Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
filthy creation” (Shelley 1996, p. 32), because the main theatre of action
is located within the man himself.
Many of his characteristics are perceived as fitting very well with the
popular image of a scientist's life.
(a) Delusion that his research is solely for the benefit of humanity
rather than for his own career-path, self-aggrandizement, or satisfaction.
Scientists are prone to present research applications in similar terms.
(b) Secrecy about what he is doing and the psychological effects on
his personality of this chosen isolation from other human beings. The
knowledge that his research is illegal (involving grave-robbing and dis-
section of corpses) causes Frankenstein to become even more secretive.
Similarly, scientists' fear of having their research curtailed by ethics
committees, animal liberationists, or environmentalists now engenders a
parallel kind of secrecy. Additionally, many employers, in both the gov-
ernment and the private sector, demand such secrecy for processes tied
up in patents or involved with national security. In many cases scientists
working in industry or for the military are not permitted to publish their
work in professional journals.
(c) Obsessive dedication to his research, to the exclusion of relations
with family and friends and the suppression of human affections. This
obsession includes a fanatical desire to complete a project no matter what
the cost, and especially to complete it
first
, a perennial concern of scien-
tists enforced by the requirement of publication and funding.
(d) Exclusion of those who might have given him the ethical advice
he did not wish to hear. Rejecting the overtures of his father, his fiancée,
and his friend Clerval, Frankenstein leaves their letters unanswered. He
has also isolated himself from Nature until, working day and night in his
laboratory without regard to natural rhythms, he has lost the ability to
appreciate natural beauty and diversity.
(e) Rejection of responsibility for the results of his research. His in-
ability to retain or reclaim control over the outcomes actually disempow-
ers Frankenstein. He cannot (or chooses not to) restrain his Monster. Un-
til recently scientists felt it an unfair imposition to be expected to deal
with the consequences of their research, the possible development of
their experiments, and their ethical and social implications. Now, in most
cases, they have no such option. Under pressure Frankenstein agrees to
