Within Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the two opposing protagonists, Victor Frankenstein and Frankenstein (creature), face inner turmoil as they journey through issues of self-awareness and education. Both characters would benefit from A Guide For the Perplexed and E.F. Schumacher’s arguments regarding “levels of being” & an understanding of what it means to be “adequate.” Victor Frankenstein and Frankenstein (creature) essentially both require the same enlightenment, but just in different contexts. Victor Frankenstein and Frankenstein (creature) would both benefit from self-exploration and advice on potential and adequacy, resulting from the paradox of the levels of being that they create; if Schumacher’s guidance was present before the events
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Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant; but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no property. I was, besides, endowed with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome.” Although soon after, Frankenstein (creature) exclaims, “I was not even of the same nature as man,” his humanity peeks through as he grasps a capacity for learning, emotional sensitivity, self-reflection, and an innate desire for belonging. Frankenstein (creature) views his conscious existence as a curse, not a blessing, as Schumacher intends to put it, when he states: “I am malicious because I am miserable; am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear me to pieces and triumph.” Despite his detachment from society, he still demonstrates the ability to reason in exchange for companionship. His longing for acceptance and connection parallels the universal human need for social interaction and emotional fulfillment. Even Schumacher empathizes and understands this desire for interconnectedness when he states: “The most ‘real’ world we live in is that of our fellow human
Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant; but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no property. I was, besides, endowed with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome.” Although soon after, Frankenstein (creature) exclaims, “I was not even of the same nature as man,” his humanity peeks through as he grasps a capacity for learning, emotional sensitivity, self-reflection, and an innate desire for belonging. Frankenstein (creature) views his conscious existence as a curse, not a blessing, as Schumacher intends to put it, when he states: “I am malicious because I am miserable; am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear me to pieces and triumph.” Despite his detachment from society, he still demonstrates the ability to reason in exchange for companionship. His longing for acceptance and connection parallels the universal human need for social interaction and emotional fulfillment. Even Schumacher empathizes and understands this desire for interconnectedness when he states: “The most ‘real’ world we live in is that of our fellow human