Through New Eyes (Theme)

“These wonderful narrations inspired me with strange feelings. Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base? He appeared at one time a mere scion of the evil principle and at another as all that can be conceived of noble and godlike…For a long time I could not conceive how one man could go forth to murder his fellow, or even why there were laws and governments; but when I heard details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased and I turned away with disgust and loathing.”

-p 114

Mary Shelley seems to prefer to reveal a great portion of her thoughts on human life through the thoughts and struggles of the monster. Frankenstein’s creation seems to be used to express Shelley’s themes particularly well due to his relative innocence. He was just born about one year ago; he has only one year’s worth of experience and one year’s worth of understanding of human nature. It would do Shelley little good to convey her message simply through another human; inevitably, that human would contradict their own reflections on humanity because he is, first and foremost, human. Yet by imposing such themes on the monster, Shelley is able to ponder human nature through fresh eyes. Frankenstein’s monster dwells on mankind’s duality of conscience for the first time and in a way that most humans, who are used to this conflict, would not be able to think. Frankenstein’s creation provides Shelley with the only way she could properly convey her themes concerning the paradox of man.

Be Oppressed Like an Egyptian! (Paradox)

“And what way of know that the dominion of the Party would not endure forever? Like an answer, the three slogans on the white face of the Ministry of Truth came back to him: WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.”

--p 26

These three slogans of Big Brother are all rather jarringly twisted paradoxes. I’m still not totally sure that I understand them well enough to argue their truthfulness or not, yet they seem unsettlingly incongruous with my beliefs. This is most likely due to the fact that I’ve grown up in a democratic country where freedom, peace, and knowledge are so strongly valued. To me, these slogans carry little if any truth or validity; they simply make no sense. Yet citizens believe them and abide by them. They have learned that two extremely different ideas are in fact the same, and their mental processes reflect this convolution. Despite Winston’s growing realization that these slogans are weak and that Big Brother is oppressive, he takes pride in his ability to fit into Big Brother’s system so well. He knows that Big Brother is always right and benevolent, yet simultaneously he knows that Big Brother is wrong and malevolent.

This condition, known as cognitive dissonance, was also experienced by the ancient Egyptians, who both trusted their Pharaoh to provide for them as a god, yet blamed him for not appealing to the gods when crops were meager. This cognitive dissonance led the Egyptians to become obsessed with religion and fanaticism. Perhaps the same will happen to Big Brother.

Gibbs Free Energy (Aha! A Chemistry Reference!)

The neatly chaotic form of Robert Herrick's "Delight in Disorder" reflects the speaker's admiration for "wild civility." In this poem, the speaker reveals his attraction to "a sweet disorder," which often creates "a fine distraction" that "more bewitch[es] [him] than when art/ Is too precise in every part." While this belief seems to be paradoxical, the speaker defends the validity of this belief by describing that same disorder in a loving fashion. Instead of speaking of disorder, particularly of a woman's clothing, with disgust, the speaker implies that disorder actually attracts and stimulates him, describing that disorder as "sweet," "tempestuous," and fine" and admitting that it "kindles in clothes a wantonness," "enthralls the crimson stomacher," and bewitches him more than art which "is too precise." Instead of finding fault with chaos, the speaker relishes in and adores it.

That same chaotic beauty is reflected in Herrick's writing style. Herrick writes in continuous form, giving no apparent rhyme or reason in separating sentences into distinct lines. Yet each line follows an iambic meter, giving a pleasing sense of rhythm to the poem. In addition, the poem is divided into couplets, providing an even deeper sense of beauty. However, even in this rhyme scheme, chaos is implied; the rhymes seldom are perfect, instead forming slant rhymes in most instances. This supports the speaker's admiration of chaotic beauty on a subconscious level. In a rather unexpected way, the speaker's initial paradox of chaotic beauty is validated thoroughly.