Beyond Free Will in Frankenstein by ShellyOne of the greatest gifts God has given to man is free will. Free will is the ability to choose our own life path, to make decisions and suffer our own consequences. God intended free will to allow us to live our own lives according to the rules we choose. However, does free will reach a certain point that should not be crossed? Man has always envied God and always tried to become like God. Does this ambition compromise our free will? In Mary Shelly's classic novel Frankenstein, Viktor Frankenstein attempts to bring the dead back to life and succeeds in animating his own creation. The consequences of his ambition compromised his free will and destroyed his life. Viktor Frankenstein has reached the point of free will that man is not supposed to cross. Viktor Frankenstein is a fool trying to play God. Free will was a gift given to man from the beginning of history. In the Genesis story, God-given free will allowed Adam and Eve to eat from any tree in the garden, including the tree of knowledge. However, God has established a rule. “The Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden; but you must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die. »1 Now, in this story, man is deceived by the serpent, representing the devil, and eats from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. tree of knowledge. He does not die in a sense, but is cast out of paradise and forced to work the land for the rest of his now mortal life. In a letter from Paul to the Galatians, Paul writes: “You, my brothers, have been called to be free. But don't use your freedom to indulge your sinful nature. this sense will surely suffer the consequences of its actions according to Mary Shelly. I completely agree and will end with a retrospective quote from Viktor Frankenstein. “Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquisition of knowledge, and how much happier is the man who believes that his native city is the world, than he who aspires to become bigger than the world. its nature allows it. »101. Genesis 2:16-17 (NIV)2. Galatians 5:13a (NIV)3. Shelly, Mary. Frankenstein, Norton critical edition, p. 304. Shelly, p. 325. Shelly, p. 496. Shelly, p. 1157. Shelly, p. 1168. Shelly, p. 1379. Luke 7:14-15 (NIV)10. Shelly, p. 31 Works Cited: Shelly, Mary. Frankenstein. Quality Paperback Book Club, New York. 1994.