Frankenstein

Even though I read Frankenstein a good long time ago when I was in grade school, it was very refreshing to revisit it and analyze it from a different perspective. Being likely the first piece of media that falls into the science fiction genre, it was so fascinating to see just how many common horror tropes and messages it seemed to coin. There's such a tragic and almost romanticized feeling to the whole of the novel as the reader learns more about the creature and sees him interact with the world. I really loved the complexity of the novel thats so often lost in modern adaptations, with Frankenstein himself searching for knowledge and scientific achievement, but it ultimately so unprepared for the results of his intellectual arrogance, and completely abandons the creature that he has given life, selfishly leaving it to fend for itself in an unforgiving world. The creature himself grows and learns about the people and world around him, soon learning that people could be cruel and selfish. The creature learns to speak and read, and becomes a much more complex person than is seen in any adaptation today. It was so interesting to see the creature gain the concept of morality, and then realizing how Frankenstein had so little, choosing to punish him for his selfishness and lack of responsibility. All these concepts about the flaw of mankind's hunger for power and knowledge without thought of repercussions, the danger of playing with life and death for personal gain, and the result of abandoning ones own moral responsibility are tropes that aren't absent at all in cinema and media today, and I found it so amazing that so many of them along with so many horror tropes originated from one novel.