Long before the Americans use the Diebold machines to count votes, Edison already offers a tool called the results of the vote recorder. This tool calculates the volume with the model of the application Yes or No, unfortunately, these voting machines have been slow to do. To the extent that one of his congressional committee chairman said: “If there is no invention on earth that we do not want the car, is this,” he said.

Puppet Night (1877)

Not only has he invented the phonograph, Edison also flow in miniature music player, which is then put into a doll. It could play a phonograph recording rhymes for children, such as talking dolls.

Electric Car Batteries (1880)

When Edison introduced the nickel-iron battery, dreaming of making electric cars. Some carmakers as the Detroit Electric and Baker Electric, and then the use of technology was introduced in Edison. However, after dinner, Henry Ford gave Edison a little note to read “an electric car is dead.” After those words were proven true. Edison’s dream was never achieved.

Film Frankenstein (1910)

In 1891, Edison patented the first camera film called Kinematograph. In 1910, his company, Edison Manufacturing Company, Studio, to create a Frankenstein movie, the film adaptation of his novel, Mary Shelley’s classic horror.

Souls dedicated telephone (1920)

This observation is a subject that is still under discussion. Edison had told the media over their efforts to find a way to call people who have died. In 1921, he said, telling the New York Times, that his invention was able to detect the drive of life among the dead. However, many say that Edison has failed miserably in his attempt at this time. If this tool has been found, which could be called the first is the spirit of Edison himself.

Victor was driven to play God by the incentives of success and scientific exploration. “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature…” (22). Victor’s thirst for knowledge developed into a hunger for discovery. He had a burning passion for the unknown that he abused his ethical obligations as a scientist. Victor became so obsessed with creating life that it went to his head.  “So much has been done… far more, will I achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation” (28).  The idea of virtually being God helped him to be persistent in his despicable task. Perhaps he thought of his dead mother and the advancements that he would make if he could bring things to life. Whether Victor considered the effects or not, he knew that he was searching for the key to the restoration of life. “After days and nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause and generation of life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter” (31). This was a life changing moment for Victor and everyone he knew. With this power that no man was ever meant to possess, Victor was a very dangerous man. He was the only man who could create life since God himself. When he realized the powers he had, Victor

“hesitated a long time concerning the manner in which [he] should employ it…       [He] doubted at first whether [he] should attempt the creation of a being like [himself], or one of simpler organization; but [his] imagination was too much exalted by [his] first success to permit [him] to doubt of [his] ability to give life to an animal as complex and wonderful as man (Shelley, 32).”

So, despite his obvious conscience begging him to abandon the atrocious idea of giving life to the lifeless, Victor enjoyed the power trip too much to let go of it. Victor longed to understand and prevent the demise of humanity, but he never considered that there might be a reason that humans do not live forever or come back to life.

            Unfortunately, Victor realized the dire consequences too late. It was only after he gave the monster life that he comprehended the ethical misjudgment he had made. At first he was excited to see life in his creation, which he expressed in his recollection of the moment:

“It was on a dreary night of November, that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might in fuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet… I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs” (34).

Thus was the birth of Frankenstein’s monster. It was born from the pursuit for scientific knowledge and recognition with no consideration of what to do with the creature after bestowing life upon it. Victor had experimented with life and death without giving thought to the outcome of his twisted game. He soon found out that claiming the powers of God was more of a curse than a blessing. And that is when it hit Victor, “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form” (35)? His creature shocked him because he never imagined what would happen after he granted life to the atrocious creation. Victor had been so focused on the endowment of life that he over looked the simplest fact: he was giving life to a collection of grotesque parts. Victor was flooded with his mistakes and awoke in him an overwhelming disgust:

 “Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be s hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then; but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as Dante could not have conceived” (36).

Poor, naïve Victor deceived himself into thinking that having the power to create gave him control over his creation.

            In telling his tale to Walton, Victor warns that he will not share the secret of giving life to things that cease to live. He says that he does so to protect anyone else from his misery. “Learn from me, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquired knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (31). Victor had realized what hell he put himself through and didn’t  another man to try to recreate his miseries for the sake of science or any other reason. He had also found it hard to share his story with others because he felt no one else could comprehend the superiority of his creation saying, “Did anyone indeed exist, except I, the creator, who would believe, unless his senses convinced him, in the existence of the living monument of presumption and rash ignorance which I had let loose upon the world” (53). Victor seemed to have the well-being of others in mind by keeping his secret to himself, but his desire to control shined through his advice.

            Victor’s monster was cursed by his creator from the start. From the beginning, Victor wanted to create life. He achieved his God-like goal, but he did not assume the corresponding responsibilities. Like a child abandoned in the world, his creature had to care for itself and learn from what he saw and heard.

“It is with considerable difficulty that I remember the original era of my being all the events of that period appear confused and indistinct. A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and smelt at the same time; and it was, indeed, a long time before I learned to distinguish between the operations of my various senses” (70).

Like the child of deaf parents who lacked audio stimulation as an infant, the monster had a harder time learning to speak until he had consistent examples of language from his cottage dwelling “protectors.”

“By degrees I made a discovery of still greater moment. I found that these people possessed a method of communicating their experience and feelings to one another by articulate sounds. I perceived that the words they spoke sometimes produced pleasure or pain, smiles or sadness, in the minds and countenances of the hearers. This was indeed a godlike science, and I ardently desired to become acquainted with it” (78).

The poor helpless being Victor had created was left alone in the world with no guidance and only animal instincts to guide him in his learning.

            After being abandoned by his creator and being shunned by the rest of the world, the monster was depressed and wanted nothing more than a companion. Victor represented God and the monster was like the first man placed in a world that he had no connections to. The monster was only a pawn to Victor when he began his sick experiment and now the monster was left to question his existence. “…There was none to lament my annihilation. My person was hideous and my stature gigantic. What did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them” (91). Frankenstein’s monster was abandoned, confused, alone, and filled with uncontrollable emotions.

            The monster, ironically enough, found relevance with Adam in the bible because they were both unique creatures placed in an unknown world by their creators.

“Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature… he was allowed to converse with and acquire knowledge from beings of a superior nature: but I was wretched, hapless, and alone” (92).

The monster hated Victor for creating him without a cause. He wished he had never been created and wanted the man responsible for his sufferings to be as miserable as he was. “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did you not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge” (97). All that the monster truly wanted from Victor was happiness, which could only be found in friendship and love from a creature like himself. Unfortunately he gave up on the hope of such happiness concluding, “It was all a dream; no Eve soothed my sorrows nor shared my thoughts; I was alone” (93). If the monster had a companion that would not judge him by his appearance, he would finally have peace and happiness. However, his fate was in the hands of his creator, who despised him like everyone else in the world.

            Victor showed some sympathy toward his monster after hearing of his struggles to cope with a cursed life, however he still wanted to have control over his creation. The God-like powers he possessed hindered his abilities to show compassion toward his creation. “His words had a strange effect upon me. I compassioned him and sometimes felt a wish to console him; but when I looked upon him, when I saw the filthy mass that moved and talked, my heart sickened and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred” (106). To Victor, deciding whether the monster would have his happiness became a game. He knew that it was in his hands, so he held the creation of happiness for the monster over his head. One night he took it too far, “As I looked on him, his countenance expressed the utmost extent of malice and treachery. I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating of another like him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged. The wretch saw me destroy the creature on whose future existence he depended for happiness…” (121). Victor knew he had control over the monster’s fate, and he abused his powers because he could.

Through the story of Frankenstein and his monster, Mary Shelley showed why man should not play God. Victor created a deadly force when he gave life to a creature and then neglected his responsibilities to it. Victor’s ruthless pursuit of knowledge and supremacy eventually results in the destruction of everyone dear to him, and his obsessive hatred of the monster he created inevitably drives him to his death.

Works Cited

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York City: Dover Thrift, 1994.

‘Normally, the way I work is very figurative and photographic based. It’s heavily drawn from photography and, up until recently, that would be pilfered from all over the place – websites and magazines chopped up and reassembled in Photoshop. That way I can create my own models.’

It could be argued that this way of working is influenced by the global, mass media culture that bombards us with images of all kinds.

The erotica/fashion publication S Magazine asked Goodall to contribute to their ‘Play’ issue.  He developed this work into a series entitled Pornogothic, which fuses fetishism with gothic horror. Goodall has an interest in gothic horror and the B movies of the 1960s and 70s, films that abounded with sexual imagery and exploitation. He was interested in why certain sexual themes recur in these films, specifically vampire nuns and virgin sacrifice:

‘I enjoy the frivolity and unashamed enjoyment in the sex and gore of these films and their posters and whilst I recognize their tendency towards political incorrectness I relish the side of humanity that they stimulate – guilty pleasures I suppose. I wanted to put some of the tongue in cheek humour obviously evident in these posters into the work I did.’

This is an image called Zombie Dolls. The aesthetic here is what we would call Southern Gothic. It draws on a particular form of the occult, namely Voodoo, a belief system that originated in Haiti. Voodoo witch doctors or ‘bokurs’ could supposedly enslave the dead. The image features the voodoo spirit Baron Samedi, as well as women emerging from a swamp. Voodoo is active in the southern state of Louisiana, which is renowned for its swamps or bayous. The image has a languorous, indolent atmosphere.

This is an image called The Call of Cthulhu. This is based on a story by the American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft about a horrific tentacled creature that surfaces on an island thrown up by a huge underwater earthquake. This particular story also connects with a peculiar sexual fetish. Throughout history, Japanese art has featured erotic images of women having sex with tentacled creatures. The first example was a painting by Hokusai (1814), which shows a woman receiving oral sex from an octopus.

No collection of gothic horror would be complete without an allusion to Frankenstein, the great horror novel by Mary Shelley. H.P. Lovecraft also wrote a story called Herbert West: Reanimator, which is in update of Frankenstein, and Goodall has used it as inspiration here. He named the image Re-animatrix, a contraction of ‘reanimator’ and ‘dominatrix’ (a female role from sadomasochism). It plays with themes of bondage. The image revives the aesthetic of the 1931 film version of Frankenstein. The greatest scene in the film is the creation scene, which involves modern technology in a medieval tower. It creates a kind of techno-gothic aesthetic.

Goodall designed cover art for the group Muse, which shows a development in his style. He photographed smoke and manipulated it digitally to create portraits of the group emerging from cosmic mist, like galactic nebulae. He used Photoshop to manipulate the image of a horse that appears on the cover of the single, Knights of Cydonia.

Goodall has recently moved into fashion design. He developed his own line of swimwear called JG4B in collaboration with the designer Louise Middleton. His illustration shows an obsession with the female body and with his fashion design he is, in effect, adorning the female body and using it as a medium.

In 2009, Goodall launched his first London gallery show, entitled Poster Girls. This marked a new direction in his work, mixing photography with illustration. He created striking images of shiny latex, pink goo and acrylic cut out body masking. This work comments on fetishism and the line between fantasy and reality.

Please see Goodall’s official website and online gallery for further imformation about his work:

http://www.jaspergoodall.com/

1.   Never play hide and seek with Mr. Hyde.

2.   Ghosts do not give out candy on Halloween.  Their reason for doing this is rather transparent.

3.   Your future looks like it will be a howling success.  However, at times things may get a little hairy.

4.   Never sink your teeth into a person’s neck just because they call you a little batty.

5.   Frankenstein has the right to volt in the next election. 

6.   Do not fear the black cat.  Do fear the tiger that is in back of you.

7.   Never clean your home with a witch’s broomstick unless you are prepared to take flight in a moment’s notice.

8.   Never give a Zombie finger food.  He’d much rather have an arm or a leg instead.

9.   Mummy’s love to listen to wrap music.  They also like to Walk Like an Egyptian.

10. Playing dunking for apples in a bucket of blood will not endear you with your guests.

11. Doing the Monster Mash when you are smashed is likely to land you on your #@!

12. Your chances of giving a high five to the Invisible Man is very remote.

13. Never kiss a woman who looks like she just came from the morgue. Tell her to get a life!

14. Never kiss a man who has fangs growing out of his mouth.  Tell him to see a dentist.

Image via Wikipedia

15. Never invite Freddy Krueger over to your house to carve the turkey.

            In order to begin this research, I first formed a research question of, “How does the religious symbolism of different characters shape the two novels, The Scarlet Letter and Frankenstein?” Before I started the research, I already had interest in religious aspects of novels so I decided on the religious symbolisms. To further investigate this research, I searched all over Questia for scholarly journal articles that pertained to my research. Unfortunately, there weren’t many journals that related to the religious symbolisms but still, I excavated much useful information out of some articles that did relate. After looking over some journal articles, I went on the novels to find out details that I could use. During this process, I also scanned through the Bible because many passages throughout the Bible helped me understand the various religious symbolisms like Christ figure. Through the uses of all three resources, Questia, novels, and the Bible, I was able to form various explanations on the aspect of religious symbolism upon those two novels. In conclusion, I figured out how both authors of the novels displayed several symbolisms through their characters. Hawthorne used all three of her major characters to represent Adam and Eve, Christ, and Satan; this added something more unique to the novel, showing that complex connection to the Bible. Moreover, Shelley also displayed two of her characters to represent similar figures of the Bible, revealing how both authors extensively connected their major characters to the various symbolisms of the Bible.

Word Count: 247

Research Question: How does the religious symbolism of different characters shape the two novels, The Scarlet Letter and Frankenstein?

            Writers incorporate many symbolisms in their literature to emphasize or point out certain aspects of their piece and relating it to works of others. Out of all the symbolisms, religious symbolism is one of the most commonly used among many authors because it originates from perhaps the oldest book in history, the Bible. Moreover, the two authors, Mary Shelley and Nathaniel Hawthorne, display religious symbolisms throughout their works to symbolize their characters throughout the stories. For example, Hawthorne uses different religious symbolisms like Adam and Eve, Christ, and Satan to create more unique characters that serve as different religious symbols throughout the Bible. Also, Shelley similarly uses these symbolisms but she directs them into different directions to display different characters like the monster that Victor creates, throughout her piece. Through religious symbolisms, both authors develop significant points in their characters throughout their novels by relating them to various details of the Bible, creating multiple depths in the passages.

            Bible, throughout history of ages, has been one of the most significant books within the writers because it provides so much depth that authors can search and relate to. And surprisingly, Americans today live in a Christian culture because of the big influence of the puritans and pilgrims over the ages (117 Foster). Because so many people are influenced by the culture, Bible became one of the crucial books in literature where it is required to understand all the variety in symbolisms and literary devices. There are 1189 chapters in the Bible with thousands of events taking place throughout the centuries. With so many events and stories embedded within the single book, authors can relate their work as various symbols involving different characters, settings, objects, and many others. Religious symbolism is a significant part in Bible because literature has so many connections to characters in Bible like Christ, Paul, John, and others. Also, writers don’t have to be so straight in utilizing the Bible; many modern and postmodern texts are essentially ironic to illustrate even disparity or disruption (52 Foster). Therefore, Bible has so many uses that literary writers can take and mix them into their work as turn them into connections like religious symbolism, as shown through Hawthorne and Shelley’s works.

            Hawthorne displays various symbolisms of Adam and Eve, representing her characters Dimmesdale and Hester to display the similar characteristics of the characters. First of all, both Adam and Eve took place in the very beginning book of the Bible, Genesis. Because they were the first human creations upon earth, they were also the first sinners. Quoted from the Bible, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good … she took some and ate it.” She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” The fruit was forbidden by God but Adam and Eve went against God, resulting in the ultimate consequence of sin. This parallels to Dimmesdale and Hester because they have also sinned resulting in consequences. Hester has conceived of a baby with another man other than her husband and is openly criticized by the public: “A lane was forthwith opened through the crowd of spectators… Hester Prynne set forth towards the place appointed for her punishment… she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep of those that thronged to see her…” (Hawthorne 47). Whereas Dimmesdale who committed the same iniquity, is the one questioning Hester of her sins, hidden away from all the public criticism: “I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him…” (Hawthorne 57). Hawthorne changes the situation in her characters in this way: only Hester is banned from the society whereas both Adam and Even were banned from the garden of life. But this change is what drives the story because Dimmesdale faces the deepest guilt inside of him, torturing him in every second of his life until he finally reveals the truth by the end (Hawthorne 119). Moreover, Hester still faces the guilt deep inside of her because her intercourse with Dimmesdale resulted in creation of a human being, Pearl (Hawthorne 49). As both of the characters continue throughout the story, Hester creates different relations to Adam and Eve, relating their aspect of guilt inside each one of them.

            As for Shelley, she demonstrates complexity of relationship between the monster and Adam. For example, Adam was created by God similar to how the monster was created by victor, having that bond with their masters. However, the irony in here is that Adam was created by God in a perfect state; the monster wasn’t. The creation was described by Victor as a wretch having ugly features with horrifying feeling just by the glance of it: “Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous” (Shelley 52). Therefore, the creation goes back to symbolize the state of Adam after he ate the fruit of knowledge. Through the fruit, Adam received the dreadful sin which tortured him throughout his life and even until the end of his death. The monster similar to Adam is tortured throughout his life by the sin of being born into this world with such horrifying features and inhuman-like qualities: “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed” (Shelley 121)? This parallels to the feeling of Adam after his expulsion because now he has that burden of sin upon his back without the support of God (Goodall 13). For the monster, he has the burden of having a torturous life with terrible features without the support of Victor who ran away from his creation (Shelley 52). Even though Adam and the monster have many difference in their features, their

creation into the world of sin is closely related, especially by comparing Adam’s torture to that of the creation’s.

            Another religious symbolism that Hawthorne incorporates into his book is one of the most commonly used one, the Christ figure. Similar to the deeds of Jesus, where he sacrificed himself for the better of the people, Dimmesdale in Hawthorne’s book plays the similar role. The puritan society is corrupted at its base because many of the citizens are hypocrites, blaming others on sins that they also have done. This is present even by the beginning of the book where puritans are blaming Hester for the single sin she committed; the society ignores the fact that hundreds of others also committed the sins but chooses to use Hester as a scapegoat: “Had a roar of laughter burst from the multitude, – each man, each woman, each little shrill-voiced child, contributing their individual parts…” (Hawthorne 49). Her sin of adultery causes her to have an illegitimate baby named pearl and the tragedy behind this story is that Dimmesdale was the one who provided the seed (Hawthorne 174). Even though Jesus didn’t sin a single time in the world, Hawthorne still relates Dimmesdale as a Christ figure to show the flaws in humanity. Throughout the book, readers can observe the tortures that Dimmesdale went through, especially by the constant throbbing of his chest mentioned several times in many passages: “While thus suffering under bodily disease, and gnawed and tortured by some black trouble of the soul, and given over to the machinations of his deadliest enemy…” (Hawthorne 117). When relating Dimmesdale’s pain to that of Christ’s, they are very similar in the way that both of them are suffering from the harms of the world. Christ endured all the harsh treatments of the Romans and the Jews, whipped with flagrums which had shards attached to the ends of the whip, ripping off the skin of its victim every time it is unleashed. While Christ suffered the physical harms of the world, Dimmesdale suffered the internal suffering of the guilt inside: “It is inconceivable, the agony with which this public veneration tortured him… that he was altogether vile, a viler companion of the vilest, the worst of sinners, an abomination, a thing of unimaginable iniquity…” (Hawthorne 119). Even though he had the same responsibility as Hester for bearing that illegitimate child, he still stands in his prominent position as the preacher while watching Hester living outside of town as an outcast (Hawthorne 59). This feeling tortures Dimmesdale continuously throughout the book, as if it is burning up his chest every time he sees the mother and the child. Even though the sufferings were different as one suffered externally and other did internally, they both represent the sacrifice for the good, declaring themselves “the one sinner of the world,” for the benefit of others (Gartner 2).

            Similar to Dimmesdale, Shelley creates a character that resembles Christ in sacrificing his own life for the protection of others: Frankenstein. Frankenstein as explained throughout the story, is described as a adventurous and young youth wanting for the answer to the mystery of science, especially of reincarnation: “The astonishment which I had first experienced on this discovery soon gave place to delight and rapture… and found a passage to life, aided only by one glimmering, and seemingly ineffectual, light” (Shelley 47). This aspect of him might not be the similarity to Christ but as Foster once quoted, “they don’t have to hit all the marks (Foster 121),” meaning that Christ figures don’t have to be the same as the real Christ. In fact Foster quotes again, saying, “Don’t even have to be good (Foster 121),” revealing how some Christ figures are even opposites in various cases. Therefore, when one looks at Frankenstein carefully in the details, he actually shares so many characteristics of a Christ figure. For example, his suffering is immense through the novel, both internally and externally. Because Frankenstein created that terrifying being into this world, he feels this heavy guilt inside of him; the consequences are murders of several close members. As Frankenstein cries, “From the tortures of my own heart, I turned to contemplate the deep and voiceless grief of my Elizabeth… And my father’s woe, and the desolation of that late so smiling home – all was the work of my thrice-accursed hands” (Shelley 79)! While in the state of running and hiding from his own creation, his living conditions are horrible as well as his mental condition; he is always feeling unsafe of the danger of the monster approaching him in every second. Even when Frankenstein avoided the monster for several years while trying to get together with his fiancée, the danger comes back haunting him forever with the horrible murders: “I could feel the blood trickling in my veins and tingling in the extremities of my limbs… The murderous mark of the fiend’s grasp was on her neck, and the breath had ceased to issue from her lips” (Shelley 173). The sufferings that Victor goes through reflect of the sufferings of Christ regardless of the difference of the causes. Moreover, both of the victims die by the end, symbolizing the ultimate sacrifice for the greater cause and the benefit of their society.

            Just like how Dimmesdale sacrificed himself for the better of the puritan society, Victor Frankenstein also sacrifices for similar motives, serving as the religious symbol for Christ figure. The monster the Victor creates wants only one thing from this master: to create a partner to interact with. However, Victor, afraid of the result of making another monster, refuses that deal and remains in avoidance of his creation. Therefore, only thing that Victor faces is tragedy: innocent people dying around him without any ways to prevent it from occurring. Therefore, Frankenstein chooses the disheartening way of suicide: “Oh! When will my guiding spirit, in conducting me to the daemon, allow me the rest I so much desire; or must I die and he yet live” (Shelley 184). Because Victor suicides, Frankenstein has no more reason to kill innocent people – it was only for the revenge of Victor’s abandoned promise. As a result, the society becomes peaceful again without the agitations of the monster roaming around town. This symbolizes Frankenstein as a Christ figure because through his sacrifice, he was able to save the society from potential dangers. Even though Victor wasn’t the most Christ-like person to begin with, many of his acts make the connection to Christ, making him the Christ figure of the novel.

            As there are several Christ figures in both novels, there also exist the antagonists of Christ – Satan. From the very beginning, Satan was originally an angle serving God as his master; however, his greediness and desire for power went out of control, trying to obtain the divine power of God (Isaiah 14:12-15). Therefore, Satan was sent down from heaven as a form of punishment and descended into the depths of hell, suffering in the darkest and fiercest of all places (Luke 10:17-20). Established in this kind of background, Satan works to interfere in all of God’s good deeds including the roaming of Jesus Christ (Matthew 4:1-11). One of Satan’s main act in Bible was his struggle in trying to destroy Christ out of existence; however, that was known to be impossible (Colossians 1:15-17). Even though Christ died on the cross, his divine power was beyond the understanding of the devil, resurrecting after three days (John 11:25-26).

            Coming from this setting, Satan is quite correlative to a character in The Scarlet Letter: Chillingworth. Chillingworth reveals many characters of Satan throughout the story, working to disrupt the Christ figure, Dimmesdale. Even from the beginning of the story, Chillingworth makes a hideous entrance: As Hester stands in the scaffold, Chillingworth is glaring through, giving her the Satan-like look with such hatred (Hawthorne 52). In the story, Chillingworth hates Hester for having an affair with Dimmesdale, making a baby; however symbolically, this represents the tension between Satan and Christ, Satan trying to destroy the existence of Christ. As Chillingworth tries to destroy Dimmesdale in various methods, he feels as if he is succeeding: “A sickness, a sore place, if we may so call it, in your spirit, hath immediately its appropriate manifestation in your bodily frame. Would you, therefore, that your physician heal the bodily evil” (Hawthorne 113)? However, even though Dimmesdale is weakened every single day by the poisonous medicine of Chillingworth, he is symbolically becoming stronger. As mentioned before, as Jesus Christ suffered through the cross and died, his sacrifice for the world was so great that Satan’s efforts in killing Christ was worthless if not helpful towards God’s ultimate plan. Therefore, going back to The Scarlet Letter, Chillingworth indeed kills Dimmesdale through his medications but in the end, he feels empty: He seek for revenge and now he killed him – nothing more worthwhile was left to do. Again, this parallels to the biblical perspective of the result of Christ’s sacrifice, showing the connection through the Chillingworth and Satan.

            Similar to Chillingworth’s connection to Satan, Victor’s creation serves in that same relationship. For example, Victor creates the monster through his knowledge just like how God created Satan from the beginning. At first, Satan was supposed to be an obedient angel, following God’s orders and commands but as time passed, Satan shows his disobedience, separating from God (Luke 10:18). In Frankenstein, Victor creates the monster in trying to achieve the never before tried experiment in reincarnating a creature through non-living objects (Shelley 51). However, Victor’s success in creating the creature becomes a danger to him because of its threats in wanting more from the master (Shelley 90). This parallels to the Bible because Satan wanted the God’s power to control all beings just like how the monster desired the power to make another living creature from Victor. Even though Victor is not a God literally, his power to reincarnate a creature symbolically represent the features of God. Moreover, Satan constantly harasses Jesus throughout his time on earth, using vicious temptations to destroy the Christ (Matt 4:1-11). In the novel, Frankenstein, the creation constantly haunts his own master with demands for another creation like himself, which Victor refuses to: “I have declared my resolution to you, and I am no coward to bend beneath words. Leave me; I am inexorable” (Shelley 149). The creation lives to revenge his own master, struggling to increase the entropy of Victor’s life and make him as frightened as possible. As the demon speaks, “It is well. I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your wedding-night” (Shelley 149). This is another connection that can be made because just like Satan’s desire to destroy God’s plan of sending Jesus to save the world, Frankenstein desires to destroy master’s happiness to get what he wants.  In Satan’s case, he failed to destroy God’s plan to save the earth, resulting in nothing but emptiness (Hebrews 2:14). Similar in the novel, the demon fails to get his desire of a partner and only leads his master into suicide, resembling the emptiness of Satan in the result. The creation of Frankenstein shares similar characters of Satan, attempting to kill the Christ figure of the story but fails by the end, showing the connection to the aftermath of Satan’s acts.

            Both novels, The Scarlet Letter and Frankenstein, utilize religious symbolisms as one of their key qualities in revealing different attributes within the main characters.  For example, Hawthorne displays various symbolisms in three of her main characters: Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Each character symbolically represent various figures in Bible like Adam and Eve, Christ, and Satan. Through their connections to each figures, their role in the story become more than just simple characters in a plot; they also represent parts of Bible that symbolizes the significance for the characters. Moreover, Shelley displays various religious symbolisms in her work Frankenstein as well. She uses two of her major characters, Frankenstein and his demon-like creation and connects them to various figures in the Bible, very similar to Hawthorne’s uses of symbolisms. Through the relationships that both authors create, using the religious symbolisms of the Bible, they display complex understandings of their main characters that readers can comprehend by incorporating different symbols throughout their work.

Word Count: 3302

Work Cited

-  Foster , Thomas. How to Read Literature like a Professor. 1st. London: Harper, 2003.    Print.

- Gartner, Matthew. “‘The Scarlet Letter’ and the book of Esther: scriptural letter and         narrative life.” Questia (1995): n. pag. Web. 11 April 2011.

-  Goodall, Jane. “Frankenstein and the Reprobate’s Conscience.” (1999): n. pag. Web. 14 April 2011.

-  Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Barnes&Noble Classic, 1850.       Print.

-  Shelley , Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Barnes&Noble Classic, 1818. Print.

-  The New Student Bible. Michigan: The Zondervan Corporation, 1986. Print.

Disposed of It According to Bin Laden’s Own Religious Traditions

In added words, we should accept beggared a agglomeration of explosives to it, apprenticed it into a awash abode abounding of innocent people, and absolute it to smithereens.

This abstraction is not meant to reflect on the all-inclusive majority of accord admiring Muslims!

Ransomed It to His Wealthy Family

Bet we could accept gotten a brace of actor for it, or a few thousand barrels of oil. We could accept accustomed the money to the ancestors associates of 9/11 victims.

Sold It on Ebay

Come to anticipate of it, this ability alike accomplish added money than ransoming the anatomy to the Bin Laden family. And what an insult to the abundant jihadist that his asleep body was actuality auctioned off on a website!

Given the Bristles to Conan O’brien

Isn’t there some bristles affair activity on amid Conan O’Brien and Will Farrell appropriate now? Maybe we could accept accustomed Bin Laden’s bristles to them, aloof for fun!

Brought It Aback to Activity So We Could Kill It Again

The Frankenstein allegory is appealing popular. We could accept acclimated this befalling to analysis it out in absolute life. Once old Osama was breath again, we could accept angry him over to the families of the victims of 9/11. We could accept kept bringing him aback to activity and killing him afresh and again. He could accept fabricated appropriate “Kill Osama” appearances on Leno, Letterman, alike The View. He didn’t deserve a quick and accessible exit.

I was one of the cooks, and we used to love roughing it, conjuring up meals from petrol-driven flame-throwing beasts of heaters, which were unbelievably efficient and made our lives much easier. It was a Saturday night, just two days before the deployment and exercise were due to end, but just after midnight all hell broke loose, as the ‘enemy’ had discovered our location and were attacking.

We had to pack up and clear out in double quick time, obviously being given no clue as to our next destination, though the fact that our wagon drove really deep into the surrounding forest made it clear that staying hidden this time round was top priority for those in command. The trees around us, some fairly ancient, literally sang with the noises of wildlife, shimmering, it appeared from the wing-beats of countless birds, yet suddenly, the forest around grew silent, as we approached the gates of a hidden compound.

Within the six-meter high walls that apparently completely enclosed the grounds, this site of at least ten acres in size was dominated by an enormous, but very dilapidated building at the heart of it, with lots of outbuildings around it, but even though it was long-ago abandoned, as evidenced by the poor state of the structures within the walls, nature had not elected to encroach on the free space, and of grass, plants, animals or birds there was no trace whatever.

Despite the fact that it was a balmy fifteen degrees in the morning sun, this eerie compound was cold, and all of us felt like intruders. The lieutenant told us to set up and make breakfast, so we set to work, feeling all the time that something was amiss, but dismissing these thoughts as work took precedence over our attentions. By nightfall, having served the evening meal and cleaned up, we were ready for a drink.

By tradition, the commanding officer would give us passes to visit local bars on the final night of any exercise such as that we were engaged in, but the simple fact was that the unplanned night move had put us in a place where there were no such establishments around. Sighing regretfully, I and the other two cooks broke out the several bottles of sherry we had stashed, turned onto a music station on the radio, and set about relaxing as only squaddies know how to do.

The Battery died on the radio, so things went quiet as we polished off that fourth sherry bottle, until my companion, our corporal whispered ‘Anyone hear that?’ Next thing we knew there was a muffled screaming coming from the direction of the central ruin, and being fearless, or drunk, we elected to investigate. To this day, I swear that what the three of us saw that night was straight out of the realms of horror fiction.

Not more than fifty yards away from us, a young woman, who had her back to us, but seemed to be covered in bloody bandages, was crying bitterly, and muttering in what sounded like German, about her dead baby. I learned to speak German whilst serving there, so got the gist of her mumblings. We started toward her, unsure of ourselves, and as if she had become aware of us, she turned around.

In her arms was a pathetic, bloody bundle that could have been a child, but more horrific still was the sight of her horribly maimed face and hands, a walking female Frankenstein, stumbling painfully in our direction.  Terrified, and rooted to the spot, all three of us were convinced of our impending doom when a bright beam of torchlight suddenly appeared behind us.

The figure, when we turned to look again, had disappeared once more, and we scurried back to our tent, determined not to even try sleeping before dawn broke. We packed up and left that terrible place before  8am, and on the way back to base stopped to provide tea for the lads. During that welcome break, I asked, as casually as I could of our commanding officer, what the place had been used for, where we had spent the previous night?

‘An experimental Nazi hospital in WWII,’ he replied. ‘They cut up women and children to see if Jews were anatomically different. Horrible, apparently, and the place is supposed to be haunted, but I slept OK. Thanks for the tea’.  Neither I nor either of my two cook buddies told a soul what we had seen, but the shivers run down my spine to this day, thinking about it. The truth may well be out there, but I am not sure I want to know.

The novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelly in the 1800’s, and the film Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott in the 1980’s both express interesting ideas on power, humanity and advancement. The values they advocate are shaped by social, cultural and contextual influences of their time. Of these composers, Ridley Scott expresses the more interesting ideas and values as Blade Runner’s medium allow for a wider range of techniques to be used and it’s and post modern context shows interesting perspectives and is more relatable in modern society.

The influence of power is shown through the characters of Victor Frankenstein and Tyrell, both of whom were compelled by ambition to obtain the glory of having power.

In Frankenstein, power is highlighted through first person narration of Victor’s words “A new species would bless me as its creator and source…No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs.” The arrogance and enthusiasm this shows is juxtaposed when he neglects his fatherly responsibility, saying “Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room.” Furthermore, subtitle of the novel, The Modern Prometheus, directs the reader’s anticipation of the narrative which will unfold in the text and draws parallels between the character of Prometheus and Victor. This allusion presents the Romantic view of the myth, and highlights Victor’s attempt to ‘play God’ through stealing the forbidden knowledge of bestowing life.

In Scott’s Blade Runner, Tyrell is a powerful figure, and this is shown through a multitude of interesting techniques. Tyrell is dressed in white, suggesting that he sees himself as royalty, and when coupled with his bed and apartment this forms a strong religious tie, alluding to the Pope and signifying his role as a creator to the Replicants. Tyrell’s social status is emphasised through the opening scene, where a low and forced perspective shot is used to exaggerate the enormity of Tyrell Corporation’s headquarters. This is accompanied by majestic non-diegetic music evoking a sense of awe in the responder. The similarity of the headquarters to the ancient Mayan temple is symbolic for the influential power and authority Tyrell Corporation has over the city. Tyrell’s chess board is symbolic for his power and this idea is extended when the power role between Roy and Tyrell is reversed, as Roy uses Sebastian as a piece in his game to checkmate Tyrell. This twist changes the viewer’s perspective and makes it more interesting than Frankenstein.

Humanity is another common theme in the two texts, which is shown through the characters of the Replicants from Blade Runner and the Monster from Frankenstein. The two texts present very different characterisations of these protagonists, however, in both texts their treatment by society forces them to play the role of the villain.

As the plot develops Blade Runner questions what it means to be human, which makes it more interesting than Frankenstein for a modern, technology-centred audience where humanity is a rising concern. Scott achieves this through the dehumanised status given to Replicants regardless of Tyrell’s repetitive use of the motto “more human than human” and Pris’ philosophical quote “I think, therefore I am”. The Replicants juxtapose greatly with the apathetic humans, and create irony due to the clear role reversal present. This is highlighted through the diegetic sound used when the Replicants express emotion, such as Pris screaming in despair, and Roy howling with grief and anger accompanied the special effect of strobe lighting in a close up facial shot which intensifies their desperation.

In Shelly’s Frankenstein, humanity is presented in a way which reflects its Romantic time period. This is shown through the vivid description and use of adjective in describing the character of Frankenstein’s Monster, whose namelessness is a deliberate effort in Shelly’s characterisation to assert his horrid appearance. Shelly’s contemporary audience was particularly influenced by the philosophy of physiognomy and Shelley uses this to represent the Monster’s lack of humanity through his ugliness, even though sophisticated language and dialog clearly presents him as intelligent. His murderous nature and warped sense of morality is heightened by short sentences, accentuated with punctuated exclamation marks such as when he says before murdering William “Frankenstein! You belong then to my enemy – to him towards whom I have sworn eternal rage; you shall be my first victim!” Shelly questions humanity through the unravelling of the monster’s character from a placid monster to hating his own monster status, as he said “That happiness and affection turned into bitter and loathing despair.”

The idea of advancement is influenced by context and shown through the use of setting. Both texts share the idea that unchecked scientific advancement can lead to destruction.

In Frankenstein, advancement is mainly shown through the scientific knowledge Victor obtained and the destruction that this wrought. Because of it’s Romantic context, Frankenstein exemplifies the positive effects of nature through lengthy, emotive descriptions, and warns against the rampant advancement leading to the Industrial Revolution. The structure of Frankenstein is written in a series of flashbacks and letters, which cause the responder to reflect on the events that lead to regression. Even so, the lengthy narrative of the prose fiction, together with the detailed structure can be difficult to sustain the modern day audience’s attention, but the film format of Blade Runner is accessible to a wide contemporary audience.

Blade Runner, written well after the Industrial revolution also places importance of nature on society. This is done through an over-urbanised, post nuclear-war setting where advancement has clearly led to society’s downfall. The setting is portrayed in the opening scene, where an aerial establishing shot is combined with ominous non-diegetic music and the diegetic roar of the industrial infrastructure and whizzing hover-cars to create a bleak, futuristic mood of the cityscape. By emphasising the negative aspects of advancement, Scott questions current society’s direction and warns against over-urbanisation, making it more interesting than Frankenstein.

Both Blade Runner and Frankenstein deal with the ideas and values of advancement, humanity and power, but the techniques Ridley Scott uses make them more interesting. Furthermore, Blade Runner’s post modern context more closely resembles today’s context and so the issues presented are more relevant to a modern audience.

Natural phenomena were attributed to Gods; the destruction they brought , was blamed on gigantic, merciless monsters, whose power was unbeatable.  

People embodied their fears and anxieties in monsters, dragons and evil figures who were the center of their legends and stories. Every time the hero of the story managed to kill the beast, people would rejoice, the good won over the evil; symbolically they had won over their fears.

Even nowadays people are attracted to myths and stories about monsters, and strange creatures. Harry Potter’s success is the best proof for that.

The Most Famous Monsters

1.      Frankenstein

In many people’s opinion, Frankenstein is the best scary movie ever. The novel with the same title, written by Mary Shelley , in 1816, became one of the most famous scary movies ever, which still continues to attract attention today. Doctor Frankenstein created a monster with body parts from dead people and hoped to create new life this way. But his hopes are crushed when his creation turns evil…I am not going to tell more, not to spoil it for the ones who haven’t yet either read the book or seen the movie.

2.      The Werewolf

The full moon is rising, and a wolf is howling in distance…you get cold shivers down your spine. Amazing what human imagination has attributed to this animal. The stories about werewolves emerged in the middle ages. When the full moon appeared in the sky, these wolf people were transformed in real wolves who went hunting for human blood. A bite from them would turn even a normal human into a werewolf. Accounts of people who were transformed in werewolves go back as many as 100 years ago. According to some this started with the rabies disease. When bitten by a dog, which had rabies, people would scream because of the high fever and that was interpreted as them turning into wild animals. At that time there was no cure for this disease.  One of the superstitions regarding werewolves originates in Italy. According to the superstition, you could become a werewolf if you were born on a full moon on a Friday, or if the light of the full moon shone on your face while you were sleeping.

3.      Dracula

In 1897, Bram Stoker wrote a book which was inspired of vampire stories. Many movies have since then featured the famous, Count Dracula. Bram Stoker’s character has been connected to the Transylvanian-born, Duke Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia, in Romania. Vlad  is said to have killed up to 100,000 European civilians (political rivals, criminals and anyone else he considered “useless to humanity”). It is this mercilessness that supposedly connects him to Bram Stocker’s character. His favorite method of executing them was by impaling them on a sharp pole. The main sources dealing with these events are records by Saxon settlers in neighboring Transylvania, who had frequent clashes with Vlad III. Despite his ruthlessness, Romanians revere Vlad III as a hero for driving off the invading Turks.

Sources: Mystical Monsters by John Townsend

                Wikipedia