Thursday, October 26, 2006

Dr. Frankenstein's tragic flaw

It is not, as you'd suspect, hubris. Frankenstein is not "playing God": he should not be condemned for attempting to understand the source of life, nor for attempting to create life.

His tragic flaw is cowardice: he is unable or unwilling to confront the consequences of his science. His sin is not in creating the monster but in labeling it a monster; his sin is in abandoning and rejecting his creation the moment it frightened him.

And this is the theme that human beings must carry with us through all of our scientific endeavors.

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:56 AM

    i disagree

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  2. Anonymous3:56 AM

    on some level

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  3. Anonymous7:56 PM

    I also disagree. I say it is either ambition of excessive curiosity.

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  4. Anonymous8:55 PM

    I think it is hubris. Frankenstein is essentially displaying it in trying to be a creator. He wants to be a creator of an entire species, and overpower nature. He has the secret of life, and he's not cautious to put it to use. His excessive arrogance balances him out with his good qualities, making him a good tragic hero.

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  5. Anonymous11:27 PM

    both right and wrong, to 'play God' is wrong, and one of Frankenstein's errors was in trying to create life, but the major flaw was cowardice (as well as other minor flaws of ambition, excessive curiosity, and a greed for power)

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  6. Anonymous7:14 PM

    I think these are all right, but another major one is his selfishness because he created the creature since he was sad his mom died which ultimately led to his demise. Not to mention he didn't care for the creature, and didn't try to do anything when the creature killed his family because he didn't want to deal with another creature. He also knew no one would believe him if he blamed the creature for their deaths; "my creature did it" isn't really a valid excuse that most people would accept.

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