Butterfly Effect In Frankenstein

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, raises some questions about the nature of life and of society as a whole; the issue of whether or not a decision, small or otherwise, affects the outcome of one’s life as a whole is one to draw upon. Another way to put this is if there is a way to take all of the events of the story and file them down to the character decisions, and trace where a series of events begin with a decision a character made. Why this is relevant to the context of the story? It is relevant because it shows how even the smallest of character moments could lead to catastrophic events such as those in this novel. This is important to people, especially in our generation, to think about our decisions and how they affect our lives and those

around us. The smallest of choices can create a grand impact on our existence and how others remember us; our main character, Victor, is very familiar with this concept. Victor’s, and other characters’, decisions led to specific outcomes; these outcomes can be backed by scientific proof, the idea of “chaos,” and basic common sense. With these parts, one can ensure that the proof they need can be found in uncommon places, like in the realm of scientific proof.
The effect of small decisions leading to bigger and impactful outcomes can be derived from scientific proof.

This proof is called the “Butterfly Effect.” The Butterfly Effect was formed during the calculations of weather patterns; one tiny variable was changed within the calculations and it completely changed the result. The man responsible for this was a man by the name of Edward Lorenz who discovered this phenomenon (Dizikes). This made scientists want to study this phenomenon further. They applied it to many situations including those that involved decision making. For instance, Edward met a man named Emanuel in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Lorenz attempted to awaken a pack of coyotes, but was unsuccessful; a friend of Emanuel’s who worked there, used a call and woke them up (Dizikes). This is a prime example of the Butterfly Effect in action, as one factor was changed in the situation and brought forth a different outcome. Now, the problem with this is that the Butterfly Effect is not exactly perfect and cannot be completely applicable to things such as this story. Even in science, before the Butterfly Effect, Determinism was done with predictions on short-term while after the effect they could predict in the long-term (Dizikes). However, even if a scene is not well explained or even written, “coincidences” such as Frankenstein’s monster finding the cloak and the chest of books could be explained in a reasonable manner (Shelly 100 & 118-119). All these “plot holes” need is a little context; unfortunately, the story does not have said context, so generalizations must be made about what happened based on the text that has been given. The cloak was left close to where the fire was, so whoever left it must have been running from something or forgot it there. That same person or rather someone else could have dropped books on their way to a local town. This seems a bit out of place but when a little thought is placed, it is easy to comprehend. This point

started off with a little bit of science with the “Butterfly Effect”, there was a theory that developed in the field of mathematics that sprung from this effect; this is called Chaos Theory.
Chaos Theory, or simply “chaos,” is a term used in mathematics to describe when a small variable in an equation is changed and it creates an entirely different outcome.To be specific, Chaos Theory is the a field of mathematics that studies the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions (Boeing). Chaos works with a lot of nonlinear systems in graphs, however not all nonlinear systems in graphs are “chaotic” (Dizikes). Chaos, in this case, can be used to describe a basic “nonlinear” plotline. Stories are not straight like a timeline in a Geography textbook, they are nonlinear as they build tension and intrigue. Eventually, when it gets to a certain point, the tension of the story is released and the metaphorical graph of the plotline shows a downward turn. “Chaos” makes this whole thing sound like a bunch of random things happen to change the course of an equation or even a story such as Frankenstein; that cannot be further from the truth. As aforementioned, chaotic systems are nonlinear; chaotic systems have a starting point that is logical and well explained. In Frankenstein, there are a few scenes that seem to be sporadic, but they are not; for example, the creature may seem like it killed Elizabeth for no apparent reason other than he hated Victor for creating him. However, the text in the story shows that the creature made a comment saying that he will be with Victor on his wedding night; this leads to the conclusion that the monster not only committed the crime, but forewarned Victor that he was going to do so in the first place. The creature made the decision to kill Elizabeth, Victor became furious and wanted revenge, then Victor hunts him down (Shelly 153 & 185). The creature’s decision, while large, paled in comparison to the eventual death of the two them over their conflict. The choice this monster made could be understood if time was taken to step into his shoes and fill in the blanks with a bit of sense.
Common sense, while not so common, is a tool that humans have been using and failing at it for centuries. Humankind can pinpoint exact moments in history where a little common sense, or lack thereof, has changed its course for the better or worse. Common sense could have solved a lot of the problems of the characters in this story as well as fill in whatever plot holes that happen to be in the story. Throwing this back to a previous example, the cloak and the chest of books the creature found on his travels; it is perfectly reasonable to believe that someone made an encampment somewhere in the forest and dropped a cloak and set of books. It could have even been a caravan of people who dropped some of their merchandise. With the information given, it is difficult to clarify when the event occurred, but even with common sense, or even the Butterfly Effect, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact position in which these events occur (Dizikes). Now, common sense is not just about guessing, and that is completely correct; common sense, however, can be used to help make an inference using context clues and a few assumptions based on those inferences. However, this sense can be put through the mill if there are some previous experiences someone has gone through that deter from common sense. When someone makes a decision, especially one that is morally ambiguous, the individual experiences what is known as confirmatory information processing. This is when a subject goes through previous knowledge and filters it to only get the information that supports the decision (Niedernhuber). When Victor made the decision to create the creature’s mate, he started to question himself and then destroyed the mate he made (Shelly 151). Victor then went through what he knew to support his decision of destroying the mate instead of thinking about it rationally because he did not have all of the information. While people cannot predict everything about the book or even in life, they can at least be content with the fact that this is a story that has a rich meaning and purpose to teach people that their choices and actions have consequences..
Through the sciences, the idea of “chaos,” and the ability to think with common sense, they can pull the events of the story that are not written. Whether or not the scenes being omitted was intentional or not, people can analyze them to their fullest and move on to the next great project. Society as a whole needs to sit down and have a conversation about the decisions the people have made and where they have led to. There needs to be a conversation between between lots of different people, and there needs to be a respect between these people that they have not attained yet. The only way to talk about these issues is to respect people’s opinion, no matter how right or wrong they are. While most do not like it, compromise is key to the success of a society. Like in any deal or agreement, both sides of the party are a little unhappy, but they can least be content with the fact they agreed on something for the betterment of humankind. Overall, let us begin our discourse, and reflect what past decisions have had a butterfly effect on us today.