Fro'nkinStoon

Nature has a fascinating effect on people. Through it’s beauty it heals the hearts of those who gaze upon it. In Frankenstein, Victor visits a multitude of beautiful places as a way to escape from the dangers he faces with his creation back home. Nature brings peace and healing to his troubled heart. In the novel, Mary Shelley uses nature not only for the ideals of peace and serenity, but also for dread and despair, as seen in the scenes with ice. The ice represents the ambition of Walton and Frankenstein. They both were naive in their thinking which led them to be trapped in the ice. In this way nature had an opposite effect on them, replacing the warm and more enjoyable feelings with that of hopelessness. Sublime nature exists in real life. The feeling of being in God’s creation makes me want to be in it more and experience the joys it has to offer. Going to Colorado made me feel the same way. Taking in the fresh, cool air while hiking through trees and snow made me feel at peace. Nature does almost miraculous things to those who are in it, bringing both positive and negative effects, as explained by Mary Shelley in Frankenstein.

Chadley is born a monster but not a murderer. Neglect and abandonment leaves him with anger and sin, sin we all bear from birth. Chadley descends into madness, full of hate for his creator and all of humanity. Although we are all born with inherited sin, it is nurturing that either leads us away, or towards that sin. Chad is born rejected by his creator, by the one who is put there to love him, and by all those who see him. Because of this isolation, he is inevitably changed into a murderer. However, his whole outcome was not inevitable. If Victor had raised Chadley the proper way, and if society had treated him like a normal human being he would have turned out better. Since Chad was rejected at birth, he practically started out in the dark side, but Victor refusing to make him a wife and the De Lacey family turning away from him were two of the more impactful moments that caused Chadley to be filled with hatred. Even though he ultimately turns into a mass murderer, I still feel sympathy for him. He went through some tough times and there never was that figure in his life to lead him to be better. Chadley was never given the chance to be better and because of this he ultimately descended into hatred that could have easily been prevented if he was given a little love.

The decision in Victor choosing whether or not to create a spouse for Chadley is an ethical dilemma, meaning either choice has its ups and downs when it comes to Victor’s morals. If he were to create a bride for the monster, there is a possibility that they would create a race of monsters that would terrorize the earth. On the other hand it would help Chadley find love and he would cease to harm Victor and his relatives. Ultimately Victor chooses not to create the bride for Chadley. He envisions the offspring, and the fear of creating a race of monsters scares him too much to create the wife Chadley desires. I reckon he merely overreacted. Since both Chadley and his wife were created from human parts, their reproductive organs would be human too and their baby would most likely be a normal infant, and would act like one too. If Victor still couldn’t overcome the fear of creating a “new race” he could simply make the wife infertile and thus prevent a new generation of monsters from being born. Chadley gave Victor his word that he would not terrorize humanity if he was given a wife and I believe him. With all of the knowledge he had come to know, there simply wouldn’t be a need for murder. He was civilized and new how to survive. Vicor could have saved his own wife if he had made Chadley a spouse. He is filled with an irrational fear that causes him the death of not one but two family members. Chadley is a murderer but he wants to change. The ethical dilemma of whether or not to create a spouse is one that has a solution. There are ways to get around the bad but Victor is merely blinded by fear.

Bioethics is the ideology that morality plays a large part in science and biological research. When certain experiments take place, ethics and morals should be used to determine if the experiment goes against what is natural and right, and if the experiment should take place at all. Even though humans have absurd technology that can help people or help us learn about certain aspects of the world, some simply should not be enacted even if it's available. The love and search for knowledge is dangerous, and although it is a good thing to seek knowledge, our self ambitions should only push to a certain point. Our morals should prevent us from going past that point. In some cases like harvesting stem cells from embryos, our morals can be put to the test. In one sense, harvesting the stem cells to use for medical purposes seems like a safe and just thing to do. But in another sense, people are using what could be a human child to help others. This is where bioethics should be applied. Is it more just to help save others at the expense of a child's life or should we feel empathy for the embryo and try and find a safer, harder  way to save others? There are many ethical dilemmas we face in the field of science and research and it’s our choice and our morals that decide if we partake in these studies.

Victor Frankenstein made a monster (Chadley for our sake), a horrible, ugly, yellowed skinned monster, but it was his monster. Victor had a moral and ethical responsibility to take care of his creation and do what was best for him. Chadley was alive as Victor said. Chadley had a life. Just because he was not the most handsome perfect creation that Victor imagined (I beg to differ), he still should have fathered him and raised him up. Just like any child, the parent should do what is best and nurture them with a parental love. In a way, we are all our parents' little creations and just like my parents did for me, Victor should have done for Chadley. He should not have destroyed him but should have tried to raise him to know what is right and wrong, that murder is unacceptable, and how to act in a proper manner. Just like a parent and their child, Victor should have nurtured Chadley in order to prepare him for the nurturing society provides. He should have helped integrate his creation into society. If Victor would have raised Chadley the proper way, Chadley would most likely have acted like a normal person, not one full of anger and murderous tendencies. Victor had a huge part in the making of the murderer Chadley became. He didn’t have that parental figure to tell him what was the right thing to do and acted out of his own emotions, anger. Chadley just wanted to be loved but Victor was too afraid to treat him right. If Victor would have treated Chadley with the gosh dang respect he deserved instead of treating him like a disgusting beast, Chadley would most likely have turned out far better than he did. Victor practically treated him like a murderer even before he was one. With the right care and love, Victor’s monster could have just been a normal person.  

Tabula Rasa is a blank slate. Whether we are born with a blank slate or not is not our decision but it is an odd topic. In a way I agree but overall I suppose we aren’t. It would seem odd to discredit a baby of all purity merely for being alive in a world it does not control but even though we do not sin as we pop out of the womb, we are not pure. This is where the argument of nature versus nurture comes into play. While nature shapes us into the physical self we become and the physical limits we hold, nurture shapes how we grow up and builds our characteristics, sinful and pure alike. Nature holds key developmental features in genes and biology but nurture plays a far more important role in one’s life. Every child is affected by nurturing growing up in one way or another. Mothering is an important aspect in the nurturing of children. It helps kids grow up learning what ideals are wrong and right by a motherly figure, as well as playing the role of keeping kids safe. It's the parents job to nurture their kids but only to an extent. Parents should nurture their kids in order to prepare them for the nurturing society gives. Children cannot learn everything from their parents. The world teaches them important experiences nurturing from family simply cannot provide. However, when in the care of family, especially parents, they should receive unconditional love no matter how they look or act. It is the parents job to take care of their children under any circumstances. No one is born pure, and will never stay pure, but with the help of parent’s love and the nurturing of society, kids can grow up prepared to make the right decisions.