Ch 8. Frankenstein's Monster

 “One man’s life or death were but a small price to pay

 for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought,

for the dominion I should acquire

and transmit over the elemental foes of our race.”

– Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

What is the novel Frankenstein about? 

In one sense, it’s the story of a mad scientist who chops up a bunch of corpses and sews them together to create the perfect man.

But the novel is really about the hubris of humankind. Dr. Frankenstein believed that he could accomplish the same thing that God/Mother Nature had, and not only that, he could do it better.

You’re probably thinking: What the hell does the world’s first science fiction/horror novel have to do with economic inequality or global warming? 

It’s a lot more relevant than you might think.

The flow of Frankenstein’s plot goes like this: The doctor, through his arrogance, creates something in a quest to play God. He wants to be better than the rest of humanity. To conquer, to be the first.

Only his creation becomes a monster that he cannot control.

From the outset, Dr. Frankenstein was doomed. He never had control of his creation. Control was his delusion. The moment he decided to create the monster, he sealed his own fate, and there was never going to be a happy ending. He made a Faustian bargain for power, and it cost him everything.

As we explore the ways we arrived at our current humanitarian crisis, you will discover that a handful of people have made the same choice for us that Dr. Frankenstein did in the novel. They have created monsters, with no regard for the death and destruction that would be unleashed on the world. They made these monsters in a bargain for power and more wealth than they could spend in a thousand lifetimes. 

These men (and they are mostly men) have created the monster. And that monster is completely out of their control.