“It Is Not Good That The Man Should Be Alone…” (Genesis 2)
I love the book Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus written by Mary Shelley in 1818. Recently I was thinking about the comparison of Shelley’s Frankenstein and the story of Genesis in the Bible. The reference to the Modern Prometheus is a bit obtuse. The reference is interesting, but not very compelling. In the Greek myth, Prometheus played the role of God by creating humans from clay but that is as close as it gets to Genesis 2 in the Bible “Then the Lord God formed a man [c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
The role of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, an epic poem written in 1667, plays a far more prominent role in Shelley’s Frankenstein. Milton’s poem reinterprets the biblical story of Adam and Eve. It relates how they were created and how they came to lose their place in the Garden of Eden, also called Paradise. The rest is history and one does not need to read the poem consisting of 12 books containing over 10,000 lines of blank verse.
In Shelley’s Frankenstein, Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s ambition to bestow life upon a creature of his own making mimics the God of Genesis and of Paradise Lost. When the monster begins life, his mind is blank, like an empty page, “No distinct ideas occupied my mind; all was confused” (Shelly, chap. 11). Point by point, the novel portrays Dr. Frankenstein as a monstrous inversion of the biblical God. Whereas the God of the Bible cares for his creations, Dr. Frankenstein heartlessly abandons his. It is precisely this abandonment—not only on the part of Frankenstein but of society as a whole—that turns Frankenstein’s Creature into a Monster.
In contrast to Frankenstein’s comfort with living an isolated life, the Creature yearns for human compassion and friendship. After acquiring language and observing the De Lacey family, his intentions are pure; he is unaware of his deformity and is still intellectually an infant. When he flees and hides in a shack outside the house of the De Lacey family, he comes across a copy of Paradise Lost and reads it. He sees himself as a modern Adam, but realizes his condition is different from Adam, who was “a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the special care of his Creator” (Shelley chap. 15).
After silently observing the loving DeLacey family, the Creature decided to go to the cottage after the children leave where he befriends the patriarch of the cottage, who is blind. When the man’s children return, the son beats the Creature and he runs away. Through this experience, the Creature realizes he was originally innocent and capable of caring for others, but society, beginning with Frankenstein himself, turn him into the Monster by rejecting him.
In desperation the Creature tells Dr. Frankenstein: “You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being. This you alone can do, and I demand it of you as a right which you must not refuse to concede.” (Shelley chap. 17). The Creature’s demand for a companion, as well as Frankenstein’s eventual agreement to meet it, follow God’s realization that “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Gen 2:18).
Dr Victor Frankenstein’s fatal flaw is not just creating life but failing to nurture it. The creator and the Creature both suffer self-imposed or societal isolation. The Creature determines that his violent actions are the result of loneliness and lack of companionship. The importance of love and community to each other is born out in the sad story of Frankenstein’s Creature. This is a long story to emphasize how our church family provides the safe, nurturing environment Jesus (God) created for us to flourish and grow in. And as a faith community, we reach out and share this love with those in need, regardless of their appearance, origin, or language. Amen!
AFTERWORD:
As I was doing my research for this essay, I kept finding myself humming “Puttin on the Ritz” (thanks to Peter Boyle and Mel Brooks /Young Frankenstein”). I stayed on topic, but I want to finish by sharing my favorite quotes from Young Frankenstein that I almost interjected into the essay, but then thought better:
Igor: “Walk zis vay”
Igor: “Wait Master, it might be dangerous... you go first.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [pauses] “Abby someone. Abby who?”
Igor: “Abby... Normal.”
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: “Put the candle back.”
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: “You must be Igor.” [He pronounces it ee-gor]
Igor: No, it’s pronounced “eye-gor.”
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [singing] If you’re blue, and you don’t know where to go to, why don’t you go where fashion sits...
The Monster: “UTTIN’ ON THE ‘IIIIITZ.
Eileen Brogan