The Evolution of the Monstrous: In Light of a Comparison of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein And

Monstrous. A word of nine letters and two syllables with the power to send chills up spines, the word is defined as; frightful or hideous, especially in appearance; extremely ugly; shocking or revolting, outrageous; deviating grotesquely from the natural or normal form or type (dictionary.com). While cultures and societies have evolved, the idea of what constructs monstrosity has as well. Throughout history the word monstrous has been used to describe various realms, from the romanticism of Mary Shelley's striking novel Frankenstein in 1818, to the Syfy action of Paul Anderson's film Death Race in 2008. Both Frankenstein and Death Race have similarities and differences in their plot, monster figures, societal issues and the overall portrayal of monstrosity. As the latter comparisons of these extraordinary "monster" stories are analyzed, the proof of the evolution of monstrosity will be revealed.

Frankenstein is a compelling novel written in frame, Shelley constructs the story of the monster, the antagonist, within the story of Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist, within the story of the narrator Robert Walton in the form of letters. The novel follows the life of Victor Frankenstein, telling first of his childhood and the loss of his mother, followed by his education in Ingolstadt, where he studies every realm of the natural sciences. While engrossed in his studies Victor resolves to the desire of "infusing life into an inanimate body" (Shelley, 56), thus begins the story of the monster. Shelley shadows the creature through his abandonment, to his encounters with and growing thoughts of mankind and his resulting hatred of humanity. The creation and his creator meet in response to the death of Victor's brother, William and later Justine. As the creature tells his story both Victor and the reader learn of his early life, including his life in the forest with the cottagers, from whom he learnes language, literature, hardship, betrayal and love. The creature then demands that Victor grant him one single happiness, the creation of a mate, and he will disappear and never harm humanity again. After strong refusal Victor ultimately agrees to construct a mate for the creation however once the mate is complete but not yet brought to life, Victor resolves to brutally destroy the work before the eyes of his creation, "The wretch saw me destroy the creature on whose future existence he depended for happiness, and with a howl of devilish despair and revenge, withdrew" (Shelley, 159) this action later resulted in the vengeful deaths of Victor's friend, Clerval, and his friend, wife and cousin, Elizabeth. After the death of so many loved ones, Victor vows to never cease hunting his creation until one of them is dead. This chase brings Victor to Walton's ship where, through his slowly approaching death, Victor tells both his story and the story of his creation. The novel in its entirety is in fact Victors accounts that Walton scripted and sent as letters to his sister, Margret Saville, also included is Walton's interaction with the creature as he weeps over Victor's body and resolves to commit his body to ashes since he has nothing else for which to live.

Death Race is a film following the trials of Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) during his stay in Terminal Island Penitentiary (after he is framed for the disappearance of his daughter and murder of his wife) and his role in the Death Race; an entertainment program where viewers must pay to watch prisoners risk their lives in deadly races trying to gain their freedom. Upon arrival, Ames is soon recruited to replace the well known legend, masked driver, known as Frankenstein, by Hennessey, the conniving, malicious owner and warden of the prison, telling him he would only need to win one race. Each full race is a three day race around the island, each driver (inmate) gets their own navigator (who just so happens to be a prisoner from the nearby woman's penitentiary) who rides in the races with them activating their weapons, gear and guiding them through the course. The track is armed with pads, shields (defenses), swords (weapons) and death heads (sinister form of termination for a following or passing car, its driver and passenger), all of which Hennessy controls from her control room. The prisoners are promised that if they can survive and win five three day races they win their freedom, however no such promise has ever been kept because no one has ever made it to the finish line of their fifth race. Hennessey went so far as to blowup the original Frankenstein when he came close to winning. This Frankenstein character is related to Shelley's creature in that his character was essentially brought to life from nothingness (reanimated) through the use of Ames. Unlike Shelley's being however, the monster found in the Frankenstein character in Death Race was loved by the human public and not feared (this encompasses the ideal of the anti-Hero monster because