Industrial Devloution Henry James Gilchrist 12th Grade

The industrial revolution brought about numerous technological innovations that increased humanity’s ability to harness nature for their own pleasure or utility. However, it also revolutionized social structure with the emergence of the factory job and the working class. The mixed blessings associated with these advancements in technology and human influence prompted controversy over the role of humanity in nature. Mary Shelly uses her novel Frankenstein as a critique of the social trend towards technological advancement. Throughout the novel, several characters interact with nature in a variety of ways, but those that seek to control nature for their own glory invariably fail. Through the successes and failures of her various characters, Mary Shelley claims that human action is restricted to harnessing or influencing nature and does not extend to human control of nature. In the novel Frankenstein, those that seek to control nature for their own glory inevitably create more damage than benefit.

By violating the creature’s natural right to community, Frankenstein further defied nature and thus brought about his ultimate destruction. The desire to be leave isolation and to live in community with others is a fundamental aspect of...