More than 150 years have passed since the peak of the romantic era. The world has inconceivably reached heights unknown seemingly at the expense of nature. The very paper that this has been written on has come at the killing of countless trees. It seems that in the war between the genius against the noble savage, the scientist against the romantic, man against nature, those who believe in nature have lost all the battles. However war is not always starkly clear. The complex relation between man and nature creates a base for conflicts and resolutions between human and nature in Frankenstein by Mary Shelly and the film Beasts of the Southern Wild. Despite seeming to be on the losing foot, it is nature that wins the war ultimately. Both the …show more content…
film and the novel depict man as being initially in harmony with nature. However man’s strong desire to take everything at his reach disrupts the scale. In the ages of Enlightment and Modern Era, man seeks light on matters that are covered with darkness by nature.
The heart of the Enlightenment was a country of “eternal light”(Shelly 106) . This strive for light is seen in Frankentein’s protagonist Victor, who seeks to do what no man has done before, attempting to “pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation”(Shelley 38). This desire violates the nature of nature, which is often mysterious and unknown. In his quest for light he razes the boundary between life and death, creating a monster from death. This is not only a serious blow to nature, but also throws the world into chaos. Likewise in the film Beasts of the Southern Wild ( hitherto referred as Beasts) mankind beyond the Bathtub is perceived as greedy and non respectful of nature. Humans have built vast walls that stop the flow of water and have cut down forests to create factories. By building the dam they have directly stopped nature’s inherent course. The noble savages of the Beasts Wink and Hushpuppy “stare out at the distant factories behind the wall with a peaceful and confident disdain” (Beasts) referring to how “they're[man beyond the bathtub] afraid of the water like a bunch of babies” (Beasts). The commentary emphasizes how Wink and Hushpuppy believe it is foolish to reject nature and that the substitutes for nature are unsatisfactory. The removal of nature sets the world into total …show more content…
chaos. The first skirmishes of the war have seemingly left nature wounded and deprived the world of equilibrium.
Not only man destroys nature, he also destroys important benefits, nurturing and enjoyment nature provides him. Both the film and the novel show the complex nurturing aspect of nature to humans. Nature has provided a bounty of nurturing to the characters across all spectrums. Victor delights in “the sublime shape of the mountains; the changes of the seasons” (Shelly 18). However when he defies nature and it’s laws he is described as “deathly ill”(Shelly 39) and insensible to the “charms of nature”(Shelly 36). By creating the monster he no longer receives the benefits of nature and it becomes clear that science or natural philosophy cannot cure his sickness. When he recovers, it is not long before both his brother and Justine are dead at the hands of his creation. He is devastated and deeply traumatized. This trauma leads to the loss of his innocence, as he acknowledges that the deaths were “hapless victims to my unhallowed arts” (Shelley 60). In guilt he flees to the mountains where "The weight upon my spirit was sensibly lightened as I plunged yet deeper in the ravine of Arve”. Upon realization of what he has done, once more he can enjoy the beauty of nature. Man is made to naturally adapt to nature. The absence of nature, allows for man to be devoid of innocence. Similarly when the actions of man and the storm unleash the aurochs, nature nurtures and gives joy.
When the sea levels rise and engulf the Bathtub, Hushpuppy loses her connection to nature. There are no longer animal’s to listen to. Nature seems near dead, with the exception of the aurochs. She is removed from the Bathtub forcefully and is sent to a refugee camp. It is here, no longer protected by nature that her innocence is stripped away finally, upon the news of her father’s impending death. . She is traumatized further, when the clothes that she has bore all the film are removed and replaced, almost symbolizing the loss of what has made her. The new blouse while making her fit in is described as “jarring”(Beasts). For her it seems as nature has proven to be a far greater parent than man. So long as nature is available, man can preserve his innocence, upon it’s removal man is no longer protected. The chaos stemmed fully from the rejection of nature. At the last moment nature is said to persevere restoring order to the Nature finally begins to persevere, due to boundaries being reestablished. Nature encourages Victor and his monster to fight, whenever Victor suffers from thirst “ A cloud appeared and shed a few drops that revived me”(Shelly 141). By pitting the monster and Victor against each other, nature sets the stage for the boundary between life and death to be restored. Indeed, Victor suffers death at the hands of his monster, and the monster presumably kills himself. Nature also play a role in restoring order in the beasts. The aurochs, who symbolize death force Hushpuppy to become strong. “They are a biblical terror;the horsemen of the apocalypse(Beasts).” Despite the auroch’s characterstics, she manages to face them and acknowledge that they are her friends, not just because each are at the verge of being extinct, but also they have helped her grow. As the King of the Bathtub we see her leading the Bathtub into the uncertain future,. = Equilibrium will always be restored to the perfection point. Upon turmoil and chaos, order is restored. Even should a forest be burnt down, it will re-grow to become even greater. Life on earth has existed for over 970 million years, and will continue to perfect and adapt striving to new heights. It almost seems that the process of man interfering with nature is actually quite natural in itself.
Nature is a dominant theme throughout the romanticism period, which was at its peak between the 1800s and 1850. The novel Frankenstein, which was written by Mary Shelly was written in 1818, and the poem A Cottage in Grasmere Vale written by Dorothy Wordsworth was written in 1805, both the novel and the poem were written during the peak of the romanticism era, which would enlighten the clear evidence of nature throughout both pieces. Dorothy was William Wordsworth’s sister, who was always close with her brother. Nature is described as ‘the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations’ In this essay I will discuss the key elements of nature and the natural world in Frankenstein and A Cottage in Grasmere Vale. Dorothy lived in Grasmere in the
At the beginning or the story, Victor lives in ecstasy, reveling in life’s every joy. Desolation and darkness no doubt had minor roles in his life, but these were glanced over in an instant, as Victor was remembering the times as good and perfect. The harsh dichotomy of this perspective and the perspective he maintained for the majority of the novel after the creation of the creature is stunning. After, he saw the world as always filled with darkness and loneliness. He even stated that he almost caught himself feeling happiness at one point and stopped himself. This distortion that the world became a fruitless wasteland is simply untrue, but it sheds light on how totally our feeling twist our perception of the world. By shoeing the polar opposites, the novel further emphasizes how our outlook on life shapes what we see in the world around us, for better or for
There is no doubt that children have a very innocent mind and it is not as easy for them to understand unfortunate events. Though they are still affected by things such as the death of a family member, natural disasters and circumstances of that kind. In the film Beasts of The Southern Wild, Hushpuppy faces a few fatalities which are approached using coping methods. These methods are found in the BASIC Ph Coping Model developed by Dr. Mooli Lahad who is the director of the Community Stress Prevention Center in Qiryat Shmona in Israel. Hushpuppy’s relationships with adults, her mom and also her dad, can easily be linked to some of these coping methods.
Although the texts show a difference in societal values, both explore similar aspects of humanity to show that human nature is perpetual regardless of context. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley scrutinizes the Enlightenment era’s pursuit for progress and knowledge as it is seen as morally chaotic for overstepping the natural order idealised by the Romantics. Victor F’Stein’s ambition to overpower the boundaries of nature by attempting to take up God’s role as the creator is enunciated in the metaphor “many excellent natures should owe their being to me”. Victor’s hubris and ambition reflects aspects of the Enlightenment – Shelley criticises the attempts of the age to control and empower natural processes, embodied in Galvani’s experimentation with animal electricity. Victor F’Stein represents humanity’s hubristic ambitions and fondness for knowledge.
Throughout the Romanticism period, human’s connection with nature was explored as writers strove to find the benefits that humans receive through such interactions. Without such relationships, these authors found that certain aspects of life were missing or completely different. For example, certain authors found death a very frightening idea, but through the incorporation of man’s relationship with the natural world, readers find the immense utility that nature can potentially provide. Whether it’d be as solace, in the case of death, or as a place where one can find oneself in their own truest form, nature will nevertheless be a place where they themselves were derived from. Nature is where all humans originated,
In today’s world of genetically engineered hearts and genetically altered glowing rats, the story of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, seems as if it could be seen in the newspapers in our near future. The discoveries seen in modern science, as well as in the novel, often have controversy and negative consequences that follow them, the biggest of which being the responsibility the creator of life has to what has been created. Victor Frankenstein suffers from a variety of internal and external conflicts stemming from the creation of his monster, which in return also experiences similar problems. Shelley uses these tumultuous issues to portray the discrepancies between right and wrong, particularly through romanticism and the knowledge of science.
Frankenstein, like other English Romantics, placed great emphasis on the power of nature. The Arve Ravine, and the Valley of Chamounix exemplify the harmony and beautiful serenity of nature, and add to the romantic quality of the novel while sharply contrasting with the chaos of Victor's troubled mind. The Romantic movement can be seen as a protest against the rapid industrialization that was occurring in England at the time of Frankenstein's publication. While many interpretations are plausible, the novel depicts the fear that technology (and the human obsession with technology) would ultimately prove disastrous. The characters of Walton and Frankenstein are shaped by Romantic idealism, as manifested in their ...
...ce breeching comfortable or natural boundaries is something which still causes instinctive unease in the majority of people. That human instinct is exactly what Shelley demonstrated Frankenstein was lacking. It was his abscission from every natural feeling, the understanding of human emotion on more than just a rational level that allowed Frankenstein to create the monster. This parallel between 19th and 20th Century response gives equal if not greater relevance to the novel's themes to modern day. The arsenal of knowledge now available to mankind to commit moral atrocities is even more extensive than in the era which provoked Mary Shelley's cautioning book. Frankenstein has removed the element of glory from succeeding in pushing the boundaries of science, instilling in the reader a greater respect for the true power of nature and for man?s inability to control it.
When Victor goes to college and his interest in science and nature grows, his curiosity to find the secret of immortality causes him to want to create a creature and bring it to life. Victor starts to create his unnatural work hoping that it will bring success in the future, “I prepared myself for a multitude of reverses; my operations might be incessantly baffled, and at last my work be imperfect, yet when I considered the improvement which every day takes place in science and mechanics, I was encouraged to hope my present attempts would at least lay the foundations of future success.” (43). Victor states his concerns about what he plans to do but dismisses them based on the importance he places on his work. For that reason, he starts to meddle with nature to create something no one can do but God. Finally, when Victor completes his creation, the monster, he realizes that he has made a serious mistake by interfering with nature, “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (47). He thinks he has achieved this beautiful dream of creating a life, but now that he has, all he can see is an ugly monster. Trying to take on divine creation fails and instead of beauty, all Victor can create is something horrifying. Therefore, disrupting with nature is a trait that proves Victor is the true monster because it is a limit that no human should overstep. Eventually, it will come to a miserable
In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, there are many themes, symbols, and motifs that are found throughout the novel. For my journal response, I have chosen to discuss nature as a prevalent symbol in the book. The main character, Montag, lives in a society where technology is overwhelmingly popular, and nature is regarded as an unpredictable variable that should be avoided. Technology is used to repress the citizens, but the oppression is disguised as entertainment, like the TV parlour. On the opposite end of the spectrum, nature is viewed as boring and dull, but it is a way to escape the brainwashing that technology brings. People who enjoy nature are deemed insane and are forced to go into therapy. Clarisse says “My psychiatrist wants to know why I go out and hike around in the forests and watch the birds and collect butterflies,” (Bradbury 23) which shows she is a threat to the control that the government has put upon the people by enjoying nature.
Victor Frankenstein and his creation are alike in several ways, one of them being their appreciation of nature. Victor embraces the nature for the quick moment that he escapes the creature as it “filled me with a sublime ecstasy that gave wings to the soul and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to light and joy” (Shelley 84). Vict...
This paper will concentrate on the definition of human nature, the controversy of morality and science, the limits to scientific inquiry, and how this novel ties in with today’s world. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein expresses human nature specifically through the character of the “Creature” and its development. The Creature has an opportunity to explore his surroundings, and in doing so he learns that human nature is to run away from something so catastrophic in looks. The Creature discovers that he must limit himself in what he does due to the response of humans because of his deformities. I feel that Mary Shelley tries to depict human nature as running away from the abnormal, which results in alienation of the “abnormal.”
“Nature’s creative power is far beyond man’s instinct of destruction,” remarks Jules Verne. Nature’s unpredictable destruction seems to be something man cannot control. The main character, Paul, and his friends put up a constant struggle against Mother Nature, but the latter always wins. In the novel Tangerine, Edward Bloor arrays Mother Nature is stronger than man displayed through Nature’s Power.
Given the deep ties to nature that Mary Shelley explores within Frankenstein, the principles and methodology of ecocriticism can be applied in many different ways. The interaction of humanity and nature is a concept explored throughout the novel, relating directly to a core tenet of ecocriticism, "directly relat[ing] who we are as human beings to the environment" (Bressler 231). Being as there is no "single, dominant methodology" (235) within ecocriticism, the extent to which we can use ecocriticism to interact with Frankenstein contains considerable depth. However, I will look to a few main methodologies of ecocriticism to look at Frankenstein in detail to uncover how the novel deals with the changing attitudes of humanity and nature in early 19th century England.
Nature is the basis of everything that is on our own earth and beyond the limits of our universe.. It is through nature that we are able to exist in the first place, and it is through nature that we can continue to live. In “King Lear” by William Shakespeare and “A Thousand Acres” by Jane Smiley, the authors both illustrate just how important nature really is in the world through actions of Goneril and Ginny. Even though “A Thousand Acres” is a modern retelling of the famous “King Lear,” both authors bring out the elements of nature, which in turn echoes the themes of both the play and the novel.