by Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is credited as one of the world’s first science fiction novels. Written in 1818, Shelley’s novel is a tale about Victor Frankenstein, a philosophy and chemistry university student who becomes obsessed with finding the “secret to life.” After years of research, Victor ultimately devises a plan to reanimate a dead body, bringing to life a Creature which he immediately abandons. The Creature, despite his pitiful and human-like cravings for companionship, is quickly deemed a “monster” by society and terrorizes Dr. Frankenstein’s family with multiple murders. More than 200 years later, Frankenstein still serves as a cautionary tale of technology gone awry. The story warns against pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery, points towards the dangers of “playing god,” and exposes the fallibility of a human society which judges based on appearance. However, Shelley’s novel is also a tale of human ambition gone unchecked.
Frankenstein sheds light the competitive and egocentric nature of humans. Victor, who is no doubt a talented scientist, is depicted as an ambitious researcher, yet one who’s selfish motives and obsessive personality lead him awry. I see strong parallels between Victor Frankenstein and Elizabeth Holmes, a Stanford dropout and founder of Theranos, a now defunct Silicon Valley startup which claimed to be able to take a blood test with only a drop of blood. Holmes was deemed a driven brilliant student and was driven from a young age to attend Stanford and be “successful.” After raising billions of dollars and landing a deal with Walgreens in 2013, it was found out that Holmes had spent years lying to investors, fostering a toxic work environment, and faking demonstrations. Unlike Victor, Holmes’ ambitious invention wasn’t actually up to par, and she had been diluting blood samples in order for them to work in the Theranos medical device. However, both Victor Frankenstein and Elizabeth Holmes shared an egocentric character, a reliance on secrecy, and ultimately put humans in danger with their “creations.”
Both Dr. Frankenstein and Elizabeth Holmes had selfish motives when creating their creations, despite claims of wanting to better society. Victor states, “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me.” Victor was not only obsessed with finding a way to cheat death, but was motivated by the idea of being revered by his very own creature. Dr. Frankenstein became overcome by ego and was convinced that he would bless humanity with the creation of his “new human.” Similar to Frankenstein, Holmes was obsessed with the idea of creating a device which would test blood with “one prick” but was almost just as obsessed with her own fame and image of being a “silicon valley billionaire.” Holmes wore black turtlenecks to emulate Steve Jobs and was from a young age declared her desire to be a “billionaire” when asked about her dream job. Holmes described Theranos’ miniLab device as “the most important thing humanity has ever built” providing a window into her egocentric attitude and an obsessive ambition which ended up crossing the line.
Frankenstein and Holmes also worked in secrecy, perhaps due to the competitive nature of humans. Victor completed both his research and experiment in isolation. Elizabeth Holmes demonstrated a similar obsession with maintaining complete secrecy and control over her creation. Holmes took investors’ money only on the condition that she wouldn’t have to reveal how Theranos’ technology worked, and she would have final say over everything having to do with the company. Holmes asked that anyone who visited the company’s headquarters to sign non-disclosure agreements before entering the building, and fired any employee who disagreed with her.
Ultimately both Holmes and Frankenstein don’t own up to their “monster” creation. Holmes continues to deny that she committed fraud with Theranos, in a wholehearted belief that her company was working for the good of humanity. Victor, despite feeling guilty about creating the monster, never publicly owns up to his actions and maintains a selfish outlook on the pain that Creature caused him, rather than grasping the extent of the consequences his actions had.
Frankenstein and Holmes’ ambitious, obsessive and competitive nature leads them each to their own “monsters.” Yet Shelley begs the question : is human ego the true monster?
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