At the moment I can't think of what to name the title, I'll edit it once I think of something.
Anyways, looking at the novel, Frankenstein, we see that Victor Frankenstein crosses the boundaries of science by bringing an inanimate corpse to life, only to fear the creature he brought to back to life.
Which raises an question that always bugged me: Do scientists regret the decisions they make? For example, the group of researchers who created the atomic bomb, they knew the destructive force the bombs would produce and still worked on it, two of them were dropped on Japan and many lives were lost. After such events, do you think they regretted the creation of such a destructive weapon? Or do they truly believe that what did was right?
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A lot of them all say that they regret ever working on the atomic bomb.. notably Einstein among them. I'm sure out of all those scientists, someone was telling the truth.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest though, I'm sure most of the world won't regret what they did. Since after much deliberation, it was concluded to be for the best.
I suppose its kind of like hindsight is 20/20 in Frankenstein's case. You could compare it to the scientists who discovered the cure to cancer in I am Legend. They didn't know it would turn people into zombies, but it did. I bet they regretted it but during the time of creation they probably thought it was a pretty cool idea. Frankenstein probably did not think his monster was going to creep him out but it did.
ReplyDeleteAlso there is the difference between Frankenstein and the creators of the atomic bombs. Many of the people who invented the bombs later said that the bombs were bad, but Frankenstein has yet to even admit the existence of his monster to anyone even though Frankenstein has already killed people.
I think in terms of Victor Frankenstein he regrets his actions and what he had created. In an attempt to create a human and play God, he ultimately brought to life a creature. The problem is, once he realizes what a horrible abomination the monster is, he regrets his decision. He refuses to see the situation through the eyes of the monster and how he is lonely, which is the direct result of Frankenstein not taking the responsibility of fostering the being he created and ignoring it. As a result of Frankenstein's actions, or lack thereof, the monster kills and eventually threatens Frankenstein if he does not create a mate for him. So yes, in this situation I do believe the scientist regrets his decisions. In terms of WW2, I believe they stood by the decisions they made. Obviously they must have been aware of the destruction it would potentially cause and the power these bombs embodied; however, they weighed the deaths of those being lost in the war to how many would be lost if the war continued. I think they viewed the bombs as a means to an end, that the war needed to be stopped and this would be the message that did just that. Also there might have been a sense of nationalism and vengeance in the plan, as a rebuttal to their attack on Pearl Harbor. All in all, I think those who created the atomic bomb and worked on the Manhattan Project do not regret their decisions and simply placed the safety and wellbeing of their country ahead of Japan and desired an end to the war.
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