ENGL378G:
Science and Fiction
THE AFTERMATH OF CREATION
THE AFTERMATH OF DISCOVERY
THE AFTERMATH OF TEMPTATION
THE AFTERMATH OF FEAR
DESTRUCTION
KNOWLEDGE
ETHICS
VIOLENCE
CHOICES
PREJUDICE
HUMANITY
OBSESSION
Destroyer by Victor LaValle
When people encounter something unfamiliar, it sparks a sense of danger in them. When it comes to other people, many people commit acts of prejudice in order to seek some sort of sense (often one rooted from a lack of reason) that is comfortable to them.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Everything comes to an end. Creation leads to destruction. There are many instances of this but one of them can be found in Victor's fear of a partner for his creature. He learns from his mistakes and refuses to let his thirst for knowledge get the best of him. While he did act rationally, he also destroyed the potential bride out of fear for humanity's existence.
Destroyer by Victor LaValle
The concept of humanity is questioned in many instances. Firstly, the obvious question of whether humanity encompasses half-human, half-technology beings such as Akai. As the future and technology evolve, the boundaries of humanity are challenged. The novel explores whether sentient humanoids and the undead are still human through both the creature and Akai.
Secondly, African-American lives are not seen as valuable, evident in the unjust way Akai was murdered. LaValle applies real-life social issues, such as police brutality and racism, throughout the novel.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Though the creature exhibited humane traits, he was shunned from human societies because of the community's refusal to empathize with a creature that was hideous. Even at his vulnerable moments, creature was something unfamiliar to humans, and therefore was deemed dangerous to the townspeople.
Paradise Lost by John Milton
God's creation—Adam and Eve—is the blueprint for humanity. With the help of Satan's temptation, sin becomes integrated into the nature of humanity. Creation encompasses its own imperfections as well.
Dawn by Octavia Butler
With the coexistence of an alien species and the introduction of a third gender, the bounds of life expand in this novel. Lilith herself bonds with an Ooloi, which becomes Butler's literary exploration in interbreeding of species through her beloved science fiction genre. The question of whether sentient humanoid aliens encompass humanity arises.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
After creating his monster, Victor finds that the monster yearns for a partner. This raises questions of ethics and leaves Victor contemplating whether to grant the creature's wish. Morality is a large umbrella theme for this novel, as the creature's humanity and the sake of humanity is often questioned.
Destroyer by Victor LaValle
After any successful discovery comes the potential for creation. Every creation involves a level of power from its creator. What the creator does with their power over their creation eventually raises the subject of ethics. The most obvious example of navigating through the complexities of ethics is the mere fact that Dr Baker revives her deceased son, dooming him to an eternity of the age he was when he passed. What Dr Baker chose to do with her discovery/knowledge of the technology that would allow her to create raises these questions of ethics.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The creature tempts Victor into creating a partner of the opposite sex for him. Initially adamant on not creating another one, Victor is convinced through the creature's excellent storytelling and skills of persuasion, similar to Satan. He later refuses to create a partner.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Victor Frankenstein's obsession with knowledge throughout his life leads him to creating his creature, which becomes the catalyst for his downward spiral. Even after giving life to the creature, his obsessive behavior only makes his situation worse.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Mental/emotional violence is a lot more prominent here, because the creature is neglected by his creator. Without a caregiver or guardian who can guide him through existence, he suffers mentally and becomes vengeful towards society and his own creator, who would rarely show him compassion out of fear.
Destroyer by Victor LaValle
As an adaptation of Frankenstein, Destroyer has the strong theme of the many consequences of creation—for the creator, for the creation, and for their society. A consequence of creation is power, whether used for good or evil. Because of the wide possibilities, creation comes with an immense amount of responsibility. When that power is abused and/or misused, destruction, or the opposite of creation, is inevitable, especially when paired with fear.
Akai’s death is the result of people in positions of authority abusing their power and acting on their fear of what they found to be unfamiliar. The police “destroyed” Akai’s life, and consequently his mother’s family life too.
Most notably, Destroyer also explores destruction in an act of reclaiming Josephine’s own power. The life she knew that she lost from an act of fear led her to create Akai in a new form. However, the injustice that was inflicted on her son ultimately leads her to a complete disregard for humanity. She tells Akai, "You are the start of what will dominate as humanity declines. ... Some will even blame you for our end. And for creating you, they'll label me mankind's enemy, too. 'The Destroyer.' And I will welcome the title. If it kept you safe, I would destroy them all,” losing all care for a society that never cared about her and her family in the first place (chapter 5).
Her thirst for revenge becomes an obsession that leaves her relentless and hungry for blood. In this moment, she does not resemble the loving mother she was to Akai before his death, yet simultaneously still exhibits her maternal instinct. However, the reality is that her aggression is only shocking because she is not only a mother, but a woman. Destruction and being content with being "evil" seems to only be expected by men, which Josephine also points out.
The text invites readers to contemplate on the extent to which fear can control a person. Even Dr Baker herself, though seemingly confident about her intentions, seems like a smart mother who is just afraid of losing her child, rightfully so. This fear of hers has led her to her thirst for destruction and her apathy towards humanity other than her son.
Destroyer by Victor LaValle
Curiosity that follows discovery often leads to temptation (although does not always lead to sin), making people confront their choices. Before the start of the graphic novel, Josephine Baker had to make a decision about her discovery. Even though she does not regret her actions, she falls into the temptation of curiosity and impulse emotions. Her grief leads her to committing a risky act, such as reviving Akai. Josephine's grief and anger also leads her to planning a violent, murderous revenge plot, which she was not able to make it early enough to the scene to do. Temptation and "sin" gets the best of her.
Destroyer by Victor LaValle
Temptation, if not resolved, can lead to unhealthy obsession. Both Josephine and the Director are similar because they become obsessed with vengeance and/or control. They are obsessed with their work, even willing to commit/encourage violence and murder because of it.
"Of the Point of a Needle" by Robert Hooke
"Pensees" by Blaise Pascal
Powers of Ten by Ray and Charles Eames
Constantly evolving scientific discovery plays an integral role in the science fiction genre and promotes "out-of-the-box" thinking by encouraging curiosity for the grand and the small. "Needle" presents details of tiny objects, while Pensees contemplates the unknown of the grand universe. Powers of Ten is a visualization of how spectacular our world is in terms of scale.
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Satan, who embodies temptation, becomes obsessed with his quest against God. Him and his army desire for revolution.
Dawn by Octavia Butler
Ethics are highly involved when it come to biological and medical practices. Lilith is impregnated with Joseph's child without her knowing/consent.
"A Dialogue between an Oake, and a Man Cutting Him Downe" by Margaret Cavendish
"Direction of the Road" by Ursula K. Le Guin
These texts personify inanimate objects in the midst of humanity's transition to a more advanced existence. Though the oak tree has silently served humanity, it will inevitable find an end as people destroy natural land in order to make room for the emerging, man-made world. These texts bring up moral questions of the progression of technology and the regression of the earth.
"Observed from a Distance" by Primo Levi
This text explores society from afar, using a complete outsider's perspectives to describe natural or common objects. Each discovery one makes is always exciting because of its novelty, yet the beginning steps always takes more discovering and digging for concepts to fully make sense. "Observed" shows that knowledge should not stop with initial discovery, because one might risk being wrong. Discovery in the pursuit of knowledge, thus, is a process that includes misinterpretations.
"My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix" by Susan Stryker
Stryker compares transsexual/transgender bodies to Frankenstein's creature, because of one's "unnatural body." Though trans people make up humanity too, Stryker discusses the similarities of existence between them and the monster.
"My Monster / My Self" by Barbara Johnson
This can also be somewhat applied to Johnson's text as she critiques motherhood/parenthood and female/childhood monstrosity.
"Study for Frankenstein #1" by Glenn Ligon
Because the creature was shunned by society, this art piece represents the descent into madness as isolation and loneliness take over someone mental. To have humanity often includes the presence of compassion and the desire for connection, but when only fear and hatred is shown, then who becomes more humane? Society or the creature himself?
"The United States of Frankenstein" by Elizabeth Young
This text compares Frankenstein's monster to African Americans, bringing about topics of racism and slavery, by discussing their treatment in America. The racial context of this text furthers the idea that fear leads people to violence. This also deals with the topic of humanity, as the novel itself was able to "humanize the slave."
"Fuzzy, Messy, Icky" by Graybill
This text discusses stigmatized experiences, rape culture, sexual violence, and reproductive rights through Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
"Prussian Blue" by Benjamin Labatut
"Prussian Blue" details the shadow of WWII violence that this pigment drags. Yet, Prussian blue was also used widely in European art. Similar to the texts related to knowledge, how one chooses to use their tools/knowledge is crucial.
Silk Poems by Jen Bervin
"Marx, 'Silk Poems,' and the Pretext of Qualities" by Kathryn Crim
This reminded me a bit about the previously mentioned works about scale. Jen Bervin explores linguistic silk within the body, narrowing the scale and focusing on detailed complexities. The research done for these projects seem meticulous but cover different fields, such as poetry and medical technology.
These two groups of text represent the combination of objectivity and subjectivity we examined this semester.
Dawn by Octavia Butler
The novel is set after a nuclear war that destroys her planet. Much of the violence in this novel deals with the violence inflicted onto society by subgroups of peoples.