The center of nearly every work of science fiction revolves around the key idea that fate cannot be hand-crafted and that any attempts to alter the future will be met with severe consequences. This can be viewed in the context of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, a dystopian novel in which the pseudo-utopian society becomes so rigid that positive change can never be enacted and leads to the death of the few individuals striving for change. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the situation instead takes the form of which risks and rewards exist when it comes to creating a novel, man-made species. Victor, the protagonist, discovered for himself—albeit too late—that the risks well outweighed the rewards. However, this idea can be expanded by considering the result of such an abhorrent experiment: the monster. …show more content…
From the beginning of the novel, the monster is brilliantly portrayed as a savage, vicious entity who thrives on others’ suffering. Although it is simple to argue that his actions were in the wrong, they were also understandable thanks to the field of psychology: Genie was a young girl who, much like the monster, was born into a world with minimal affection and social interaction. Though strenuous attempts were made to integrate her into society as a normal, functioning member, thirteen years of rejection and severe neglect prevented this from occurring, instead leading her to act out for seemingly no reason. The monster functions in the same way—it is not until after being consistently rejected by both his creator and the society into which he was born that he turns into a murderous fiend. Consequently, it is evident that some of the risks associated with going against fate lie in the ways it could directly negatively affect fate itself as well as the surrounding