Frankenstein and The Screwtape Letters

This was a school assignment (compare contrast essay) that I thought I'd share here.

The Spiritual Journeys of Frankenstein and The Screwtape Letters

         Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus is a gothic horror novel published in 1818 by Mary Shelley as a result of a contest between her husband and their mutual friend, Lord Byron. The Screwtape Letters is a satirical, Christianity-themed book published by C.S. Lewis in 1941, written from the perspective of a demon. Frankenstein tells the story of a man attempting to put himself in the place of God; The Screwtape Letters tells the story of a man growing out of that natural state. They both explore spiritual and emotional desires, themes of pride, and the effects of biblical values.
         In Frankenstein, the main character, Victor Frankenstein, becomes consumed with creating a brand new species. He starts to relish in the idea of self-glorification and ignores the responsibilities guaranteed to accompany such an endeavor. The book starts with his descent into madness and ends with the inevitable consequences of those actions. Victor’s prideful nature becomes apparent in his desire to have a creature worship him and depend on him for its every need. Frankenstein is not a Christian book, but a book written at a time when Christian values were widely accepted as the norm.
         On the other hand, The Screwtape Letters depicts the journey of a Christian and his spiritual struggles. In the second letter of the book, the man has become a Christian. The succeeding letters consist of struggles within the Christian life. The main character exhibits pride through his notions of self-righteousness. For example, his inability to recognize his own faults in comparison to those of his mother displays the natural human assumption of “I am right” and “Me first”. The Screwtape Letters is a specifically Christian book with directly theological language. Whereas Frankenstein focuses on the story, The Screwtape Letters focuses on the temptations that Christians endure and the deeper lessons and theological truths used in resisting them.
         Both books dive deeply into the foolish nature of man, the damnation of pride, and the effects of the spiritual and emotional realms upon the physical. Both books contain themes of love and loss. Frankenstein loves and loses, and the man from The Screwtape Letters is loved and lost. Both books teach valuable lessons on the consequences of safe and unsafe ways to exercise desire. On a philosophical level, both books share many similarities as they prompt the reader to ponder things such as life and death, ethics and morality, and the existence of the supernatural.
         Overall, both Frankenstein and The Screwtape Letters deal with the spiritual and religious, albeit in different ways. Each of the pair portrays the consequences of sin, but one subtly uses a novel, and the other employs a more direct and theological approach. One shows the downfall of a man because of his rise. One shows the rise of a man because of his downfall. “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”