...How is the abuse of power shown in two works that you have studied? The works I have studied and will be exploring in this essay are Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’ and Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’. In ‘Frankenstein’ the abuse of power is most clearly exhibited by the protagonist of the story Frankenstein himself, his abuse of power results in his isolation and could serve as a warning to people, telling them not to play with forces that they can not control. In ‘Heart of Darkness’, Conrad abuses his power as the author to distance himself from the novella and in a sense absolve himself from any racist criticism the book may induce. The abuse of power is also a key theme in the novella itself. Firstly there is a sense of hypocrisy in the novella where the abuse of power is concerned, Marlow seems to have a slight reluctance to abuse his power over the natives, however he abuses his power before he even gets to the Congo, when he attains the job unfairly through the position held by his aunt in the company. Secondly the idea that the white western men have a superior culture and feel the need to impose their civility on the outrageous and almost in-human savages inhabiting the Congo is the most obvious abuse of power implicated in the short story. Overall the abuse of power in both novels is shown to end badly for the party involved. Marlow sees the abuse of power leave people without their minds, and Shelly’s novel also demonstrates this to some degree, but highlights...
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...Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein and Scott’s film Blade Runner explore similar issues in vastly different contexts. They present the same issues; governed by the same values and perspectives. Both explore a dilemma that continues to be significant in the 21st century: the ethical and moral tension between the fear of humanity’s abuse of technology and the incredible potential for technology to extend life and even defy death. Shelley and Scott have crafted texts that portray individuals who challenged the established values of their time by considering the consequences to individuals who use technology to create life. These texts both emphasise the negative effect of progress on humanity and the natural environment through the use of language and visual forms and features. In Shelley’s novel, the exciting potential of technology that was becoming apparent in the nineteenth century had fascinated the young scientist Frankenstein. Desiring to challenge morality, he uses his new-found knowledge to fashion a creature out of human body parts who has great strength, but whose appearance is so monstrous that Frankenstein flees his laboratory in terror. The persona of Victor depicts humanities further obsession and greed for knowledge and power as he isolates himself from society. He marvels ‘It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desire to learn’ uses of the juxtaposition of heaven and earth shows Victor’s understanding of the implication of his actions. Shelley uses the...
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...when talking about people in a position of power. Society's expectations of what a man should be--has caused some men to become corrupt and abuse the power they have. Noah Brand writer for The Good Man Project stated in his article, “Masculinity as Power” that “Men in our culture are supposed to be active; they are those who act, they are defined by their actions. Masculinity supposed to be something one does, one performs; it’s not simply granted to someone for identifying as a man, but it is earned through unceasing hard work” (Brand). Men feel pressured to be masculine and our culture tends to advertise it through television and social media that masculinity can be obtained through violent or aggressive actions....
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...Frankenstein and Blade Runner Although written more than 150 years apart from each other, and with very different mediums of production both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ridley Scotts Blade Runner reflect upon the societal concerns of their times in order to warn us of the consequences of overstepping our boundaries and unbridled technological advancement. Subsequently, it becomes evident that despite their temporal and contextual differences, both texts are in fact linked through their common concerns and concepts. Frankenstein was written in 1818 at the height of the industrial revolution. Frankenstein is infused with some elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement and is also considered to be one of the earliest examples of science fiction. The story is partially based on Giovanni Aldini's electrical experiments on dead animals and was also a warning against the expansion of modern humans in the Industrial Revolution. Blade Runner, on the other hand was written in 1982 at the beginning of the age of computers. The movie is set in Los Angeles in 2019 inside a post-modern, post-industrial and post-apocalyptic city. The world is devoid not only of nature, but children, sunlight and “real” animals. In the opening scene, film noir characteristics, such as disoriented visual schemes and heavy reliance of shadows and rain are used to show the vast yet dwarfed city. This leads us to believe that this city is a result of past consequences where nature has not just...
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...someone for a wrong one endured because of them. Everyone has felt the need for it, whether they carried out the plan or not. It can seem to bring a sense of justice, equality, and even power. Although, can the use of revenge be taken too far? Mary Shelley explore this idea of the limits of revenge through the use of her characters Victor Frankenstein and his creation. They are constantly craving for the demolition of each other, and it takes a large toll on their mind-set, and even on their loved ones around them. Victor Frankenstein is enraged that his creation murdered some of his loved ones. This results in him to want nothing other than the abolition of his creation, or as he refers to him, “the monster.” The creation only wants love and companionship from others, but is denied the request on multiple accounts due to his horrendous appearance. The creation places the blame for his loneliness on Victor...
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...Only the Lonely Frankenstein is Mary Shelley's most notable piece of work, written when she was only eighteen years old. The novel explores the theme of loneliness and rejection. The monster created by Victor Frankenstein is rejected by human society because of his appearance. Mary Shelley explores the feelings of how the creature is utterly ignored and abused by the society. I believe the novel became a reflection of the inner state of Mary Shelly. It reflects sufferings and loses that occurred in the own authors life. As notes Anthony Badalamenti in his article Why did Mary Shelley Write Frankenstein: “She was also the product of her own past, suffering three successive losses in her early life that reveal why themes of being alone and abandoned run through the novel”(Badalamenti, 431). All these sad events and constant feeling of loneliness helped Mary to create a very deep and powerful character. Victor does not think about possible results of his experiments. He does not think what will happen when he finally succeeds and created a living creature. He is severely punished by his attitude when the creature created by him turns into a monster. Shelley illustrates that the guilt for murders can not be put only on Frankenstein's creation. Society and social norms finally result in the feeling of loneliness and estrangement. “The monster complains that his maker and mankind are moving his nature from goodness and benevolence to wrath and violence. He attempts the company of...
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...In Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, McCormick believes that the real villains, or monsters, are Dr. Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll, and Claude Frollo. These characters are usually not considered monsters, but are in fact, the creators of monsters. McCormick explains that these characters do not “abide their own humanity” or “show any compassion for those whose disfigured humanity has made them outcasts.” Since these characters do not see their individual faults and are incapable of mercy, responsibility, and pity towards their creations, they are the real monsters of their...
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...Frankenstein/Bladerunner In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) humanity’s manipulation of nature paradoxically erodes the human spirit and compromises integrity. Although contextually disparate, both texts explore a creator’s need to take responsibility for his creation, cautioning responders of the dangers of unrestrained scientific progress and conveying humanity’s severed relationship with nature. Where Shelley communicates with a certain ambiguity characteristic of the contradictory Age of Reason and sets her tale against a backdrop of a sublime natural world, Scott portrays a society fuelled by ecological destruction and 1980s corporate abuse. This reflects each composer’s anchoring of their visions in the socio-cultural realities of their time; a fundamental transgression of human values over time. Both texts explore the dangers of uninhibited scientific progress. In Frankenstein, Shelley fashions a gothic world where nature is tampered with and a ‘hurricane of enthusiasm’ drives the protagonist towards abandoning his conscience, prompting Shelley’s valuing of moderation. Underpinned by the Industrial Revolution and an era of scientific change, Victor embodies the obsessive passions and Romantic ego-identities of 19th century scientists. The epistolatory narrative framework adds a disquieting sense of truth to Victor’s retrospective dialogue, “how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge,” reflecting his Promethean disobedience...
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...bad that you would do anything to get it? The movie “Death Race” portrays Warden Hennessey as a self centered woman who basically posses all control of the inmates in her maximum security prison. She has her mind set on only the success of her pay-per-view show and money. Warden Hennessey consciously uses ethical objectivism all throughout the movie by analyzing symbolic objects, her ability to cause havoc, and ultimately her ability to control others. An object in this movie that plays a major role in proving Warden Hennessey’s ethical objectivism is Frankenstein’s mask. The mask is used to disguise Jensen Ames as Frankenstein in order to keep viewers of the show more interested. Without the mask, Warden Hennessey would have been unable to keep the viewers from seeing that there is a new driver and that would have hurt the show’s ratings because Frankenstein was so close to gaining his freedom back with four wins. Without the mask it would have almost been like starting all over and the show would lose interest. The mask is used entirely because of the show. Another object that helps show Warden Hennessey uses absolutism in the movie is a photograph. She gives Ames a picture of his infant daughter being held by her new dad that just adopted her. The Warden only does this to try to guilt Ames to give into more of her selfish orders. Ames holds onto this picture for the remainder of the film and looks at it regularly to remind him of the truly important things in his life....
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...paperEarly in 1997, Scottish scientist Dr. Ian Wilmot revealed to the world that he had successfully cloned an adult sheep, Dolly. With this invention, the world made a collective gasp at the realization that cloning was no longer a pipe dream or an element of a Science Fiction movie. Since then, human cloning has become one of the most debated topics in the world. From the schoolhouse to the White House, discussions began regarding the ethical implications of human cloning. In several recent polls by TIME magazine (The Ethics of Cloning, 1998 ), it was shown that 75 percent of the responding population thought that cloning wasn’t a good thing. Furthermore, 74 percent of the respondents believed that cloning was against God’s will, and when asked if they would clone themselves, if presented with the opportunity, 91 percent responded with a “no”. However, when asked to define human cloning, an estimated 95 percent of them couldn’t describe it correctly. As a matter of fact, in a personal interview with Miss. Weber, T.A. (personal interview, November 7,1998) when asked, “What do you think about human cloning?” responded, “I don’t know a lot about it, but I know it’s scary”. Opponents of human cloning argue that it is immoral and unethical to clone human beings for both religious and humanitarian reasons. Moreover, other opponents describe human cloning as a luxury for wealthy people or as a tool for organ market development. Conversely, I believe that human cloning can have many...
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...wretch and savage, to name a few. Although humanity has many words the root of their meaning remains the same: the people they describe are different. The words society uses to brand people mirror a sense of prejudice and hate that does not necessarily reflect the actual person. Thus, society creates monsters through a systematic branding of labels upon others as clearly evidenced in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein through the vilification of Justine the creature. To begin, words clearly have an impact on humanity; Susan Smalley, a Professor at UCLA remarks that in tests “individuals read words of 'loving kindness' showed...
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...Introduction Many literary critics consider Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as one of the most impressive and imaginative Gothic horror novels of all times. In the novel, Shelley managed to create one of the most phenomenal creatures in literary history: Frankenstein monster. The epistolary style that the author employs allows the reader to view the circumstances from varied viewpoints and draw conclusions from the plot and the characters. The book The plot has a variety of story-lines rolled into one. The main however is about a Doctor Victor Frankenstein who though born to a well-to-do and loving family, is over- ambitious and thirsts to prove himself. After achieving excelling academically, he designs a technique of creating life from a fusion of inanimate objects, dead bodies an animal parts. The doctor is not satisfied with achieving conventional feats but is determined to create a living being. It is this ambition that leads to the creation after years of painstaking work. It is this creation that leads to Victor's downfall. The creation is 8 feat tall and due to the use of human parts that do not march his massive size, is hideous. He is described as having watery yellow eyes, a withered, yellowish, translucent skin which barely conceals his muscular system and blood vessels. The only good aspects of his appearance are his perfect, white teeth, long black hair and his black lips. The doctor, who had hoped to create a beautiful being is shocked by his creation...
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...Tyler Viator Due: March 5, 2015 English 2123 Lisa Nohner A Mother’s Influence Stephen King’s novel, Carrie, is the story of a girl who uncovers her unique ability on her path to womanhood and power. Stephen King wrote his story about Carrie three years after he graduated from college. During the 1970s, while King was in college, he was transformed by the idea of Women’s Liberation and how it would influence both males and females. King used interstitial, grotesque, sexual, gender, power, and violent literary elements with components of the European and American gothic genre to create a Supernatural Horror/Drama that reflected on life during the time period. Carrie White was raised by her widowed mother, Margaret White, on Carlin St. in Chamberlain, Maine during the mid 1970s. Throughout Carrie’s childhood, she was the subject of mental and physical abuse. Her mother and late father, Ralph White, were religious zealots who attempted to conceal Carrie from the outside world. Often times, when Carrie acted out, Margaret would inflict physical pain upon herself and sentence Carrie the closet to punish her for her wrongdoings. The abuse did not stop at home. At the age of 17, Carry had her first menstrual cycle in the girls’ shower of her high school Ewan Consolidated High School. After the girls recognized Carrie’s confusion and panic, they began to collectively ridicule her until Mrs. Desjardin, their instructor could come to Carrie’s aid. On the way home from school that...
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...Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Key facts full title · Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus author · Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley type of work · Novel genre · Gothic science fiction language · English time and place written · Switzerland, 1816, and London, 1816–1817 date of first publication · January 1, 1818 publisher · Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones narrator · The primary narrator is Robert Walton, who, in his letters, quotes Victor Frankenstein’s first-person narrative at length; Victor, in turn, quotes the monster’s first-person narrative; in addition, the lesser characters Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein narrate parts of the story through their letters to Victor. climax · The murder of Elizabeth Lavenza on the night of her wedding to Victor Frankenstein in Chapter 23 protagonist · Victor Frankenstein antagonist · Frankenstein’s monster setting (time) · Eighteenth century setting (place) · Geneva; the Swiss Alps; Ingolstadt; England and Scotland; the northern ice point of view · The point of view shifts with the narration, from Robert Walton to Victor Frankenstein to Frankenstein’s monster, then back to Walton, with a few digressions in the form of letters from Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein. falling action · After the murder of Elizabeth Lavenza, when Victor Frankenstein chases the monster to the northern ice, is rescued by Robert Walton, narrates his story, and dies tense · Past foreshadowing · Ubiquitous—throughout...
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...Can we be born evil or is it something developed by the environment around us? Researchers have conducted experiments on this very question, and more often than not, have found surprising results each time. Each of those times though, a common consensus being that we all have the capacity to commit the unimaginable, but it takes a certain environment and people to bring it out in us. While some interpret that those who are evil are born that way, evil is something that is developed over time by their individual environment and the people within it. It’s entirely possible to be born with traits that give us the potential to be evil. In William Harms article “Psychopaths are not Neurally Equipped to have Concern for Others” he reports a study done by University of Chicago that took 80 prisoners between ages 18 and 50 and tested for levels of psychopathy using standard measures. The results showed: The participants in the high psychopathy group exhibited significantly less activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala and periaqueductal gray parts of the brain, but more activity in the striatum and the insula when compared to control participants. This latter region is important for monitoring ongoing behavior, estimating consequences and incorporating emotional learning into moral decision-making, and plays a fundamental role in empathic concern and valuing the well-being of others(Harms, 2013). The study showed that the parts of...
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