
How Frankenstein’s Monster Became Human - mr_golyadkin
https://newrepublic.com/article/134271/frankensteins-monster-became-human
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firasd
I really like this essay on the general theme (referencing Frankenstein, Blade
Runner, Her, Ex Machina, Paradise Lost, Prometheus, etc.):
[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/06/04/robots-are-
winnin...](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/06/04/robots-are-winning/)

Perfect quote from 'Ex Machina' that captures the dilemma: “It’s strange to
have made something that hates you.”

What's interesting is how similarities in these narratives span ancient Greek
ideas (Prometheus) to Genesis to Christ-like figures. Consider how Robocop is
cruelly killed then 'resurrects'... There is also the childbirth angle
mentioned in this article.

~~~
x5n1
> “It’s strange to have made something that hates you.”

Welcome to the world of being a parent.

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zappo2938
"One can’t help noting how often in the novel physical beauty is assumed to be
an indication of good character, while ugliness is the manifestation of some
moral flaw. This seemingly superficial but sadly accurate observation of how
humans make judgments will become all the more important as the book
progresses and as the monster—whose ugliness, size, and obvious abnormality
are ultimately what make him a pariah—takes over the narrative and tells his
own sad tale."

This makes us wonder who the real monster is?

~~~
firasd
Harold Bloom (spoilers?):

 _" As the hideousness of his creature was no part of Victor Frankenstein's
intention, it is worth noticing how this disastrous matter came to be. It
would not be unjust to characterize Victor Frankenstein, in his act of
creation, as being momentarily a moral idiot, like so many who have done his
work after him... As he works on, he allows himself to dream that "a new
species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent
natures would owe their being to me."

Yet he knows his is a "workshop of filthy creation," and he fails the
fundamental test of his own creativity. When the "dull yellow eye" of his
creature opens, this creator falls from the autonomy of a supreme artificer to
the terror of a child of earth: "breathless horror and disgust filled my
heart." He flees his responsibility and sets in motion the events that will
lead to his own Arctic immolation, a fit end for a being whom has never
achieved a full sense of another's existence."_

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theoh
Tendentious. "Children of earth" need not be terrified, and supreme artificers
need not be arrogant.

~~~
firasd
Maybe, but I like Bloom's point that Victor Frankenstein wasn't ready to be
responsible for the burden of creation, underscoring the question of who the
real monster is in this tale.

~~~
theoh
Amen.

