Frankenstein Study
Week 1
Most of us think we know Frankenstein.
We imagine a monster stitched together in a laboratory, lightning cracking the sky, science gone mad. But Mary Shelley did not write a horror story. She wrote a moral reckoning. One that asks what happens when brilliance outruns wisdom, when creation is severed from true love, and when the desire to make eclipses the duty to care. We should keep in mind that just because we can do something doesn’t always mean we should do it.
This is a book about fathers, sons, teachers, students, and makers. It is very much about ambition, especially the kind that dresses itself up as progress. A theme we should take heed of as we see it being played out in the world as we speak. And it is about what becomes of the human soul when responsibility is refused.
Alongside Shelley’s text, I will occasionally place Scripture. Scripture has a long memory. It knows these questions already. It is our guiding source of truth, and we should always have it in mind when thinking about the world (fictional or real).
How to Read Well:
Read slowly enough to notice what resists you
Do not rush discomfort; it is often instructive
Attend to motives more than outcomes
Let questions linger longer than answers
Week One Reading Checklist
Origins, Ambition, and Inheritance
This week introduces us to two men, Walton and Victor, whose hunger sets everything else in motion. Pay attention not only to what they pursue, but why.
Day 1
☐ Letter I
☐ Letter II
Thoughts:
Walton’s longing is not merely for discovery, but for distinction.
What kind of greatness does Walton desire, and who taught him to desire it? Where do we see this reflected in humanity today?
Day 2
☐ Letter III
☐ Letter IV
Thoughts:
Ambition grows most dangerous when it is paired with loneliness.
Where does isolation intensify longing rather than temper it? What does this remind you of?
Day 3
☐ Volume I, Chapter 1
Thoughts:
Victor’s moral imagination is shaped long before he ever acts.
What did Victor learn (explicitly or implicitly) about power, goodness, and love? Where does our culture seek those things?
Day 4
☐ Volume I, Chapter 2
Thoughts:
“Forbidden” knowledge always promises elevation, never responsibility.
What is the difference between wisdom and mastery? How might we avoid falling into the same pitfall?
Day 5
☐ Volume I, Chapter 3
☐ Volume I, Chapter 4
Thoughts:
Victor’s brilliance is real, but so is his narrowing vision.
At what point does the pursuit of knowledge detach from love? What consequences might that bring today?
☐ Week One Complete
Parallel Text
Genesis 11:1–4
Proverbs 9:10
Romans 1:21–22