The desire to succeed interferes with being happy. A person can get lost in the process of solving a problem so intently that they forget those around them, to eat and even where they are. In Mary Shelley's horrific Frankenstein an example is the character of Victor, whose unnatural pursuit of knowledge, of discovering how to create the perfect being, is so extreme that he loses himself in his creation. Frankenstein follows the story of the brilliant Victor and his many achievements, which go astray after he brings to life a creature in order to sate his own curiosity about the "mysteries" of life. It becomes difficult to picture Victor as a human being because he attains in-human qualities like the ability to go countless hours without eating
Additionally, Ridley Scott’s feature film Blade Runner depicts a dystopian world devastated by capitalism, greed and technology which were primary concerns in the context of the 1980’s. Through both these texts similar concerns of the future we are able to understand and bring to the forefront the two different contexts. Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein portrays her contextual concerns through a novel that incorporated letters and stories of characters going through other characters such as Walton’s sister being told the storey of Victor and the monster from letter’s from Walton. The writing of letters in Shelly’s context was one of the most reliable forms of communication. This helps us to understand that because they were using the most reliable communication technique then the information in the letters would seem reliable.
He leaves the ship and departs into the darkness. The ending of this story is very believeable because from reading the novel, you could tell that even though the monster killed all of Victor's family, and through all of the evil actions that the monster made were only to get his creator to love him through his hideous looks and love him even though everybody else wouldn't, and when Victor died, all of the monster's TRUE feelings came
Later, however, the author uses the same description for his creator Victor as he soon becomes “so miserable a wretch”, demonstrating how they ultimately face the same fate. One may also recognise that both Frankenstein and the creature seem to share a strong need for the support and love of a family. Even though Victor often acts quite egoistical, he sincerely loves his family. Without them, he feels life is pointless, which is evident when he contemplates suicide, “I was tempted to plunge into the silent lake”, but he decides against it as it would cause too much pain for his loved ones, “But I was restrained, when I thought of the heroic and suffering Elizabeth”. There are also parallels and opposites in terms of the experiences
It keeps posing questions such as, “What does it mean to be a monster” or “What does it mean to be human?”. The irony in Blade Runner is the blade runners (supposedly humans) act in an inhumane manner, “retiring” replicants due to their developments of human characteristics. Where as Roy (a replicant) performs a great act of mercy, sparing Deckard’s life. Roy appears “…more human than human…” (Tyrell Corporations motto) in his empathy and compassion. While in Frankenstein the creature’s fate is chosen with his appearance and societies prejudice.
In the novel Frankenstein we see Victor’s technological ambition turn into repulsion as the creation of the monster help him realize the magnitude of his mistakes. “The beauty of my dream vanished, breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”, this shows that Victor was blinded by his ambition and by giving up morality and using technology for his own selfish needs he was not able to foresee the inevitable horrid consequences. On the other hand in Blade Runner the ethical issues of science and technologies are not only portrayed through the creation of the replicants but also by the destruction of nature and its environments. During the beginning of the movie a camera shot from above shows a dark, industrialized city filled with fiery explosions while ominous music is played in the background, the image of the city and non-dijectic sounds portray and emphasise how society has lost sight of what really matters and no longer prioritize
Frankenstein and Bladerunner challenges the notions of “men of genius” and raises the critical concern of the dangers of obtaining and acting upon scientific knowledge. It questions how these men of genius can allow themselves to free reign to experiment and interfere with the mysteries of life itself. This can be seen as a ‘Prometheus linking’ motif as both scientists Victor and Tyrrell strive for perfection and are unconcerned with the
Inhumanity and monstrosity is depicted in Frankenstein, through the characters of Victor and the creature, whom can be perceived as doppelgangers. Initially the creature is seen as physically horrifying, which is expressed through description, the hyperbole “his face was wrinkled into contortions too horrible for human eyes to behold,” but is initially benevolent until contact with civilisation transformed him into a vengeful murderer. This also evokes Rousseau’s Romantic theory of the noble savage; that man’s existence is superior amongst nature, when he is not exposed to the malicious influences of society. Towards the end of the novel, Victor is also seen to be a monster, as he did not take responsibility for his creation, which leads to his realisation, “I, not in deed, but in effect, was the true murderer.” This is also a similar case for Tyrell in Blade Runner; however, he does not feel guilt for the treatment and injustice of his replicants. “Commerce is our goal,” is his slogan, depicting his greed and inhumanity, which is reflective of the economically driven 20th century.
In the original Frankenstein the monster is sensitive and intelligent being but due to a sense of abandonment becomes biter and murderous. Many adaptations strip away his human qualities and made him appear as a terrifying killing machine such as the 1931 movie “Frankenstein” directed by James Whale. The first film adaptation was brought to the silver screen in 1910, however the most well known image of the monster from the 1931 film adaptation. Boris Karloff played the monster and his version has forever been the image we now know today. Multiple sequels and adaptations were made and many parodies such as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, “Bride of Frankenstein”, and “Kyofu Densetsu: Furankenshutain (The Monster of Frankenstein).” Even people who have never seen or read an adaptation of Frankenstein would still likely share the general assumption of who Frankenstein is and what he looks like.
In the novel and in the film, there are many differences in the character, Dr. Victor Frankenstein. In the novel Frankenstein wants to create life because he is infatuated with the idea of doing what hasn’t been done before. When the creation finally comes alive, Frankenstein is proud, but shortly after the creations “birth” he finds it hideous and scary: “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! - Great God!