Final Project URLs

Victor Frankenstein's Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000767984500

Daemon Frankenstein's Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000781184226

Last blog: Response to Light of Thy Countenance

Literature is a difficult term to define, as everyone has their own definition of it. To me, literature is a piece of written work that delivers a message and holds artistic value. Therefore, in my opinion, Alan Moore’s Light of Thy Countenance qualifies as a piece of literature. Many might believe that only well-known and frequently studied works are considered literature, such as Oliver Twist, 1984, and The Awakening. However, literature can also include poems, short stories, and even graphic novels and comics.

Light of Thy Countenance serves as an eye-opener to present-day society, showing how TV oversaturates our lives. So much communication is done via TV—many learn of national and international news by watching it on TV, children are influenced by cartoons on TV, and people of all ages are appealed to through well-marketed product commercials on TV. In Light of Thy Countenance, TV is the narrator and has a seemingly god-like character, because of its omnipresence and essentiality in our daily lives. Even though I already knew it, it was shocking to see how much TV influences our lives, from going to church to making love to simply watching TV for leisure. The last scene in the book is a white glow, which looks like a star but is actually the flash that appears on an old TV set when it is turned on and off. This white glow has a fetus in its center, and there are sperm swimming in the “universe”, trying to fertilize the egg, which in this case, is the TV’s white glow. Although a bit extreme, Moore creatively shows just how much our society depends on TV.

I believe that Light of Thy Countenance is a work of literature, because it does convey an important message about our use of TV through illustrations and well-worded captions. I enjoyed reading it, although I did not understand it the first time through. It really shows us how much humans depend on TV and other technology and motivates us to act and stop before it is too late.

Response to Blade Runner

After watching Blade Runner, I can now see the many connections between the common themes of Frankenstein, R.U.R., and this movie. The replicants in Blade Runner look like perfect humans. Upon superficial, visual observation, one cannot tell the difference between a replicant and a regular human being. The replicants that we encounter as the audience all have their own personalities and show their individualities. These four Nexus 6 replicants that come back to Earth are not what we would normally think of as robots. The robots in R.U.R. seem to all be the same, as they perform the same tasks and are very machine-like, the way they were intended to be. However, the replicants in Blade Runner act according to their own wills and desires (at least the ones that we come across on Earth). The creature in Frankenstein realizes he is different on his own over time, through the way he is treated by humans. An interesting point in the movie that stuck out to me was that the act of killing a replicant is called "retiring" it instead of "killing" or "murdering". This makes it seem justified to kill the replicants, as if they do not have lives of their own and have no right to live. Rossum's robots and Tyrell's replicants were created for the same purpose--to do work for humans. Since both the robots and replicants were treated as slaves, they later realized and staged rebellions against their creators because of this unfair treatment. Victor Frankenstein's creature has morals and feelings, and would have been a very benevolent being if not for the harsh, cold treatment he received from both his creator and people he encountered. The robots and replicants were not initially supposed to have feelings or show emotions, but towards the end of their respective stories, the robots were given souls according to Helena's wish, and some of the more advanced replicants, such as Rachael, Roy, and Pris, were able to show emotions. All three creations eventually turned against heir human creators/leaders and against innocent, uninvolved humans as well. Rossum's robots revolted against the Rossum Corporation and killed off all humans on Earth, except for Alquist. Frankenstein's creature indirectly tormented Victor by murdering his loved ones. The replicants in Blade Runner eliminated humans who got in the way of their plans. (For example, Leon killed the blade runner who was questioning him, and Roy tried to kill Deckard.) Also, all three works seem to be warnings of what can become of our world and society if no precautions are taken. They all seem to warn us of the possible consequences of our ambition and craze for technological and scientific advances.

Roy Batty's decision to save Deckard was undoubtedly an interesting turning point in the movie, even though it was at the end. It was unexpected to me, considering Roy's maniacal and insane behavior while chasing Deckard throughout the Bradbury Building. Roy may have chased and frightened Deckard as an automatic reaction to Pris's "retirement" and his realization that he was now alone and about to die. On the other hand, he may also have been tormenting Deckard to show him what it feels like to "live in fear", as if to give Deckard a taste of his own medicine (the inhumane and uncaring way that humans treat the replicants). He tells Deckard of how he had seen and done things that Deckard and other humans would have never imagined before, and implies that he and his fellow replicants were treated very poorly. He emphasizes the point that he is not a human, but is rather truly a machine when he mentions that his memories will disappear like "tears in the rain". Like Deckard narrated, Roy may have realized, at the moment he was dying, that life is too precious and short to be wasted on petty things like discrimination and hatred between the humans and non-humans; equal and ethical treatment of non-humans can allow all beings, human or not, to coexist in harmony.

Frankenstein vs. R.U.R.

In my opinion, the major common motif in Frankenstein and R.U.R. is: what does it mean to be “human”?

1) Appearance
Victor Frankenstein's creature is gigantic and does not look like a regular human being at all, with his monster-like features. The robots in R.U.R. look so much like humans that even Helena could not tell or believe that Sulla was a robot.

2) Character and Individuality
Frankenstein's creature has his own personality and character, whereas the robots in R.U.R. do not--they are all very mechanical and the same. The robots do work in an everyday, mundane fashion, and even during their rebellion, they seem to all be the same. Domin and the others are frightened upon seeing the army of robots surrounding them, because they all look the same, which makes it haunting. Also, when they kill the humans, all of the robots only have one thing in mind, which is to kill off the humans, and they don't seem to differ from one another very much.

3) Attitude and Independence
The creature in Frankenstein can fend for himself. He also has his own attitude and personal opinion, unlike the robots. The robots are simply clones of each other, and they don't have distinct personalities.

4) Realization that they are different
The creature definitely realizes that he is different, mostly through the way people (such as Victor and the townspeople the creature encounters) shun and are disgusted by him. The robots do not realize they are different from humans until the end, when they notice that they are physically stronger.

5) Morals/feelings
The creature has morals and feelings, although it may not seem like it, as he murders so many humans. However, if people had treated him more nicely when he was first exploring and getting to know his surroundings and the world, he might have ended up as a kinder being. The robots do not have morals or feelings whatsoever in the beginning, until they are modified. At the end, Robot Primus and Helena fall in love with each other, and are willing to sacrifice themselves for one another.

6) Physical capabilities/ability to feel physical pain
The creature is undoubtedly a lot stronger than humans, and he can also feel physical pain. (For example, he was in pain when he was shot while trying to save a drowning girl.) The robots, however, cannot feel physical pain.

7) Ability to reproduce
The creature longs to have a partner, but for company and not necessarily to be able to reproduce. He simply is lonely. However, the robots want to reproduce and take over the world (at the end of the play). They try to make Alquist succeed in finding a way to recreate robots.

8) Gender
The creature is referred to as "he" and the robots as "he" and "she", giving them a gender and making them more similar to humans. If they were not given genders, they would be more like items and not living beings.

9) Ability to take over mankind
The creature probably could kill off humans if he had more of his kind to do it with him, thanks to his superhuman physical capabilities. The robots actually do take over and almost completely wipe out the entire human race (except for Alquist). Both have some kind of capability to take over mankind.

10) Created by humans/"god" figure
Both the creature and the robots were created by humans. This makes Victor Frankenstein and Rossum look like "god" figures. In fact, Rossum had the intentions of playing a god-like role by creating the robots, but Victor didn't necessarily care for that. He just wanted to decipher how to create new life, and he was successful.

11) Purpose of creation
The creature was created as Victor's experiment to find out how to breathe life into an inanimate being. Rossum's robots were created to do work for humans, in hopes that we would not have to work anymore.

12) Isolation/effect on the rest of the world
Both the creature and the robots were created in isolated areas. Victor closed himself off in his lab, and Rossum started on an island. (Young Rossum also locked Old Rossum up in his lab for a long time, which is another example of isolation.) However, both the creature and the robots greatly affected the outside world. The creature murdered a number of innocent people, and the robots murdered all humans on the planet (except for Alquist).

13) Treatment
The creature was not treated like a human, mostly because of his gigantic and monstrous stature. The robots were treated as (and created to be) slaves, constantly doing work for the humans. Both were not treated equally compared to humans, ending in chaos. The creature torments Victor by killing his loved ones after Victor refuses to make him a female companion. Rossum's robots rebel against their human creators/authorities, and end up killing off the entire human race.

Frankenstein: What does it mean to be human?

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, one of the major topics is what defines and qualifies a being as a human. Victor Frankenstein’s creature is not human because it was created, not born, has a non-humanlike appearance, and has superhuman abilities.

Victor Frankenstein describes the process of his creation, hoping that he “might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at his [my] feet” (38). The creature’s “dull yellow eye” (38) opens, and “a convulsive motion agitated its limbs” (39). The creature was created by Victor, and is therefore not human. Humans are thought to have been created through evolution and by the course of natural events on Earth over the past millions of years, not by the hands of a human himself.

The creature’s appearance is definitely not that of a regular human being, which causes it to be shunned and detested by humans that it encounters. It describes itself as “endowed with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome” (96) and knows that it is “not even of the same nature as man” (96). Even the creature can tell that it is not human, because of the difference in its appearance and in the way people respond to it.

The possession of superhuman abilities makes the creature seem even less humanlike. It tells of its own capabilities in contrast to those of humans: “I was more agile than they, and could subsist upon coarser diet; I bore the extremes of heat and cold with less injury to my frame; my stature far exceeded theirs. When I looked around, I saw and heard of none like me” (96). Because of the complexity of the human body, there are many restrictions and limitations to what humans can physically do. However, the creature is able to do many things that humans cannot do, which makes him different from people.

The origin of life is a topic that has been debated for almost a century. Most scientists agree that there was once a common ancestor that all humans share; that common ancestor links all humans genetically and scientifically. However, the creature’s origin of life does not involve this common ancestor, because it is merely Victor’s creation. Its body parts came from humans, but that does not imply that it is actually a human being. Even in appearance and in abilities, the creature is very unlike humans—it is over a foot taller than the average human man, does not depend on nutritious and specific foods, and can withstand extreme conditions with little to no damage to its body. The human body is so complex and intricate that Victor must not have been able to exactly clone a human being. Therefore, the creature cannot be human, due to its very unusual characteristics and physical features.

Reponse to "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce

In Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, he uses a random, non-chronological order of events and shifts in the point of view to add suspense and keep the reader interested. The story opens in the third person objective point of view, allowing the reader to take in the setting and situation in a general sense before seeing it from the main character’s point of view. Through close detail in describing the setting, Bierce makes the reader able to picture all of the events and the serious, grave atmosphere at the bridge.

At the end of part one, the story slowly transitions into part two in that the point of view begins to switch to third person subjective, showing Peyton Farquhar’s last thoughts. In part two, we are “brought back in time”, and it feels like reading a storybook that begins with the cliché phrase, “Once upon a time…”, as the author brings us into the background information behind the scene that was just presented in part one. Chronologically, part two should go before part one, but it slowly and gradually makes the reader more aware of the situation, while Bierce gives us the background information piece by piece. It is as if he wants to lure the reader in by grabbing his or her attention and keeping him or her hooked on the story, by providing moments that may cause a spark in the reader’s brain and link the many fragments and pieces of the story together.

In part three, Farquhar keeps imagining ways to escape his execution. Again, through strong detail and descriptions of Farquhar’s elaborate thoughts, the author makes it so that the reader feels as though Farquhar is really escaping. The point of view in this part is entirely in third person subjective. The non-chronological sequence of events can be a bit confusing to the reader, because there is simply so much going on. Then, the author holds this bit of confusion and the suspense until the very last sentence, when he finally reveals to the reader that these plans of escape were merely in Farquhar’s head—he was executed and the story ends quite abruptly.

Assignment #3: Machinima Poetry

This machinima form of presenting poetry is very interesting, in that it incorporates video game scenery and songs of the artist’s choice. As a visual learner, this machinima video adds a lot to the text’s meaning. For me, some poetry can be difficult to grasp and understand on my own, so studying it along with appropriate imagery and music can really set the mood and give me more of a feel of the poem’s underlying message. Machinima animations definitely have the potential to increase one’s enjoyment of the text, simply because it makes the poetry a lot easier to comprehend.
The video may seem silly at first, since it uses video game characters and not actual people or scenes. The first time I watched it, it made this serious poem seem quite awkward and a bit comedic, as I would have never imagined seeing poetry accompanied by animated characters. Overall, I believe that this machinima version remains true to the tone of the poem, because it still uses menlancholy music, and the animation shows us suicide, literally. This new form of expressing the deeper meanings of poetry is very attention-grabbing and aids in helping people further appreciate poetry.
A reference to poetry in popular culture is a reference to “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe in the television show, the Simpsons. Poe’s poem is recited by the man who narrated the voice of Star Wars’s Darth Vader, and it sets the mood for the Halloween festivities going on in the cartoon’s episode. This poem is supposed to be scary and haunting, but the way the Simpons portrayed it was as if it were simply a joke. Because of people’s familiarity with “The Raven”, this moment/scene in “The Raven” makes it even more popular. The poetry sets the mood and theme of the pop culture moment.