creatureThe Beatles composed and sang many beautiful and timeless songs during their musical career. One song, however, captures the essence of Victor Frankenstein’s creation. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1818. The Beatles wrote a song off their The White Album entitled Blackbird in 1968.
Generations apart from each other, these two artistic masterpieces are more similar than one may deem. Although the era during which Blackbird came out most likely suggests it was written for the African American race to associate with, it very much correlates to Shelley’s being in Frankenstein. Symbolically speaking, the blackbird in the song represents the creation and his life, as he knows it. Victor simply created this being, but never took his responsibility beyond that point in regards to guiding this new life form toward happiness.
Thus, the creature’s wings, that took him on his flight of life, were futile until he decided to learn and experience existence by himself. His sunken eyes, from the beginning of time, were empty forever longing for that guidance that he never received from Victor. The creature came into the world basically a newborn, pertaining to his lack of knowledge or any unfeigned emotion. And, it was the obligation of Victor to instill upon him normal morals and knowledge about the world to provide a structural and principled foundation. Needless to say, Victor failed to do so and the so the creature inevitably became the blackbird.
On page fifty-seven of the novel, the creation is first brought to life and Shelley describes the initial interaction of the two main characters, “his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some in articulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeksrushed downstairs.” This particular quote depicts how Victor immediately shut out any connections with the creature due to his appearance. He decided to interpret the creature’s instant grin and stare to revolve around evil thoughts when, in fact, the creature was simply desiring acceptance and approval from his creator. So it was that from the commencement of his existence, the creature was shunned from Victor and ultimately from the entire society merely because of his appearance. In correlation to the song, his wings were broken from the beginning of time and it was up to his own free will if he decided to learn to fly.
The creature is telling his part of the story on page 136 when he says, “I felt emotions of gentleness and pleasure, that had long appeared dead, revive within meSoft tears again bedewed my cheeks, and I even raised my humid eyes with thankfulness towards the blessed sun, which bestowed such joy upon me.” This quotation is significant because it conveys that the creation never truly lost hope. He had obtained enough knowledge to realize that hope is a necessary element in life. Everyone makes mistakes during their own journey through life, but most have some source of support for them along the way. The creature did not have this support system in his life, yet somehow managed to maintain some hope and faith allowing him to smile for tomorrow’s promised future. In relation to Blackbird, he indeed did take advantage of that moment to arise.
Of course it probably is true that one can interpret and relate Blackbird to any struggle encountered in life, but then again, is that not what Mary Shelley was austerely writing about: the struggles everyone recovers throughout their excursions, as well as their confrontations with society. The creature in the novel is forced to overcome life’s typical tribulations on his own. He never receives a strong basis on which to make decisions and, consequently, spreads his wings on his own, inevitably stumbling upon predicaments. The implication of both the song and character is that no one is created corrupt. It is suggested that one becomes who they genuinely are due to either their guidance, or lack thereof.
