The Credibility Of Euthanasia In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Beeeeeeeeeeeep. The heart monitor flatlined as the pancreatic cancer patient was injected with poisonous serum. Through a painless procedure, the patient’s suffering was permanently ended. However, the precious life of this individual was also permanently ended due to the use of one controversial technology: euthanasia. Society’s concern is whether or not this technology should be permissible or forbidden. The underlying question is simple: Has euthanasia reached the point in which it becomes monstrous and destructive? Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein , embodies this question on a literal level; she uses an actual monster in her novel to illustrate the “monstrous” effects that technology has on society. Specifically, she defines a monster as any individual who commits a malicious act intentionally; a frightening appearance is not necessary in this classification. Shelley also believes that monstrous things, such as technology, are not created with evil intentions; they are transformed into a monster at the point in which they are abused. Likewise, euthanasia takes on the title of a “monster,” seeing that it purposefully commits the act of murder, despite its initial appeal of ending one’s suffering. Through analysis of Shelley’s literature and the study of the effects of euthanasia, one message in particular is clear: repeated abuse by society causes technology to …show more content…
All technology eventually reaches this point if abused even though it is not initially intended to be monstrous. Once technology is abused, itseffects can turn evil. The fact that Shelley’s warning proved to be applicable in the twenty­first century is astounding; it was almost as if Shelley could predict the future. Whether a technology is used for a cruel purpose or just simply misused, both topics demonstrate how an innocent creation will turn monstrous once