Frankenstein Essay -- Literary Analysis, Mary Shelley

Organic: A Very Lucid Concept Will it ever be possible for a machine to be an organic being? It is an interesting question and one that is addressed in Frankstein by Merry Shelly, RUR by Karel Capek and The Defecating Duck by Jessica Riskin. These three texts provide insight into what makes a creature an organic being. From these readings one may construe that the duck in The Defecating Duck, along with the robots at the beginning of RUR cannot be considered organic beings, while the monster in Frankstein and the robots at the end of RUR can. An organic robot is an oxymoron; a robot does not have the chemical capability to be considered biologically organic. Although a chemical process was alluded to in both it Frankstein and RUR, it was very brief, a short paragraph in each case, and did not give enough information to be able to classify either as an organic being. However, there is a definition of organic that can be applied to prove that robots have the capability to be organic,â€Å"[10th definition of organic] something as having a growth and development analogous to that of living organisms† (Merriam Webster Dictionary). In other words, to be considered organic one must have the ability and desire to live. To long for a companion shows that one has a desire to connect with someone in their life, and therefore proves that person has a longing to be apart of the world. The monster in Frankstein has a desire to find a person he can connect with, and ends up going on a journey to find one. This journey begins with the monster observing and eventually falling in love with a farm family. â€Å"I formed in my imagination pictures of presenting myself to them†¦I imagined that they would be disgusted, until, by my gentle demeanor and con... ...ple. They are mechanically more perfect than we are†¦ but they have no soul† (Capek, 9). This quote by Domin explains to Helena how robots are not human but just workers. Domin further expresses this point by saying that. â€Å"Everything will be done by living machines. People will do only what they enjoy† (Capek, 21). These robots, for the time being, are complicit with their place and show no desire to live. The robots, and duck fail to show a desire to live and therefore cannot be considered organic beings. The robots from the end of RUR and the monster in Frankstein, unlike the robots at the beginning of RUR and the duck in the Defecating Duck, can be called organic beings because of their desire to live. These three texts brought up interesting points to a confounding question of organic robots. Making one believe that only time will be able to solve this riddle.