The Martian And Frankenstein: A Comparative Analysis

In both The Martian and Frankenstein, the main characters Mark Watney and Victor Frankenstein have similarities that help offer a comparison of perspectives on the ethical situations that occurred in two different time periods. Both works had a plot centralized around a ‘monster’. The type of monster differed for each story but was similar in the sense that both monsters were created through an obsession. In Frankenstein the monster is obvious, but in The Martian Nick Watney is the monster created by his obsession for research. In the movie Watney asks to wait out the storm in order to collect more research. As the crew are walking to the shuttle to evacuate, Watney pauses to offer more ideas to prolong their stay on Mars and is promptly hit

with satellite dish. This whole disaster created the monster that was the assumption that Watney was dead before learning that he was in fact very much alive. Victor Frankenstein was so caught up with his obsession for science and “had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body” (Shelley 58), that he had not considered the repercussions to his actions. Furthermore, both Teddy Sanders, the chief of NASA, and Victor Frankenstein refuse to take responsibility for the crisis at hand. Sanders refuses to tell the crew or the press until his staff have confirmed that Watney is, in fact, alive and even then he refuses to tell the crew. Victor Frankenstein in chapter 7 of volume I was attempting to flee to Geneva when he learned that his creation had murdered his youngest brother. Although at the beginning, both Sanders and Frankenstein tried to disregard their ‘creations’ until the consequences forced them to try to correct their mistakes. Also, once Victor and the crew realized what had happened in regards to their ‘monster’, there was an unrelenting desire to fix their mistakes.

The crew mutinies against NASA in order to save Watney on their own instead of listening to NASA’s plan of launching another shuttle. Victor Frankenstein tries to track down his monster all the way into the artic where Walton, the boat captain, found him close to death. Finally, the last significant similarity between the characters is both Watney and Frankenstein’s monster feel the same sense of abandonment and long for communication and interaction. Watney, being stranded on a completely different planet, attempts to create opportunities to prolong his life on Mars in order to, ultimately, receive help from Earth. Frankenstein’s monster, demanded Victor create another being as hideous as he is because he is “alone and miserable; man will not associate with me” (Shelley 146). When Victor refuses however the monster is enraged and saddened that he will be forever alone and vows to haunt his creator even on his wedding night for the false sense of hope that was instilled within him. In order for these stories to present the audience with a lesson on ethics in regards to technology, the main characters must embody the same

traits. These traits include desire to learn and obtain knowledge, incredibly intelligent and unrelenting in their work. But in order for these stories to be unique in their own way the characters also must differ.