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The human condition and Frankenstein
The human condition and Frankenstein
An expository essay about harrison bergeron
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Power: A force worse than the plague What is power to a human? As time has gone by, there have been many forms of control and influence in the world. Many strive to achieve total rule over a society or group of individuals. Yet the question still presents itself to the average man. Why does man desire power so greatly even though there is visible trouble that follows? Shelley’s Frankenstein, Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, whether through the situation or the character themselves, depict the evils and hardships due to an imbalance and poor management of power. The story of Victor Frankenstein is one that lives in infamy. The negative connotation surrounds the two main characters of the story; Victor and the …show more content…
monster. The question now stands; why is there such a dark tone and negative mood set firth toward these two characters? To fully grasp the notion, one must be taken back toward the beginning of the story. When the abuse of power was manifested by a young student named Victor Frankenstein. Graduating from the prominent university at Ingolstad, Frankenstein began to study the magic and wonder of life. Frankenstein learned that there was a way to produce life from his own two hands. As the young scholar came to the realization, he pondered the great act for some time. Frankenstein says “When I found so astonishing a power placed within my hands, I hesitated a long time concerning the manner in which I should employ it.” (Shelley 73). After a long time of decision, our power abusing subject commits to his fate. One who believes in a God might argue that this is solely fate. A man who tries to play as God will be punished by God himself. As Frankenstein persisted at the creation of life from a man, he grew sick and increasingly obsessed with his work. “My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement.” (Shelley 75). It would seem that Prometheus’ curse was starting to take its toll. Even before the deed was done. The young man just was not yet aware of it. As the story progresses and the monster is born, Victor abandons the monster to live on its own. Believing that it should either perish or disappear from his life. His hopes and prediction proved to be no more incorrect than a teenager proclaiming Beethoven to be Italian. Victor Frankenstein was in for a torturous life. Filled with death and agony. So much so that his creation’s demise was his newfound goal and purpose in life. As he persists, the reader will find more and more correlation and reason to why Frankenstein is the modern Prometheus. A strong tie is formed when a look is taken upon the daily struggle between the two. As the two both decide to abuse the power that they are given, they must face the consequences that follow. Power is incredibly great when used for wise decisions. Yet when one decides to misuse the power delivered unto them, there is a repercussion awaiting the abuser. Frankenstein is a prime example of the hardships caused by power. Reading deeper into an analysis, a supporting factor was found. "Unable to comprehend his actions and his own creation, Victor flees like a coward; a recurrent reaction pattern." (Knudsen 38). Not only was Victor breaking nature’s laws in taking life into his own hands, but he witnessed first-hand the imperfections of man. There are many powerful capabilities. That however, does not mean that man should pursue such powerful strides. Too much power corrupts and destroys the man. “Et tu, Brute?” (Shakespeare III.I.76.). These were the words of a hurt king as his loyal companion, Julius, took away his life. Julius Caesar is nothing short of a power driven story. The lust for power is practically written onto the lips of the play as it speaks terror into those that desire power itself. The play, set in an older time, goes through a frantic whirlwind of chaos and madness. Julius Caesar, a man of nobility and loyalty has his mind perverted and invaded with these foul ideas of treason and anarchy. All of this caused by a man who let a hunger for power corrupt his own mind; Cassius. Cassius is very skilled while persuading our poor victim. Filling Brutus’s mind with riddles. Asking him if Brutus can see his own reflection. When Brutus replies that he cannot, Cassius tells him, “‘Tis just. And it is very much lamented, Brutus, that you have no such mirrors as will turn your hidden worthiness into your eye that you might see your shadow.” These words are just the beginning of the corruption of the great man that was Brutus. As the story unfolds, Brutus begins to give way to Cassius’ demands and persuasions. Power is beginning to also corrupt Brutus’ mind. Proceeding through the story, as Brutus and Cassius along with other conspirators begin to formulate a plan to make rid of King Caesar. As the deed is done, who other to rule the kingdom than the ambitious Brutus? Brutus’ corrupted mind has believed the reasons for slaying Caesar more and more. “As he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him, but, as he was ambitious, I slew him” (III.ii.p.2). Power had officially overtaken Brutus, the new king. As the story unfolds, trials and tribulations raid Brutus and his kingdom until Brutus cannot believe the man he has become. War within his kingdom had driven him to take away his own life. “Farewell, good Strato. Caesar, now be still. I killed not thee with half so good a will.” (V.v.p.4) “Harrison Bergeron” will be the pinnacle to the mound of evidence.
At the first glance, an image of the society portrayed in the “Harrison Bergeron” short will put the reader at a halt. This short story depicts a nation that has made the world a place of pure equality. “They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.” (Vonnegut). The government had completely taken over the nation and its people. There were handicaps for those who had advantages over anyone else. Power was non-existent in this land. Mainly because all of it belonged to the government. If there was ever a time to see the imbalance of power it would be now. This story is not only a fictitious short to entertain the reader. This Short is a warning to the world providing a view of the consequences of power. “Ironically, no one really benefits from these misguided attempts to enforce equality” (Themes and Construction: "Harrison Bergeron"). Even on the television programs, beautiful women with handicaps placed on their faces. “They were burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in.” (Vonnegut). An elaborate handicap had been placed over the whole country and the public was fine with it! Power causes more than a hardship if not detected. It ruins lives. The people of this short will never know what it means to be
free. To sum all of this up, there is a clear line separating managed and UN controlled power. Through the use of Shelley’s Frankenstein, Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, there is more than enough support to prove the corruptions of power. As shown through Frankenstein, power is not to be abused. In Julius Caesar, there was the clear message that power corrupts. As for “Harrison Bergeron”, the message shown was that there is such a thing as too much power.
Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” Kurt Vonnegut portrays Aristotle’s philosophy brilliantly in his short story “Harrison Bergeron.” The story depicts the American government in the future mandating physical handicaps in an attempt to make everyone equal. Vonnegut describes a world where no one is allowed to excel in the areas of intelligence, athletics, or beauty. Yet, the inequalities among the people shine even brighter. Vonnegut uses satire to explore the question of whether true equality can ever really exist.
In "Harrison Bergeron", Kurt Vonnegut presented a scary view of a future society, where everyone was equal. "Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else." (Vonnegut 1988:7). It was the job of the agents of the United States Handicapper General to keep it this way. Beautiful people had to wear u...
Frankenstein is a horror movie that tells the story of Dr. Henry Frankenstein’s experiment. In search for the fame and glory of playing to be god, he reaches a point where he is able to revive dead people. In this version of Frankenstein’s monster we see a selfish and careless scientist that created a creature with his intelligence. The way the character is shown reflects how ambitious someone can be to reach to be known in the world. This movie makes the people who are watching to feel empathy on the poor creature. This poor creature that did not want to live in a life where everyone is going to hate him for having a horrible aspect and not following rules that he has no idea about.
The novel’s protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, emphasizes the importance of having an identity by exemplifying the dissatisfaction that accompanies contorted character-to-character relations. What makes his relationships particularly perverse however, is Victor himself as a person and family member. Often, male “participants in a moral conflict,” such as Victor, “may invoke ‘justice’ and insist on theoretical objectivity” to avoid taking responsibility for their actions, c...
The fact that Frankenstein’s creation turns on him and murders innocent people is never overlooked; it has been the subject of virtually every popularization of the novel. What is not often acknowledged is the fact that Frankenstein himself embodies some of the worst traits of humankind. He is self-centered, with little real love for those who care about him; he is prejudiced, inflexible and cannot forgive, even in death. While some of these traits could be forgivable, to own and flaunt them all should be enough to remind a careful reader that there are two "monsters" in Frankenstein.
Both characters from the novels Prometheus and Victor Frankenstein were similar because they were both intelligent. Victor loved science, he sued to go on journeys to seek more information about life and death, because at home he had nobody to teach him.” My father was not scientific, and I was left to struggle with a child's blindness, added to a student's thirst for knowledge. (Victor Frankenstein quotes on education). And he even studied abroad to see more knowledge on his favorite subject. This created major conflicts with his professor at the university but also admiration among professors and peers.
Power. It is defined as the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. Throughout time, certain individuals have acquired power in their society as a way to govern and keep order among their community. Power is not a new concept; it was used in the past by many emperors, kings, and queens, and is still being used by presidents, prime ministers, and dictators. Although, it has been used to further progress societies into what the world is like today, not all power has been used for the best of mankind. But what goes awry to make power turn corrupt? In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, it is illustrated how power can turn corrupt, when authoritative figures, who possess power, abuse it for their personal gain, rather than for the common good of the society.
“The narrator of the story Harrison Bergeron definitions’ of America’s equality begins not by positing a future equality as much as exposing the misunderstanding of it in the past and the present” (Hattenhauer). The story Harrison Bergeron has two meanings: too much equality and too much inequality. Too much equality is expressed through the Handicap General, Diana Glampers, as she wants everyone to be equal because she envies the talented and beautiful. However, “it is not fair to the productive, the risk taking, or the hard working, to deprive them of what they have produced, merely to make them equal to others who have worked less, taken less risk, and produced less” (Moore). This society would never work because “no one who has lived very long can think that all men are equal in physical, prowess, mental capacity, willingness to work or save, to assume leadership, to design or invent new products or processes, to get votes, to preach sermons, to play the violin, or even to make love” (Even Fingerprints Differ). In any society one should not have the power to make people equal for each “were endowed by our creator” (Moore). In a society where there is too much inequality, or a potential dictatorship- Harrison Bergeron, society would fail as well. Kurt Vonnegut wrote Harrison Bergeron in order to show the world that we cannot take away talent or
America was founded on the promise that all men are created equal in Harrison Bergeron; Kurt Vonnegut uses satire to explore the theme of equality in a fatalistic dystopia. Society in which we live today in this dystopia Harrison a genius and an athlete is forced to wear handicaps to bring him down to a level of equality with others around him, affect and interrupts equality. Although equality may seem like a necessary component in modern progressive society forced equality could have a negative impact on the society itself by eliminating competition, individuality, and motivation.
Power has been defined as the psychological relations over another to get them to do what you want them to do. We are exposed to forms of power from the time of birth. Our parents exercise power over us to behave in a way they deem appropriate. In school, teachers use their power to help us learn. When we enter the work world the power of our boss motivates us to perform and desire to move up the corporate ladder so that we too can intimidate someone with power one day. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Kurtz had a power over the jungle and its people that was inexplicable.
An idea such as power establishes itself in most societies throughout the world. Power sets the basis for order and civilization, but it also causes chaos and collides with other human instincts such as greed and ambition. Power presents itself in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth in a confusing manner. Macbeth yearns to gain power and has the means to gain it, but the method of his gaining of power have been questioned by critics since its inscription in 1623. Macbeth, while tyrannical in gaining his power in the murdering of Duncan, sets the premise of the story and in this murder makes a name for himself on his leadership qualities. A man’s gain of power should not determine who they are as a ruler or even
As time goes on, many things tend to change, and then they begin to inherit completely different images. Over the years, the character, created by Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s famous novel, has changed dramatically. The monster, regularly called “Frankenstein,” has been featured in numerous films, such as Frankenweenie and Edward Scissorhands. Although, the characters in today’s pop culture and the monster in the well-known 1800’s novel have similarities, they are actually very different. The many similarities and differences range from the character’s physical traits and psychological traits, the character’s persona, and the character’s place in the Gothic style.
Although “Frankenstein” is the story of Victor and his monster, Walton is the most reliable narrator throughout the novel. However, like most narrator’s, even his retelling of Victor’s story is skewed by prejudice and favoritism of the scientist’s point of view. Yet this could be attributed to the only view points he ever gets to truly hear are from Victor himself and not the monster that he only gets to meet after he comes to mourn his fallen master.
Victor Frankenstein serves as an instrument of suffering of others and contributes to the tragic vision as a whole in this novel. He hurts those surrounding him by his selfish character and his own creation plots against his master due to the lack of happiness and love. The audience should learn from Frankenstein’s tragic life and character to always remain humble. We should never try to take superiority that is not granted to us because like victor we shall suffer and perish. He had the opportunity to make a difference in his life and take responsibility as a creator but his selfishness caused him to die alone just like what he had feared.
In Frankenstein, Shelley creates two very complex characters. They embody the moral dilemmas that arise from the corruption and disturbance of the natural order of the world. When Victor Frankenstein is attending school, he becomes infatuated with creating a living being and starts stealing body parts from morgues around the university. After many months of hard work, he finishes one stormy night bringing his creation to life. However, “now that [Victor] had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart” (Chambers). Right after Victor realizes what he has done, he falls into deep depression and must be nursed back to health by his friend. Victor spends the rest of the story facing consequences and moral problems from creating unnatural life. When he realizes that the ‘monster’ has killed his brother, even though no one believes him, he feels responsible for his brother’s murder because he was responsible for the existence of the ‘monster’. Also feeling responsible, Victor...