Both Frankenstein and Fahrenheit 451 could be called a type of horror story, and both because of the presence of a massive technology with uncontrollable strength: in Frankenstein, the professor’s giant, raging, fabricated human, and in Fahrenheit 451, the giant televisions that have gradually become the core of society. The technologies in both novels expose the moral frailty of the humans who created them, raising the question of to what extent can technology grow before it becomes dangerous and unethical. However, neither novel completely answers the question; rather, they illustrate the gravity of the question by showing the consequences of technology that has already spiraled out of control. Ultimately, the major player causing it to spiral …show more content…
In both Frankenstein and Fahrenheit 451, the horror of the technological creations stems from how they came into being, and Mary Shelley makes clear in her novel how the illicit nature of the monster’s creation shaped its murderous existence. The monster is the direct result of Frankenstein cutting all his human ties and morals, abandoning his family for the “secret toil” of dabbling “among the unhallowed damps of the grave” (55). Thus, it is no surprise that the monster conceived in darkness is doomed to live a life of darkness-- even the language Shelly uses at the moment the monster comes to life is characterized by darkness: “It was on a dreary night of November,” his “candle was nearly burnt out,” and “by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, [he] saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open” (57). And later, it is this same lack of communication and hiding in the dark that brings about the deaths of Frankenstein’s loved ones, and most notably, the unjust verdict for Justine. It was not the monster that condemned them to death, but Frankenstein’s silence. Instead of risking his reputation by providing the proof of Justine’s innocence he knew he had (86), Frankenstein moped in a corner of the prison, indulging himself in the gnashing of his own teeth since Justine could not possibly be on his level