By Kendal Brouet
Life, death and rebirth loom large in the mind of the Christian, and feature prominently Mary Shelly’s famous novel Frankenstein. But what does this macabre monster teach us about our marvelous Messiah? Sit back relax and let me tell you a quick story about a search for belonging, love, shame and a search for meaning.
It’s the mid 1800’s and Victor Frankenstein, fascinated with life and death, creates a man shaped creature using parts of dead bodies and attempts to bring the creature to life. After electrifying his creation, it comes to life, scaring Victor who runs away. The monster, alone in the world, reads about Adam and Eve, a loving God and various biblical stories. He sees himself as Adam and tries to please his creator, but after being rejected time and time again he starts to think maybe he’s Lucifer rather than Adam. The monster, despite how hard he tries, is tied to Victor, a flawed creator who hates him. Our story doesn’t have a happy ending as Victor dies trying to escape in the arctic and the monster never truly finds his place in the world.
Mary Shelly who wrote this story was a Christian, and much of this tale wrestles with her own biography as well as her faith. Her own mother died 11 days after her birth, and she too would struggle bringing life into the world, losing 3 of her 4 children. It’s not hard to imagine her struggles with God’s love. This was compounded by the rise of atheism in the 1800’s where faith was being deconstructed and people began thinking they no longer needed God.
With all this in mind, one can read Frankenstein as the tragic retelling of creation. Mankind and Frankenstein’s monster both seek meaning. The monster is seen by his creator as an abomination, hated and feared. We are blessed with a Creator who sees our flaws but loves us anyway, sees our mistakes and offers guidance, and brings us meaning through relationship.
The scary thing about Frankenstein is many of us have come to believe that our Creator is like the mad doctor. A human with a God complex, power but no love. Mary Shelly in describing the book says this: “Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavor to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world.”
I reflect Psalm 139:13-14: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
And while this is all great for the believer, we must show others that even if they are rejected by the world, their Creator never stops loving them.