Smith - thoughts on Frankenstein and Genesis

Frankenstein is my favorite book of all time. It gives good insight into the question of what it means to be human. One interesting part of the book is in Volume 2, Chapter 3, where the Creature describes his experiences after being abandoned by his creator, Victor Frankenstein. These experiences closely align with the creation of the Earth as is outlined in Genesis 1. In Genesis 1:2-3, God creates light, dividing it from the darkness. As the Creature, newly made, makes sense of his surroundings, he notes a darkness ended by a piercing light. Moving to verse 9, God separates the waters from dry land. The Creature moves to rest by the side of a brook, taking a drink of water. In verses 11-12, God makes trees yield fruit. The Creature, having been on an exhausting and enlightening journey so far, is feeling hungry, deciding to eat some berries he found from a tree. God then creates the sun and the moon, the moon and stars lighting the night sky. Night falls where the Creature rests, and he notes that “a gentle light stole over the heavens,” empowering him to continue his journey. The Creature notes his delight in hearing birdsong, and God created birds in verse 20. God finally creates Man on the 6th day. The Creature finds a shelter, a home, where an old man lives. This structure of the Creature experiencing the world the same way the Creation occurred suggests that if given the opportunity, he could have been viewed as a person instead of as a monster. He experienced the beginnings of life the same way as the origin of humans, yet prejudices and assumptions led to him being rejected over and over again. Would you blame him for becoming a “monster,” if that is how the world insisted on seeing him?

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