The development of artificial intelligence (AI) has progressed through today’s modern society and is becoming more prevalent. AI is a manmade program with processes which retrieve information to adjust the program to better fit the user. Historically, American society’s image of AI has developed using literary works and the film industry in order for most people to get an exaggerated explanation of AI. For example, in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Doctor Victor Frankenstein creates a monster that becomes increasingly capable of feelings and develops by learning from others. The novel itself has been interpreted multiple times, yet this monster is still considered as AI due to the monster learning information to become a more humanlike being. Mary Shelly’s novel is one literary piece that has slowly developed the image of AI in society. Today, technology is becoming more advanced as independent companies are creating and developing their new, unique ideas. Automobile companies, such as The Ford Motor Company, are currently in the process of creating self-driving vehicles, implementing AI into cars. These cars are becoming more developed and advertised within American communities, and the cars are the topic of debate within the scientific and ethical-based philosophical communities. As society continues to develop AI, humans are becoming more obsolete. When people become more obsolete, they become unable to contribute to society due to the lack of activity. This is an issue that
Knowledge is a very powerful device to possess. How one deals with the knowledge they have can impact his or her life greatly, along with the lives of those around them. The weight and responsibility that comes with knowledge is strongly portrayed in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The motif of irresponsibility in the pursuit of knowledge can be seen through the character of Victor Frankenstein.
Quote: He stated “I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures such as no language can describe…..I shunned the face of man; all sound of joy or complacency was torture to me; solitude was my only consolation–deep, dark, deathlike solitude.”(Page 88).
For as long as man has encompassed this world, the divisive enigma of humanity has prevailed. Seeping its way into each generation, while sparking heated conversations, it has become evident that there is much we do not know about what truly makes us human. Regardless of our genetic composition, philosophers often ponder the deeper meaning of humanity. We know that, biologically, recreating the genetic makeup of a human does not yield humanity, so what is the missing aspect? Humans -have the ability to contemplate their own existence in this world. Awareness of existence. This driving force enables us to analyze situations while placing ourselves within them. Our involuntary ability to understand the impact of our actions and the affect they have on others causes us to be inherently human. Our actions evoke strong emotions within us that allow us to learn through our experiences. We retain the resonated feelings of certain occurrences and apply them to others in order to deduce outcomes. Often this facet of mankind is taken for granted, yet we are reminded, through both literature and hypothetical scenarios, of its importance. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, constitutes as one of these profound reminders. Shelley develops a theoretical story in which the humanity of Frankenstein’s monster is questioned. Despite having the accurate organs and framework of a human, Shelley causes the reader to seek the missing aspect that is preventing the monster from being human. Likewise,
Shelley addresses romantic conventions in Victor to convey his loss of identity. Victor is impatient and restless when constructing the creation, so much, that he does not think about it’s future repercussions. One of the great paradoxes that Shelley’s novel depicts is giving the monster more human attributes than to it’s creator [p. 6 - Interpretations]. This is true as the monster seeks an emotional bond, but Victor is terrified of it’s existence. The monster later reveals, “I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurred at and kicked and trampled on [Shelley, p. 224].” Victor’s lack of compassion is rooted from the inability to cope with his reality. He distances himself from others and is induced with fainting spells [Shelley, p. 59]. From this, the nameless creature exemplifies Victor’s attempt to abandon his creation to escape his responsibilities. His creation is described as, ‘wretched devil’ and ‘abhorred monster,’ eliciting that the unobtainable, pitied identity [Shelley, p. 102]. The act of not naming the creature reveals Victor as hateful, and unnaturally disconnected to his own created victim.
In Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, the creation, made from scraps of corpses, was built by Victor Frankenstein, a man fascinated and obsessed with the knowledge of life. Following the creation’s rouse, Victor immediately abandons him with no desire on keeping or teaching his new being. Because of his lack of nourishment and direction “growing up”, the creation goes through a process of self-deception. He endures a period of deceit by believing that he is a normal human being like everyone around him. But as time progresses, he learns to accept how he is alone in this world and disconnected with everyone. Because of the creation’s lack of guidance and isolation, he grows up feeling unwanted.
Throughout the novel, “Frankenstein,” the “monster” was seen as hideous. As a result, many including the creator himself did not give the “monster” a chance and portrayed him as evil. Rather than looking at his personality, they looked at his outward appearance, which scared them off and made them assume he was a “monster.” When readers, including myself, read this story, we feel disappointed about how during this time everything revolved based upon looks and not on what really mattered like charisma. Overall he is portrayed as an evil, scary creature. When Victor describes him he is so harsh and cruel it makes him seem to be a monster. “He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks,” (Shelley 59) this phrase proves how when Victor describes the monster he did not care to think about what the monster was trying to say because he was too scared of his horrible looks.
Human Nature can be defined as “the ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are common to most people”. Many people are attracted to compassion and sympathy through the love of a person whom cares very deeply about them. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the three main characters Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein and Frankenstein (The Monster) are shown throughout the story, longing and in search for a companion. Throughout the story, the characters struggle with the battle of wanting either sympathy or compassion from a person or both. Mary Shelley shows the true indication of Human Nature by showing the importance of sympathy and compassion through the main character’s desires and pain.
We react with ambivalence to this question because we have been exposed to both sides of the story, which is a rarity in most cases. Shelley represents the creature as truly monstrous and evil through the eyes of Victor Frankenstein, which gives readers the opportunity to view Frankenstein as the hero. It is only when we read the creature’s account that we began to feel both sympathy and even empathy for the struggles he has encountered. The creature never asked to be born and continually suffers at the hands of other throughout the novel. It is hard not to feel sympathy with someone who is so childlike and “new” to the world. Especially when the creature cries out in agony: “‘Cursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God in pity made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of your’s, more horrid from its very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and detested’” (Shelley, 91). The creature also goes on to say: “‘Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?’” (Shelley, 95). How could one not feel sympathy for someone who hated themselves? Humans have experienced such feelings of loneliness and isolation. The creature even says that Satan, of all people, had friends, but he is so hideous that he is utterly alone in the world. All
For years, people have thought of Frankenstein as the monster, though the idea could be easily understood, Frankenstein is truly the doctor. The cunning mind behind Dr. Frankenstein and his gruesome monster is an author known by the name of Mary Shelley. Mary Shelley faced many despair filled moments throughout her life, events including, miscarriages, suicides, and affairs. These events marked the beginning of Frankenstein and with it a new era of writing.
To say that fiction or fantasy relies solely on the imagination, would lessen the importance that the personal lives of many fantasy writers plays on the conception of a story. For Mary Shelley, her life was the basis and inspiration, maybe subconsciously, of her very first, and arguably most famous novel, Frankenstein. Through the influences of people and events, Mary Shelley was able to write about friendship and alienation in Frankenstein.
One of the greatest pieces of literature during the Romantic Period is the novel, Frankenstein. This intelligent work of art was written by Mary Shelley. Shelley was born in London on August 30th, 1797 and died on February 1, 1851. People from all around the world have heard about the monster created by the one and only Victor Frankenstein; also known as the world’s maddest scientist that has ever lived in the fictional world. As many people do not know, Mary Shelley subtitled her book “Or, The Modern Prometheus?” This gothic novel is similar to that of the story about the Greek god Prometheus. Readers are given reasons to assume that her story might have something to do with the Greek myth about the titan named Prometheus.
Professor is the “I” in this story revealing his characteristic both directly and indirectly. “My first concern was to look for ship” shows his affection toward ship or might be related to money as ship is expensive. Also, through scene where he extricate the monster that rammed them in 11 o’clock by swimming for eight hours, his characteristic of not giving up and eagerness for life are revealed. Furthermore, from the fact that Ned saved him and acted as he response professor, it represents he was communal between people. Additionally, he is brave and goes for to find solution for his situation. When Ned and professor discovered immense half-submerged creature, professor touched and searched without knowing what that is. This inters that professor
Science is the knowledge gained by a systematic study, knowledge which then becomes facts or principles. In the systematic study; the first step is observation, the second step hypothesis, the third step experimentation to test the hypothesis, and lastly the conclusion whether or not the hypothesis holds true. These steps have been ingrained into every student of science, as the basic pathway to scientific discovery. This pathway holds not decision as to good or evil intention of the experiment. Though, there are always repercussions of scientific experiments. They range from the most simplistic realizations of the difference between acid and water to the principle that Earth is not the center of
Introduction: Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a book with a deep message that touches to the very heart. This message implies that the reader will not see the story only from the perspective of the narrator but also reveal numerous hidden opinions and form a personal interpretation of the novel. One of its primary statements is that no one is born a monster and a “monster” is created throughout socialization, and the process of socialization starts from the contact with the “creator”. It is Victor Frankenstein that could not take the responsibility for his creature and was not able to take care of his “child”. Pride and vanity were the qualities that directed Victor Frankenstein to his discovery of life: “...So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein-more, far more, will I achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation”[p.47]. He could not cope with this discovery and simply ignored it. The tragedy of Victor Frankenstein and the tragedy of his creature is the same – it is the tragedy of loneliness and confronting the world, trying to find a place in it and deserve someone’s love. The creature would have never become a monster if it got the love it strived for. Victor Frankenstein would have never converted his creature into a monster if he knew how to love and take responsibility for the ones we bring to this world.