Hsc Frankenstein Essay

Authors’ desire to convey the meanings of their texts are influenced by the era in which they live. However, the themes about human nature will remain timeless and universal as they examine and critically inquire into the follies of greed, ambition and moral corruption. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein illustrates the innate and insatiable appetite for knowledge and the according descent to blindness and self-loathing. In a similar fashion, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner touches on Shelley’s notions of the danger of human enterprise and the uncontrollable impetus of scientific evolution. The two texts, despite having a century in between, similarly exemplify the consequences of playing God, and entice the audience to evaluate what it truly means to be a human being. Both texts vividly demonstrate that the essence of humanity lies not in the desire to achieve a sense of well-being but in the persistent willingness to allow the darker side of human nature to take a hold of one self.

Both Frankenstein and Blade Runner portray how the ambition to redefine human limitations is bound to result in failure, and accordingly spawn monstrosity. Frankenstein’s Creature is the very embodiment of the monstrosity that humans are capable of creating. The symbolism of light in, “until from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me” conveys Victor’s instinctive awakening to the possibility of creating a perfect being impervious to diseases. Such a taboo act of trespassing the domain of the divine providence signifies the beginning of Frankenstein’s blindness. He is quick to realise that he has created a monster, as shown by the regretful tone in, “I beheld the wretch – the miserable monster whom I had created”. This depicts that untamed human ambition can lead to the inadvertent creation of the ‘grotesque’.
Similarly in Blade Runner, the human ambition to create a better society has apparently ended in utter failure. If Frankenstein is a forewarning of the dangers of human ambition, Blade Runner portrays the aftermath of the over-ambitious quest for knowledge whereby the dystopian world of the future demonstrates that the damage has already been done. The opening scene of the film employs a long shot that provides a panorama of the cityscape in which a myriad of buildings crowd the mise-en-scene. Such technological subjugation signifies that the human enterprise has gone too far, resulting in complete annihilation of nature. Appropriately, the human beings in this alternate future seem artificial and lacking humanity. Both Frankenstein and Blade Runner warn the audience about the danger of human ambition which holds the capacity for not only devastating the environment but also humanity itself.

The transition from Romanticism to Post-modernism is explicitly illustrated through the comparison of Frankenstein and Blade Runner. Written in the Romantic era, the Creature of Frankenstein demonstrates the return of Romanticism which comes into conflict with the human enterprise of science. The Creature’s appreciation of nature through the joyful tone in, “The blessed sun bestowed such joy upon me” conveys the irony of how he is more attuned to nature than his human counterparts who have been blinded by their scientific endeavours. Similarly in Blade Runner, Roy’s nostalgic tone in, “…shoulder of Orion. I watched sea beams glitter in the dark” parallels the Creature’s appreciation of nature. Humans, in contrast, have become incapable of acknowledging the wonders of the natural world. The quixotic relationship between the creations and the natural world is illustrated as a nurturing and nourishing aspect of life that has been completely overlooked by humanity. Even as the Creature voices his hatred towards human race, “I... bore a hell within me; and, finding myself unsympathised with…” he finds salvation in the warm embrace of Mother Nature, as signified by his vivacious tone in, “The pleasant sunshine…restored me to some degree of tranquillity”.
This sense of Romanticism is juxtaposed with the post-modern setting of Blade Runner, as depicted by the establishing shot of the artificial lights throughout the cityscape and the dominance of technology. The obsession with science renders human beings more mechanical, more isolated and more morbid, as exemplified by Deckard, Tyrell and Sebastian; for example, the long shot of J.F Sebastian’s apartment with his toys highlights his detachment from human contact and thus conveys the notion that friendship is substituted by ‘soulless’ products of consumerism. The Creature and the Replicants are exemplars of the return of Romanticism which contrasts with the post-modernist propensity of the human protagonists.

The folly of moral corruption is similarly exemplified in Frankenstein and Blade Runner, as both the creations try to integrate into the society but is viciously rejected by the humans. The beginning of Frankenstein’s abhorrence towards his creation accounted by the disgusted tone, “A mummy again endued with animation could not be as hideous as that wretch” highlights the forfeiture of humanity and how the creator’s denial of his creation signifies the immoral abandonment of his parental duty. Similarly in Blade Runner, the aftermath of this rejection is evinced through Roy’s emphatic tone in, “That’s what it is to be a slave” which effectively communicates the Replicants’ despair and misery that has overwhelmed them to the point where they no longer desire to exact their vengeance upon the human race.
Just like the Creature in Frankenstein, Roy also demonstrates an innate placidity of character. The master/slave dichotomy is effectively conveyed through the comparison of the creations and the humans who have so cruelly rejected them. The Creature’s disconsolate tone in, “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live?” effectively evinces the inner psychological turmoil he experiences; however, this is slowly transitioned into a forgiving tone in, “I could not help believing that I have been too hasty in my conclusions” which illustrates that it is the Creature’s nature to forgive while it is the humans who demonstrate monstrosity. This irony lies in the fact that the creations are more ‘human’ than their creators, which is further evidenced by Tyrell’s motto, “More human than human”. In the pursuit of knowledge and evolution, human beings lost sight of the fundamental conditions of humanity.

Both Shelley and Scott draws upon the societal concerns of their times; the central characters warn us of the consequences of overstepping our boundaries and unbridled technological advancement. The two texts critically inquire into the human capacity to commit heinous atrocities in the name of ‘progress.’ It becomes evident that despite their contextual differences, both texts are linked through their common concerns about our inherent readiness to abandon that which distinguishes humans from all other species: the will to suppress our primal impulses of immorality.