain in people’s side to support but vice versa. It is against of the law of Nature that Victor has created a huge, grotesque and man like a Monster. The main result of Victor’s creation is his desire to keep science In hand and he wants to get triumph over nature, that’s why he says,

                     “My eyes were insensible to charm of nature”

          One 0f the reason behind create of Monster is that his creation could be seen as a manifestation of all those who are wronged in the selfish name of science. In Frankenstein we find a clash between science and nature. We can give a name Victor as a science and Monster as a nature.

             Victor’s irresistible and unfulfilled desire of demystifying the deepest mysteries of human being that cautiously indicate the circumstances and                                                    Reverberation of the future disaster that he will face. Nature can be rendered as both human nature as well as an omnipotent or natural cycle of every leaving being. In these two phenomena, science does not prepare its place because it contains artificiality that a monster, a nameless creature on the earth, does not have. He behaves as naturally as other normal being. He helps people, because a victim of great hatred, disgusting, insulted, kicked, humiliated, got nothing in return to rescuing a girl when she was drowning and ultimately all circumstances turn him a real monster from real human being.

          Not only this novel deal with science v/s nature but is all about knowing ones own self. So the novel, apart from science and nature, can be thought as a novel of quest for identity of nature itself. So the novel has to binary oppositions like man and monster and their self-exploration. Victor explores his self by getting knowledge of Science while monster (nature) evolves his self by reading literature and it is because his master created him. So quest for identity is interdependent remaining torn apart. The understanding monster toward life and death, human relationship and its complexity indicate that nature studies human beings to treat them rudely and cruelly.

Now both Victor and monster get support of different ingredients for their own self-understanding and quest. Generally monster is supposed to behave with cruelly and with lack of pity. But we observe the monstrosity in victor and humanity in monster.

Here, Marry Shelley has reflected the image of Science v/s Nature as an equipment of learning lesson from humanity of the monster and dangers from the monstrosity of Victor. It shows nature still gives one chance for realization that shows its sympathy toward human beings. Monster cautiously and consciously even constantly reminds his master that in coming days, someone is going to be killed. But Victor’s eyes don’t open. So the nature that is hurt by science and its misuses, still ready to forgive human being if they give up.

The desire by which Victor was consumed to discover the secret of life is monster, a nameless grotesque creature like mankind that gives meaning to name of humanity as a whole. He also knows how to distort the meaning by killing people. He proposes and disposes, too. Monster proposes to his so-called master to create monster as his life partner but Victor it disposes many a time.

Victor says will-be-coming female monster ‘as a race of devil’ is crystal cover reality of mankind. Is monster a devil? To be considered a nature as devil is somewhat, a devil mind of human being. Now Victor and the monster never come to term. Keeping Charles Darwin’s idea of evolution, one may lead to believe that throughout the novel, the monster remains a monster whereas Frankenstein travels from man to monster. Monster evolves by observing people and reading books of literature. Somewhere the idea of appearance v/s reality pertains directly to science v/s nature.

The very crucial and valuable point of the essay lies in below stated line that is more symbolic and relevant to nature’s rage upon mankind.

“The rain was pouring in torrent.”

This line has a deep innuendo that human beings have to pass from reality that is ultimate death. The monster also goes away after atoning on his creator’s body. No one can escape from nature’s clutches. The nature requires just a bit of moment to vex human being and this happens in the novel Frankenstein. To sum up the discussion, one reaches to a place where Nature always conquers everyone who goes beyond it. In the novel nature is macrocosm of the monster and the monster is a microcosm of nature in real sense of the term. By conflict between science and nature, Marry Shelley wants to say that science is not still everything. It is limited and should be limited otherwise people have to face its repercussions.