Bladerunner and Frankenstein - 1

Bladerunner and Frankenstein - 1

To what extent does your comparative study of F & B/R suggest that the relationship between science and nature is an important universal concept?

The delicately balanced relationship between science and nature is a concept central to both Frankenstein and Blade Runner. Although composed in different eras, both texts deem humans incapable of playing God and recreating life without disastrous consequences. Together they stand as evidence that this belief is one which has remained rooted in society over centuries. As a romantic novel, Frankenstein highly regards the values of nature and its healing powers. When Victor suffers the consequences of his scientific disruption of the natural order, it was “a divine spring.. which contributed greatly to my convalescence”, Shelley’s use of the word ‘divine’ further implies nature’s God-like qualities which fail to be matched by man. While Shelley exerts these qualities on an individual’s level, Scott emphasises their significance by removing them from a global setting. Blade Runner’s opening sequence depicts a future planet entirely void of nature; where colossal buildings replace mountains and advanced aircraft replace stars. This dystopian world stands to articulate Scott’s certainty that once science eradicates nature, its restorative qualities are too removed and society will be unable to reverse the damage.

Humans cannot play God or use scientific knowledge to replicate life without disastrous consequences.

Both texts criticise the arrogance of men who play God by illuminating the resulting consequences as destructive and ill-fated. Shelley’s title “Frankenstein; the Modern Prometheus” uses intertextuality to compliment the similarity between the titan who stole fire from the Gods and Victor’s sacrilegious creation of life, and highlight their inevitable lifelong punishment. Victor’s inability to foresee these horrid consequences served, and still serves, as a warning to the tenacious scientists of...

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