Man's Relationship with God, Science and Non-humans - Frankenstein & Blade Runner
Throughout history, humanity’s connection to the natural world has been scrutinised, celebrated, scorned and forgotten in a haphazard cycle that has been classified as human nature. This relationship has been considered a central theme throughout Ridley Scott’s dystopian sci-fi film ‘Blade Runner – Director’s Cut’ and Mary Shelley’s classic romantic/gothic novel ‘Frankenstein’. However the relationship between humans and nature is only somewhat explored throughout the texts and is overshadowed by other connections, such as the relationships between God and mankind, science and humanity and humans and non-humans. These relationships are explored through both ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Frankenstein’ through a variety of techniques used by Scott and Shelley, despite the difference between their contexts.
Shelley’s novel ‘Frankenstein’ is filled with Christian imagery that illustrates the importance of the relationship between God and mankind which warns the reader against the dangers of too much knowledge. It was because of Victor’s desire to learn ‘…the secrets of Heaven and Earth…’ that he defied God’s divine law by creating life, therefore disrupting the peaceful relationship between God and mankind. In the Christian Bible, the book of Genesis says that God made man ‘in his own image’ and that he was satisfied with his work. Although Victor usurps the role as creator, unlike God, he is immediately repulsed by his creation. Originally, the creature sees himself as Adam, the first creation of his ‘god’ Victor Frankenstein. He also sees Victor as his father, as God is Adam’s father in Christianity. Although, as time goes on, the Creature becomes convinced that his situation is more like that of Satan: a cast-out angel, driven by envy of what he cannot have, ‘Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? …. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; I am solitary and abhorred.’ Shelley’s use of
Shelley’s novel ‘Frankenstein’ is filled with Christian imagery that illustrates the importance of the relationship between God and mankind which warns the reader against the dangers of too much knowledge. It was because of Victor’s desire to learn ‘…the secrets of Heaven and Earth…’ that he defied God’s divine law by creating life, therefore disrupting the peaceful relationship between God and mankind. In the Christian Bible, the book of Genesis says that God made man ‘in his own image’ and that he was satisfied with his work. Although Victor usurps the role as creator, unlike God, he is immediately repulsed by his creation. Originally, the creature sees himself as Adam, the first creation of his ‘god’ Victor Frankenstein. He also sees Victor as his father, as God is Adam’s father in Christianity. Although, as time goes on, the Creature becomes convinced that his situation is more like that of Satan: a cast-out angel, driven by envy of what he cannot have, ‘Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? …. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; I am solitary and abhorred.’ Shelley’s use of