Febraury 2004

I Read Two Books

Discussed in this Essay:
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds

Possessed by a burning desire for ancient science-fiction, I took to reading books this month. You see, my wife gave me a terrific holiday gift, a CD version of the "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast. As a youth, I listened to that show over and over again on tape. Sometime after college, I lost the dang thing. It had been years since I heard Orson Welles' voice, and the utter destruction of humanity did not fail to give me chills.

After hearing the show, I popped on over to www.Bartleby.com in search of the original version. Over the course of a couple days, I read the terrible story for the first time. The narrator, who is anonymous, tells of his and human kind's travails against the invading Martians. As far as I can tell, this is more of a yarn than a heavy morality tale, like Frankenstein. The lessons for humans is humility, if nothing else.

Long story, in short: Men see explosions on Mars, claim that it's just volcanic activity; Martians land on Earth, man suspects they cannot breath our air or stand in our strong gravity; Martians start a fightin', man tries to fight back; Man loses, but germs kill the Martians. At every turn, men are incapable of defeating the alien attack because their progress, great as it is, pales in the face of that created by minds greater than our own. In the end, the enemies of Earth are defeated by the tiny microbes we had come to live with.

The salvation of man, according to the narrator, was our existence. This was no lesson to scientists and inventors, just a reminder. There is a often overlooked Grace in our mere existence. God made or not, we should not take our lives for granted. Human kind earned it's current domain over the Earth with more sacrifice than victory. We should never forget that.

On the other hand, Frankenstein is a morality tale. The lesson, don't create life if you are not prepared to tend to it. That may be the best I can come up with. The story is as disturbing as The War of the Worlds, but the title character does not deserve the same respect one might grant to any stranger you find on the street. Victor Frankenstein is a spineless imp.

Victor ran head-long in the life sciences with no patience or humility. Hastily, and in spite, he built a new being out of dead beings. He gave it life, but at that very moment, he decided to leave the monster behind. Sure, the monster may have been ugly, but that is a half-asses reason to abandon it.

Poor Victor! Poor Frankenstein family! Boo-hoo!

By and by, the Monster enacts his revenge on Victor, who could have avoided each and every problem had he been more of a man, and less of a jackass. As a study of the dangers of science, it's hella weak. Sure, Victor DID dabble in the black arts, but had he trained the monster to be a sea captain or Olympic wrestler, his life would not have ended so horribly. I think I know what she's trying to get at, but she does not do it.

The message notwithstanding, I enjoyed the book very much. Shelley weaves the story of Satan from "Paradise Lost" into the angry rage of the Monster. The Monster, as opposed to Satan, is capable of making his makers life miserable, and even winning the ultimate battle. For, in this case, the maker is 110% at fault for everything.

On Wells' Earth, man's downfall is his thinking that his progress is his greatest gift; in Shelley's earth, man's downfall is first his hubris, then his ignoble irresponsibility.

All in all, I am amazed that I took the time to read two books. Two books famous in history!