MAN'S MISUSE OF HIS POWER OVER CREATION: Consequences of Tampering with the Life of Men and Animals as seen in Two Novels   CHAPTER 1 Introduction   Man has always been condemned for taking the life of another. For Catholic Christians, killing is very well against the fifth commandment: "Thou shalt not kill". But what about to create? God gave human beings dominion over land, water and air. He granted men supremacy over the life forms of plants and animals. As time passed, men learned to live together, making use of the earth's natural resources and respecting their own sphere of life. Society has also become more and more developed, complicating life even further. With the emergence of new technolgies beyond anyone's expectations, ways were found to "better" life, and just recently, "create life. Just imagine, once scientists have discovered the much-wanted formula for life, then the media would go into a frenzy and have a field day, sporting staggering headlines such as "Man Creates Life" and "Immortality Found". This scenario seems so far-fetched and unbelievable that it looks like it belongs under other paranormal phenomena such as alien abductions and the myth of the Loch Ness Monster. These type of news stories fit in supermarket tabloids. But then, it seems that stage of being in the dark is coming to an end, and humans are closer to finding the truth. Suddenly, the secrets of the universe are unveiled before all of creation. Like they say, the future is now. If people can put a man on the moon, then they can clone humans and animals. The question is: should they? The cloning has already started with the infamous Dolly, the first  sheep to be duplicated. News of it started in March 1997 when Dr. Ian Wilmut, a British scientist, became the first to ever clone an adult animal. Pretty soon, others will follow in his footsteps and it is not only sheep that will cloned, but perhaps living human beings. The problem of experimenting on men and animals is one that needs careful discussion; it should be evaluated and considered before scientists take the plunge and later on regret it. This subject matter is not the concern of a private group, or a nation--the whole of humanity is affected, and once the decision is made, there is not turning back. One needs to think about whether what is about to happen is good or bad, and not grieve after stepping is so deep in trouble. Literature is but a great medium for people to convey their feelings about certain things, and I found two novels which deal especially with the issue of cloning and other related ideas. The first is Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein; Or the Modern Prometheus", one of the most enduring best-sellers throughout the ages. It is about a doctor who manages to revive a lifeless creature through surging electricity. The second is H.G. Well's "The Island of Dr. Moreau", and the story is about a shipwrecked man who finds himself trapped in an island of half-human, half-animal creatures concocted by a mad doctor by the name of Dr. Moreau. Both novels are works of science fiction, meaning the technology the authors wrote about were not available yet during their time. But as one shall see, their stories maybe more than just outlandish ideas, but predictions and reflections of the future to come, and perhaps by reading them man may better understand the problems of today in the hopes that his story may have a happy ending.   CHAPTER 2 The Story of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein   One dark, stormy night, four good friends decided to have a contest to see who would come up with the scariest story. One of them wrote about a mad scientist who creates a monster out of human parts. The story was none other than Frankenstein, the writer was then eighteen-year old Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Centuries later, her bloodcurdling novel is still one of the bestsellers and spurred popular adaptations in television and cinema. Frankenstein centers around the lives of Victor Frankenstein and his ill-bred creation: the monster. The name "Frankenstein" is often mistakenly used with reference to the doctor's ghastly creation instead of its creator, but in the end serves a purpose of identifying the monster with its maker. In the interest of science and out of curiousity of the workings of nature, the determined doctor gave life to a deceased creature by  surging an amount of electricity. What comes to mind is Dr. Frankenstein's famous laboratory scene, now a favorite backdrop of horror stories with their own mad doctors. One imagines the bubbling flasks, spurring Jacob's ladder and eerie lights and immediately there is a feeling of dread and sense that something evil is cooking. The tale of Frankenstein has a moral at its end, for literature not only serves to charm its reader and extend the imagination, but to educate and impart great lessons of life. Mary Shelley's genius lives on, for as long as the legend of Frankenstein dwells in the hearts and minds of men. Rather than retelling the novel in detail like I did in my research, I recommend that you read the full version in paperback...you won't regret it.   Analysis of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein   Frankenstein is a stroy within a story within a story. At the outermost level is the voyage of a sea captain named Walton. Then he meets Victor Frankenstein, who tells his story. In the center of it all is the monster's own story. The classic novel involves several themes: the scientist's responsibility over his discoveries and creations, man overstepping his boundaries by interfering with the natural processes of life, and man's importance as a social being. Aptly called the "Modern Prometheus", the lead character in the novel can be compared to the Greek Titan Prometheus. In mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the heavens to help mankind, and he used this fire to breathe life into clay bodies. This did not appease the gods, who believed only they have right and  the power to do such a thing. As punishment, his liver would be eaten out day by day. Similarly, Victor Frankenstein stole the power to create life from God, in order that he may discover something that may make men immortal and bring them back from the dead, but sadly, something he does not have control over. And so, day by day, Dr. Frankenstein is also being punished, by the torment of his creation yearning for happiness and by the unfornate ends met by his loved ones.  From the beginning, Victor Frankenstein was the pcicture of ever-curious man: obsessed with mortality and immortality. He wanted so much to play creator: "Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellents natures would owe their being to me." (Shelley, 1995: 49) As far as the realm of science is concerned, men have been forever inclined in improving the human condition. Longevity has always been an issue; medical technologies permit doctors to "fix" the human body. There are medicines for almost every type of condition there is. Where does it all end? As long as there are plagues and diseases, there will be researchers on the war against these disorders. There is nothing wrong with taking care of the human body; it is one's right and duty to do so. The problem is that even when there is no need of fixing, men are not satisfied with themselves and are always pushing the limit. Already the idea of reviving corpses see,ed fascinating to the eager scientist. The concept of electricity came to him like a bolt of lightning in a thunderstorm: "I beheld a stream of fire from an old and beautiful oak...and so soon as the dazzling light vanished the oak had disappeared, and nothing remained but a blasted stump...I eagerly inquired of my father the nature and origin of thunder and lightning. He replied, 'Electricity.'" (Shelley, 1995:35) This was the insipiration for his experiments, the "Eureka!" of which Victor Frankenstein's life would never be the same. From that moment on, he had a vision and a mission to explore that field unknown to him in the hopes that he discover something so amazing and above all beneficial to mankind. It was like the heavens above him were calling to him to experiment. Benjamin Franklin started it when he flew a kite during a storm and drew electrical current from the string. Some say that it was after Ben Franklin that Shelley named her novel and scientist. These raw energies, lightning and electricity, are so common that men simply pass by its power. But when exploited, this part of nature becomes a source of great force and power than one can ever imagine. Scientists and researchers are trying to get hold of that power and somehow temper it and make it succumb to their power. Shelley was no expert in depicting the scientist and relating knowledge, but she did get her facts straight, depending on the writings and theories of the scientist Charles Darwin. Darwin was then concerned with the evolution and beginnings of man. Another scientist who had made an impact in Shelley's writings is Luigi Galvani, who first conducted experiments using electricity to revive the dead and coined the term "Galvanism". To him, electricity was a life force (Shelley, 1995: Introduction xix) And so Mary Shelley grounded her story on what was supposedly modern technology during her time. Her novel embodied the characteristics of science fiction: it is based on scientific research, it predicts what advances science might make and is a commentary on the pros and cons of discovering newfound technology. The concerning Industrial Age during which Frankenstein was written touched mainly on the impact of materialism. The novel serves as a political commentary because it reflects the ideologies of the French Revolution and the period of Romanticism, the time when Mary Shelley wrote the novel. The liberal era was where man stood at the center of it all, and people back then were concerned with the humanization of every aspect of life. Poets, writers, playwrights, singers and painters were concerned with the perfection of man, the betterment of mankind. In the novel, Victor Frankenstein wanted to create life, therefore playing the role of God and disrupting His plan for all men. The doctor and scientist overstepped his boundaries in finding the divine in the human, the spiritual in the material, the immortal in the mortal. During the French Revolution, thinkers life Rousseau were influencing people with their ideas that man is born free, but everywhere in chains. Precisely that was what Shelley reflected in her main character Victor. Victor felt  that he needed to better the human race by fathering a creation, but in the end, was even more in chains. He succeeded in creating life, but refused to accept responsibility for it.