RoccoRittenbach
My Work Showcase
I write about Frankenstein
How does the analogy of Victor playing the role of god and the monster playing the role of Adam relate to Freidrich Nietzsche’s nihilistic ideas, and what new meanings can be derived from this new understanding?
In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelly Wollstonecraft the analogy of Frankenstein and the monster's relationship to the biblical god and its Adams relationship is used multiple times throughout the book. Creating a sort of parallel between the two different pairs, with each playing similar roles and having similar interactions. Nietzsche was a philosopher of some renown about a century after the time of Wollstonecraft, but when one takes his nihilistic philosophy into play within the Frankenstein analogy, the parallels between the pairs might grow even stronger.
The first one to contrast the lives of the Frankensteins, the monster and Victor, with the experience of Adam and god is the monster. It draws the first parallels while telling victor the story of its life. While discussing its first reading of paradise lost the monster tells Victor
“Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of his Creator.”(90 Shelley) pointing out the first and most obvious similarity between Adam and the Monster, them being the first of something different to all other things that came before it. This line also contrasts Frankenstein's performance in the role of the creator with god, pointing out how god didn’t abandon Adam, unlike Victor who ran out of the house of his creation the moment it could move, abandoning it.
The connection between Victor and god is one ultimately defined by their creation of a wholly new and separate being, from Frankenstein the monster, and from god Adam. Godlike is a word often used to describe Victor throughout the book, though especially by Walton as he writes to his sister. In the most telling time he draws the comparison Walton writes “What a glorious creature must he have been in the days of his prosperity, when he is thus noble and godlike in ruin!” (140 Shelley) The similarities between the two must be powerful when one is being complimented by their likeness to another.
Nietzche was a philosopher who lived after the time of Mary Shelley, his thoughts are hugely influential, and generally were opposed to the post industrial world. One of his many famous thoughts was about how the extent of modern science was so great that it did not allow for a true belief in a god. Writing “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?” (Friedrich) The belief in a god is the backbone of the whole systems of belief which tell those within that it is not a cold and uncaring universe, giving them purpose and a concrete base to press their morals upon. Without some God, Nietzsche believed, Nihilism would take hold over the world.
When you combine Nietzsche's philosophical idea that God has been killed by humanity, its own creation, with the text of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein where Victor, a Godlike man in many ways, is driven to death by his own creation, the Monster, we have some interesting new thoughts. One such thought is the interesting dual property of science, being the tool which allowed Frankenstein to create the Monster, but it also killed God. The Monster is a fitting representation of Nietzsche's belief that with the death of god comes a cold, uncaring world, quite similar to the Monster's predicament in a world of people who only wish for the Monster to lie down and die.
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science (1882, 1887) para. 125; Walter Kaufmann ed. (New York: Vintage, 1974)
Shelly, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein 1818 edition. New York. Millennium Publications. 2014
Beat poets
what does Beatniks share with transcendentalists, and how are they different?
Each great movement that ever tried to accomplish anything had a group of writers practically feeding the rest of the group their philosophy. The important part of that process is how by producing the media that goes on to lead the movement, they also define what it is that the whole movement shares and has in common.
So who were the individuals who wrote for the Beatniks and Transcendentalists?
The beatnik generation was chock full of poets, writers, and other things, but the ones that really defined that generation were Allen Ginsburg and Jack kerouac Together Jack and Allen paint a clear picture of a young individual who both doesn’t care for the institution, or their effect on others. The transcendentalist movement had a lot of writers, but they were all brought together by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his “Living Ideology”(Night Thoreua Spent in Jail) Henry David Thoreau. Through their writings a transcendentalist is a person who lives in the woods, someone who values simplicity in life, individualism and individual freedoms; someone who is both opposed to the church but does believe in some sort of god.
In Jack kerouac's best known book, On The Road, many answers to the question “how does he define the beat generation?” are made through Dean Moriarty. Although he is not quite the protagonist, he was the so called “broken angel” of the beatniks within his book. Because of that he is the perfect example of a beatnik. Dean does a lot of different things, but one thing he doesn’t do is show any signs of caring about what will happen after he has done what he wants. One perfect example of this is when Dean wanted to hit the road again with the protagonist, Sal. To try and convince his friend to get going Dean says “Sal, we gotta go and never stop going 'till we get there.'' Where we going, man? ''I don't know but we gotta go”(On the road). This is a golden example of acting without thought to the future, but more importantly, when you don’t care about the future, you live in the moment and do what you want where you live. Sal, being a Beatnik, also lacks a fair share of care(ing about the future), best evidenced by his relationship with Dean. The particular reason it evidences a lack of foresight is because of how he knew Dean was only using him, saying “He was conning me and I knew it, but I didn’t care and we got along fine” (On The Road). Clearly disregarding what Dean was using him to do, only that Dean was entertaining him at that moment. To Beatniks the moment they live in is the only one they have, with the threat of nuclear Armageddon looming over their heads, it makes sense to live like there will be no tomorrow.
Beatniks didn’t care for governmental officials, that sort of disregard for any sort of institution or organization's constraints that rubbed them the wrong way is a beat staple. It’s as Allen Ginsburg wrote in his poem, Believe Believe. The first stanza of the poem states Allen's beliefs that youth shouldn’t trust or “believe” in “blue-suited insects”, a metaphor for police officers in their blue uniforms, or “the sick controllers/Who created only the Bomb”(Believe Believe), a callout to how the government was mass-producing nuclear warheads for the Cold War. The main subject of the poem is that the government shouldn’t be trusted, because of this one can confidently infer that the Beat generation was opposed to the government. This topic is one Jack Allen also has material that agrees with the thought of being opposed to the government, naturally, it is within On the Road. The best of that material is related to a character named Remi Bonceur who believed and said that “The Dostioffskis, the cops, the Lee Anns, all the evil skulls of this world, are out for our skin”(On the Road). The important part of all this is that he believes that the government is out to get him. Naturally, because of this, he wouldn’t be in support of the government. A lot of Beatniks were opposed to the government at the time, and the government had it coming considering how the cold war affected the American people.
The Transcendentalist philosophy had many different aspects, one of those was individualism, living outside of society and its rules, and valuing individual thought and experience over that of the preexisting. Henry David Thoreau does a wonderful job of illustrating these points in his book, Walden, by plainly stating how “society is commonly too cheap” and “the civilized man is a more experienced and wiser savage”(Walden). These are a taste of how little transcendentalists think of the facets and intricacies of society and those who took the time to learn them, stating that society has little value, and comparing how those who are committed to the aged cultures to nothing more than an animal. Overall, both opinions are a wonderful display of the very general disdain transcendentalist have for society. Thoreau, along with other transcendentalists had other, more focused, yet just as strong, beliefs regarding the individual. One of those was how an individual is meant to be a separate entity, but ultimately a distinctly different and unique entity to the other. Thoreau expresses this opinion very well in his book, Walden, and it read “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears”(Walden). This piece highlights how transcendentalists believe that being different isn’t something to persecute because people are typically different from others because they have a reason to be. Being an individual is cool to transcendentalist, but guess what’s cooler, hating on public institutions. Thoreau does a great job of expressing the foolishness of religion when put into an institution in his book Walden, saying “The church is a sort of hospital for men's souls and as full of quackery as the hospital for their bodies”(Walden) The point of this quote relies heavily on the fact that the transcendentalist movement took place in the 18’ hundreds, and the important thing about the 18’ hundreds is their understanding of medicine. The fact was that no hospital in the 18’ hundreds relied on a scientific understanding of the human body(Elain G. Breslaw), and because of that, they were all really poor at performing their one purpose. So when Thoreau compares a church to a hospital, he is calling it ineffective and foolish.
If a transcendentalist is anything, they are a minimalist, they own less, do less, and eat less, and Henry David Thoreau the “living ideal”(Lawrence) journaled all of his absences of action in his book, Walden, where he details the two years he spent in the woods and how little he did in those two years. He came into the woods because he “wished to live deliberately” and dispose of everything that could even be considered not living life. Thoreau believed that one should “live free and uncommitted” which meant doing away with affairs such as having a job or going to school. He addresses this by stating “let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumbnail”(Walden) very simply meaning do less separate things and have as much time to simply exist as physically possible without starving to death. The whole book may as well have been about a man who gave up any sort of unneeded luxury to live in the woods in a 15’ by 10’ cottage living off of beans he grew in his backyard, fish he caught in his front yard, and spent the following two years thinking about how to justify this behavior; but it isn’t. It’s about why it is important for transcendentalists to live simply and be independent.
All of that stuff that is above this line is great, but how does it even begin to compare or contrast the two literary and artistic movements?
Beatniks and Transcendentalists are people, hence they definitely have some things in common, and they are people who all lived in a shifting and rapidly changing world, hence they definitely share more than two people who happen to be of the same species. They both agree that a reigning institution that steps into their way is a bad kind of institution. They all wanted to be who they were and not have to be forced into a given role or position, regardless of what that position was. They both lived one day to the next, but in this position something is different, when Beatniks live one day to the next, that means they party like there’s no tomorrow, but every day. Transcendentalists on the other hand live in a constant state of choosing what they want to do and doing it rather than doing something out of habit or half awake. Were transcendentalist's lives deliberately, Beatnik lives to enjoy themselves. They also share a disagreement on the basis of minimalism, where one group actively strives to have less money, fewer possessions, and less glamour, the others make bounds to do the opposite.
Works cited
Breslaw, Elaine G. “What Was Healthcare Like in the 1800s?” History News Network, https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/149661.
Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print.
Thoreau, Henry D. Walden, Or, Life in the Woods. London: J.M. Dent, 1908. Print
Lawrence, Jerome, and Robert E. Lee. The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail: A Play. New York: Hill & Wang, 1971. Print.
Essay??
In this day and age we live in, we face a variety of problems. These range from minor inconveniences, such as the smell of car gas in a warm morning, to things that have killed people, like the rising temperatures and sea level caused by that same car exhaust. Somewhere in the middle of those two extremes are a variety of social and psychological issues that many people share: anxiety, OCD, depression, loneliness, and many more. A widely made claim in groups of people looking for an easy out of an incredibly complex issue, about the seemingly endless numbers of people suffering from those ailments, is that too much technology and not enough time spent within nature are the root of the problem. While those two articles are definitely correlated to the current issues, are they both truly the cause of the modern dilemma? Technology does play a role, though all technology isn’t solely responsible; And while nature is important to connect with, the friends we make and the bonds we share with are equally if not more important to solving the modern dilemma.
the bonds we share with the friends made along the way and the knowledge of the Transcendentalist movement.
Any negative effect on one's mental health caused by computing technology can be traced back to the fact that computing technology and the software inside it were not built to take one’s mental health into account, they were designed to make money. When the tool modern society has been built around wasn’t carefully designed to have no adverse effects on the millions of individuals who make up that society, some issues are going to arise. The most lucrative product a developer can p
Famed writer, philosopher, poet, Harvard graduate, and constant journal keeper, Henry David Thoreau is well known for his works about society, government, and nature. His works are found to be relevant today(Laura Dassow Walls), a century after they were written, making him a valid source for wisdom in the subject of societal wellbeing, and the importance of nature. In his most well known book, Walden, Thoreau has many comments on how we, in a society, should go about our lives, but the comment he has on how one exists is how he recommends you reduce what has power over you. As he wrote, about what he said, in Walden, “I say, Let your affairs be a two… and not a hundred… instead of a million, count half a dozen… Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes, five; and reduce other things in proportion.” (Henry David Thoreau) The idea of this statement is that we commit so much to typically trivial things that end up taking more and more of one’s time until one is not free to do what one wishes, but to do what one has committed too. Henry’s solution to being a slave to your agreements is to not have as many, to find simplicity and live with it. The next part, not chronologically, but in the order I’m introducing them, of being fulfilled is through acceptance of who one is; Thoreau Once wrote, and twice printed “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away” (Henry David Thoreau) The idea within this piece of work is simple and permeated throughout the media. That idea is that it is okay to be different from the people around oneself, regardless of their reasoning, or your own. Thoreau was a huge supporter of individualism, and if a man, nay, a legend such as Thoreau himself believed that accepting one's differences was something worth supporting, than there is merit in such a thought.
Thoreau wasn’t the only one of his kind, he was part of a much larger group of forward thinking individuals, all of which were lead by the man, nay, the legend Ralph Waldo Emerson. For every word Thoreau wrote in his journals Waldo would share hundreds to the people who listened to his lectures, read his magazine, skimmed his essays, or bought his books. Waldo shared many ideals with Henry, likely because Henry Thoreauly idolized Emerson and he was a part of Emerson's party. In one of Emerson's many works, named Self Reliance, he wrote: “Accept the place the divine providence has found for you… great men have always done so…” (Ralph Waldo Emerson), this idea that it’s okay to be in any sort of position so long as you make the best of it is a good one, In thought at least. that a position is only as bad as one makes it. If a man as influential to our society as Ralph Waldo Emerson (Karen P. Hardison) believes that by rather than running were one is, one should spend time sitting still, enjoying the view; then why shouldn’t we believe it. Thoreau and Emerson both believed that less is worth more, and more is worth less.
As cheesy as it may sound, a great way to fend off depression is through the friends you made along the way, and more importantly, if you helped them along the way. Which is to say several studies have found that there is a negative correlation between how many companions one has, and their level of mental illness. One such study was conducted on old people, in old people's homes, or “retirement communities”; likely because it is easier to track someone when they already live in an institution whose sole purpose is to track their well being. The study found that individuals who had “social support from friends living elsewhere consistently predicted low levels of depression”(Marilynn K. Potts), creating a pretty clear relationship between the friends made along the way, and how they help stave off depression. We’ve all heard about the satisfaction one can get through helping others, but the man who decided to quantify that idea was Roy Boymeister, an incredibly influential social psychologist, with over 300 studies conducted and more than 20 books published on mental health, meaning, and happiness . One of those 300 studies he conducted was on the topic of the difference between happiness and meaning found that “Happiness was linked to being a taker rather than a giver, whereas meaningfulness went with being a giver rather than a taker”(Roy F. Baumeister) It just makes sense that helping the friends made along the way is the best way to stay mentally healthy, so it makes even more sense that the studies would prove that right.
Does technology play a role in how mentally stable a person is, or is that just a myth surrounded by superstition created by a culture that frowns upon new things. One study that was conducted on 73 households, with 169 individuals between them all, examined what sort of impact introducing them to the internet could do. This study went on for one to two years depending on the households desire to remain in said study, and found that “the Internet was used extensively for communication. Nonetheless, greater use of the Internet was associated with declines in participants' communication with family members in the household, declines in the size of their social circle, and increases in their depression and loneliness.“ (Kraut Robert) This is not a good word for how the internet is affecting one's well being, it doesn’t leave much room to argue the internet's positive effect on the number of friends made along the way and mental wellbeing. While other studies have found several positive effects the internet has on the economy, education, all while allowing people to maintain those relationships at longer distances, the internet does nothing to aid one in the pursuit of satisfaction. It is ultimately one's own choice whether or not to use the Internet, however, and it is no one's place to impose how it should be used.
In summary, technology can be used in a variety of different ways each with a set of different effect on one’s well being. Even if we can’t say why, having some sort of connection to nature is typically beneficial to one's sense of well being. Having an in person connection to nature isn’t the only connection that is beneficial mentally, because the connection made to the friends made along the way satisfies those deeply rooted residual tpack instincts telling you to keep you safe by staying surrounded by allies. Caring to others needs is another valid way to good about what you are doing with your life; but if the philosophers of old are worth listening too, which they are, than one should care less about every- one, thing, and opportunity that presents itself. In conclusion, maybe the modern dilemma is caused by a disconnect from nature and your peers caused by technology, maybe it is caused by us complicating our lives and caring too much while trying to fit in, but it might be because of deeply rooted societal issues and expectations. The important thing to remember, regardless of what you believe, is that psychological well being is second to physical well being, and that only whatever you think matters, matters in the end.
Sources cited
Blakemore, Erin. “Why the Inventor of the Cubicle Came to Despise His Own Creation.” https://www.history.com/news/why-the-inventor-of-the-cubicle-came-to-despise-his-own-creation.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882. Self-Reliance. White Plains, N.Y. :Peter Pauper Press, 1967.
Henry David Thoreau.” Walden”Interactive reading.Holt literature and language arts, edited by Kylene Beers and lee odell, Holt Rinehart and winston, 2003-82-90¨
Hardison, Karen P., and Jame A Dows. “What Is the Contribution of Ralph Waldo Emerson to American Literature?” Enotes, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/contribution-emerson-thoreau-american-literature-132203.
Klerman, G L, and M M Weissman. “Increasing Rates of Depression.” JAMA, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 21 Apr. 1989, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2648043.
Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukophadhyay, T., & Scherlis, W. (1998). Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? American Psychologist, 53(9),
1017-1031.http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.53.9.1017
Potts, and Marilyn K. “Social Support and Depression among Older Adults Living Alone: The Importance of Friends Within and Outside of a Retirement Community.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 July 1997, https://academic.oup.com/sw/article-abstract/42/4/348/1920919.
Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862. Walden ; And, Resistance to Civil Government : Authoritative Texts, Thoreau's Journal, Reviews, and Essays in Criticism. New York :Norton, 1992.
ward, marguerite. “A Brief History of the 8-Hour Workday, Which Changed How America Worked.” CNCB, 3 2017, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/03/how-the-8-hour-workday-changed-how-americans-work.html/.
“Personal Computer History: 1975-1984.” Low End Mac, 6 Mar. 2018, https://lowendmac.com/2014/personal-computer-history-the-first-25-years/.
Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. “History of the Industrial Revolution.” History of Massachusetts Blog, 20 Feb. 2018, historyofmassachusetts.org/industrial-revolution/.
Montag, Christian et al. “Addictive Features of Social Media/Messenger Platforms and Freemium Games against the Background of Psychological and Economic Theories.” International journal of environmental research and public health vol. 16,14 2612. 23 Jul. 2019, doi:10.3390/ijerph16142612