The Son of God vs the Father of Monsters
A few days ago I said I would post another assignment from my English class. This assignment was to compare and contrast two celebrities. I just couldn't see myself writing about sports figures or ex presidents, so here is something slightly more entertaining.
The Son of God and the Father of Monsters: An Unlikely Set of Similarities
Gabriel Stevens
EN 1613
English Composition
Michael F. Carroll
June 12, 2009
The Son of God and the Father of Monsters: An Unlikely Set of Similarities
Established western religion has had a long standing dispute with the grotesque icons of the gothic tradition, starting with Pope Innocent III and his assimilation of local Chimera deities into the gargoyle waterspouts of the European Cathedrals of the early 1200’s. Purists then were unwilling to allow pagan monsters into their religion, and the tradition stands today even in disputes so paltry as the banning of Tolkien and Rowling from many public libraries and schools. Perhaps the father of contemporary monsters, the Modern Prometheus, Frankenstein, has a lot in common with the Son of the western faith, Jesus, the Christ. First, both were created by unnatural means, and by a “father” who considered himself God. Second, both were raised from the dead with tool bits stuck in their bodies. And finally, both are misunderstood monsters. Well, one is Jewish, but that can be seen as a synonym for “misunderstood monster”. Perhaps these are not genuine similarities, but if mimicry is the highest form of flattery, the Catholic tradition is being paid the highest honor by the figurehead of those they would sweep under the rug.
Both Frankenstein and Jesus are the product of a person who thinks that he is God. One of the creators actually IS God, but that is beside the point as the other is voluntarily admitting to being a work of fiction. The actual God (Jehovah) is the consummate scientist, creating the universe in a splendid array of logic that balances in the most delicate and intricate Rupe Goldberg machine ever conceived; Victor Frankenstein, the other creator, was the most accomplished natural philosopher of his time, the period’s equivalent of a scientist. Both Jehovah and Victor create life out of inert matter, and afterward are sorry they did so. Both attempt to destroy their creation of life, one through a cataclysmic flood, and the other lacking the ability to bring the ocean to his creation, chased his creation to the ocean. The godhood ideology of both creators sets a solid base for the comparison of similarities between the creations.
It must be remembered that both Jesus and the promethean share the experience of being raised from the dead and awakening in an unsavory cave, both with bits of tools stuck in their bodies nonetheless. Before this happened, however, both had full and rich lives. Jesus was the prince of all creation and awoke to the human experience having to learn human actions such as eating, dressing, and speaking all from scratch. Frankenstein’s monster was made from bits and pieces of several deceased lives and had a broad experience of existence before awakening to the same amnesiac horror. Now Jesus awoke twice, and his second awakening is more of interest here, because it was after a fairly brutal beating which left holes with hardware in his wrists, ankles, and ribcage, and his awakening was in a dark cave where he was covered by linen. He was locked in place by several tons of rock which he had to move aside before he could go anywhere. The promethean also awoke from dead after an even more brutal dismembering and re-stitching, and with jumper posts in his neck. His first rebreath was drawn under linen while he was chained to several tons of rock in a dark, cave like laboratory. Without looking deeply it is obvious that one of these birth experiences was deeply impacted by the other, and was a precedent worth following.
The final point of comparison is that while the promethean of Victor Frankenstein was a misunderstood monster, a gentle being looked on in horror by the outside world with no attempt to get to know him, Jesus was a Jew. If these do not strike an immediate chord of similarity it need only be pointed out that throughout history the Jews have been persecuted, hated, hunted, and their destruction attempted with little in the way of valid provocation. As far as being monstrous, Victor Frankenstein had hopes that his creation would be like himself, yet his creation failed to meet his expectations, and he couldn’t bear to look upon his promethean. Jehovah as well held high hopes and expectations for his chosen people, the Jews, and when they continually failed to meet his expectations he couldn’t look at them. Granted, Jehovah had more forgiveness than Victor, but after several tries even God had enough and turned his hopes to the Gentiles instead of the Jews. In the end, both the monster of Victors creation and God’s Jews fled their home in an attempt to simply find a place they could be left in peace.
When looking at the conflict between an established fatherly religion trying to maintain its purity and the rebellious child of a gothic subculture perhaps the similarities between the son of the first and the father of the second will demonstrate that the child is merely begging for acceptance, and the mimicry shows the highest tribute of respect. The father of monsters shares the same relationship with his creator that the Son of God shares with Father God. They both made an uncomfortable, lonely, and rejected entrance into this world. And both continued to be rejected, hated, and persecuted to teach a lesson about acceptance.
The Son of God and the Father of Monsters: An Unlikely Set of Similarities
Gabriel Stevens
EN 1613
English Composition
Michael F. Carroll
June 12, 2009
The Son of God and the Father of Monsters: An Unlikely Set of Similarities
Established western religion has had a long standing dispute with the grotesque icons of the gothic tradition, starting with Pope Innocent III and his assimilation of local Chimera deities into the gargoyle waterspouts of the European Cathedrals of the early 1200’s. Purists then were unwilling to allow pagan monsters into their religion, and the tradition stands today even in disputes so paltry as the banning of Tolkien and Rowling from many public libraries and schools. Perhaps the father of contemporary monsters, the Modern Prometheus, Frankenstein, has a lot in common with the Son of the western faith, Jesus, the Christ. First, both were created by unnatural means, and by a “father” who considered himself God. Second, both were raised from the dead with tool bits stuck in their bodies. And finally, both are misunderstood monsters. Well, one is Jewish, but that can be seen as a synonym for “misunderstood monster”. Perhaps these are not genuine similarities, but if mimicry is the highest form of flattery, the Catholic tradition is being paid the highest honor by the figurehead of those they would sweep under the rug.
Both Frankenstein and Jesus are the product of a person who thinks that he is God. One of the creators actually IS God, but that is beside the point as the other is voluntarily admitting to being a work of fiction. The actual God (Jehovah) is the consummate scientist, creating the universe in a splendid array of logic that balances in the most delicate and intricate Rupe Goldberg machine ever conceived; Victor Frankenstein, the other creator, was the most accomplished natural philosopher of his time, the period’s equivalent of a scientist. Both Jehovah and Victor create life out of inert matter, and afterward are sorry they did so. Both attempt to destroy their creation of life, one through a cataclysmic flood, and the other lacking the ability to bring the ocean to his creation, chased his creation to the ocean. The godhood ideology of both creators sets a solid base for the comparison of similarities between the creations.
It must be remembered that both Jesus and the promethean share the experience of being raised from the dead and awakening in an unsavory cave, both with bits of tools stuck in their bodies nonetheless. Before this happened, however, both had full and rich lives. Jesus was the prince of all creation and awoke to the human experience having to learn human actions such as eating, dressing, and speaking all from scratch. Frankenstein’s monster was made from bits and pieces of several deceased lives and had a broad experience of existence before awakening to the same amnesiac horror. Now Jesus awoke twice, and his second awakening is more of interest here, because it was after a fairly brutal beating which left holes with hardware in his wrists, ankles, and ribcage, and his awakening was in a dark cave where he was covered by linen. He was locked in place by several tons of rock which he had to move aside before he could go anywhere. The promethean also awoke from dead after an even more brutal dismembering and re-stitching, and with jumper posts in his neck. His first rebreath was drawn under linen while he was chained to several tons of rock in a dark, cave like laboratory. Without looking deeply it is obvious that one of these birth experiences was deeply impacted by the other, and was a precedent worth following.
The final point of comparison is that while the promethean of Victor Frankenstein was a misunderstood monster, a gentle being looked on in horror by the outside world with no attempt to get to know him, Jesus was a Jew. If these do not strike an immediate chord of similarity it need only be pointed out that throughout history the Jews have been persecuted, hated, hunted, and their destruction attempted with little in the way of valid provocation. As far as being monstrous, Victor Frankenstein had hopes that his creation would be like himself, yet his creation failed to meet his expectations, and he couldn’t bear to look upon his promethean. Jehovah as well held high hopes and expectations for his chosen people, the Jews, and when they continually failed to meet his expectations he couldn’t look at them. Granted, Jehovah had more forgiveness than Victor, but after several tries even God had enough and turned his hopes to the Gentiles instead of the Jews. In the end, both the monster of Victors creation and God’s Jews fled their home in an attempt to simply find a place they could be left in peace.
When looking at the conflict between an established fatherly religion trying to maintain its purity and the rebellious child of a gothic subculture perhaps the similarities between the son of the first and the father of the second will demonstrate that the child is merely begging for acceptance, and the mimicry shows the highest tribute of respect. The father of monsters shares the same relationship with his creator that the Son of God shares with Father God. They both made an uncomfortable, lonely, and rejected entrance into this world. And both continued to be rejected, hated, and persecuted to teach a lesson about acceptance.