The Death Paradigm In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein And The Movie Blade Runner

We all want to live forever. Ever since the dawn of language, humans have idolised the notion of immortality. We embody eternity through the divine, the supernatural, and now technology. Facebook now allows for the post-mortem memorialisation of pages, and other start-like Dead Social enable you to assign a digital executor to post a pre-prepared final farewell from you. Eterni.me, however doesn’t stop a just one final interaction. User are encouraged to talk to an avatar multiple times a week throughout their life to teach it to behave just like them. It takes note of your memories, interests, speech patterns and mannerisms and to allow future generations to ‘talk with you’ through your memories stories and ideas.

We are now attempting to make our dreams of life never-ending a reality by giving artificial intelligence the traits that make us human; empathy, the possession of a soul and the urge to survive. Both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the movie Blade Runner explore the role of individuals in the evolution of our species. The themes of empathy, the possession of a soul and survival are explored through theology and various literary devices.

Empathy has becomes so entrenched in our society that it governs the way in which we all live. The person who upsets this order and preys on the weak is cast out or locked up until they can appreciate others. Victor rejects his creation from the moment of his beginning. The Monster originally is enamoured with the human race, but soon turns twisted and cruel from their treatment of him. Shelley personifies nature to create the feeling that it is a character itself. After the De Lacey’s departed, and he burned their house to the ground, the landscape around the Monster changes. He tells Victor that “Nature decayed around me, and the sun became heatless; rain and snow poured around me; mighty rivers were frozen; the surface of the earth was hard and chill, and I found no shelter.” (pg. 141-142). This is an allegory for the Monster’s isolation. The cold, rain and snow represent humans’ rejection of him. Their indifference and cold regard towards him hurt the Monster as much as harsh weather, perhaps more. His literal lack of shelter is a continuation of this allegory. No means of proper rest or safety is offered up to him and he is left to face the elements.

The theme of empathy plays a key role in the story of Blade Runner’s replicants too. The replicants are created to be the ultimate superhuman being capable of feats that surpass the capabilities of humankind. Unlike other AI that are intended to become ‘human’, replicants are set apart by their lack of empathy. The Voight-Kampff test is used to identify replicants’ physical reactions to questions and images intended to elicit empathy. Rachel, a Nexus-7 replicant believes herself to be a human because of implanted memories and yet still fails he test. Despite this, she continues to show love and loyalty towards Deckard, the blade runner contracted to ‘retire’ her. She kills another replicant, Leon, in order to save Deckard’s life. This shows that, due to her implanted memories, she has a deeper understanding of empathy and emotion, even to the point of destroying one of her own kind.

It is widely believed that to have a soul is to be human, the existence of which is often determined through theology. A soul comprises the spirit of a person, separate to their physical form and endures even after the body is destroyed. The monster believes that he has a soul. This is evident when he says that his spirit will “sleep in peace” once his body is destroyed (pg. 215). Shelley uses religious symbolism to make direct comparisons made between the Monster and key biblical features. He like Adam in that he is the first of his kind, curious about the world and in constant search of companionship especially from a mate. The Monster is also Satan; intended to be a divine creature and banished to live in hell (the isolation he endures due to his rejection). His soul, and his very being, like Satan’s is turned to evil once he is cast out.

The eyes are said to be the windows to the soul. In Blade Runner, the eyes are used as a symbol of the soul. The physical differences between human and replicant eyes are repeatedly highlighted. As mentioned previously, they reveal their replicant status and their eerie reflection is repeatedly used as a motif throughout the movie. Roy Batty, the rebel replicant leader, chooses Hannibal Chew, who manufactured replicant eyes, to interrogate for information on the creator of the replicants, Tyrell. During the interrogation he says to Chew “If only you could see what I’ve seen with your eyes!”. While the reflective eyes are meant to signify that replicants don’t have a soul, this remark demonstrates that the replicants are cognisant of what they see and process it in their own rich and unique manner. The importance of the eyes is focused on once again when Batty kills Tyrell by gouging his eyeballs out. Not only is he killing his creator physically, but symbolically he is attacking his very soul as well. Roy’s own death scene further implies that the replicants have a soul. After he has taken his final breath, a white dove bursts forth up into the sky. The white dove is a religious symbol of peace, forgiveness and freedom. In this scene it symbolises the soul of Roy coming to peace and finding its way to Heaven.

Survival is one of the main overarching themes of both Frankenstein and Blade Runner. Frankenstein creates the Monster for purely selfish means. Shelley again uses personification to create the feeling that nature is a character itself, an omniscient force that punishes Victor for his perversion of its course. Even before his hubristic quest is complete, Frankenstein commits immoral acts. Despite his self-proclaimed aptitude for alchemy and chemistry, he did not build his creation from scratch but instead turned to grave-robbing for parts and torturing living animals to learn how to animate them (pg. 55). Upon the completion of his labours, Frankenstein finds himself repulsed by his own creation, and thus the payment for his crimes begins. Having experienced repeated rejection from all humans who encounter him, the Monster blames Frankenstein for his creation and kills three of the people dearest to him. He is further punished as he pursues the Monster in vengeance all the way to the Arctic where he ultimately perishes. This gives the notion that when a mortal takes on nature, they will always lose.

The rogue replicants in Blade Runner perfectly embody the need to survive. They, like humans are terrified of their own mortality and Roy, above all others searches ardently for a way to escape death. This is epitomized in Roy’s death speech; “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain. Time to die.” In just five short lines, he manages to perfectly portray our complex relationship with the bittersweet tragedy that is death. In this moment he finally resigns himself to his inevitable fate. As a replicant he was created for hard labour and a short life. His focus on Orion, and the glittering of the c-beams also implies that it was filled with adversity and violence. Batty’s lament for his lost memories encapsulates many of our own fears regarding death. Once we are gone, our experiences are lost to the ever-running indifferent flow of time like tears in the rain, and with it ourselves. What more is life than a collection of our memories?

We try to achieve immortality through imbibing artificial intelligence with the traits we believe make us human. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the movie Blade Runner explore the role of the role of individuals in the evolution of our species. This is portrayed through the themes of empathy, the possession of a soul and survival using theology and various literary devices. In this endless search for life everlasting, we are reminded of the value of life. It is made all the more precious because it is so short. As Tyrell tells Batty “the light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” We must savour the light.