The Scientific Plausibility of Frankenstein's Monster by Sarah West

For about a month now, we have ben reading and discussing the classic gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelly in our english class. During one of our class discussions, the topic of the intelligence of the monster, and how he could have gained enough intelligence to talk to and interact with human beings was brought up. Since I have been learning a lot about the human body in the Human Body Systems and Biology classes I have been taking in school, my curiosity was immediately sparked. I began to wonder about this subject, and about the plausibility of Frankenstein's monster in general. As he is a character written as part of a fictional novel nearly 200 years ago, one might be quick to assume there is nothing feasible about sewing together body parts, then bringing the creature to life. However with the scientific advancement that has taken place since the time the novel was written, successful organ transplants taking place everyday, genetic engineering, and the technology available, Frankenstein's monster may be closer than he seems.

While in college, Frankenstein claims to have constructed his monster out of miscellaneous body parts after he discovered the secret to life. Disregarding the fact that there is no way to bring something that is completely lifeless to life, the existence of organ transplants seem to back up the possibility a whole new body could be constructed from many parts put together. Although it would be possible to connect major organs with blood vessels and muscle, the reconstruction of the nervous system is where things get dicey. Since, as I have learned in my biology and human body systems courses in school, nerve cells do not reproduce, there is basically no chance the brain would be able to connect to the spinal cord and have the ability to communicate with the rest of the body.  Even if, somehow, Frankenstein were to succeed in constructing the nervous system, he would then run into problems with the immune system. Since white blood cells automatically attack anything in the body that it does not recognize as self, and the monster is made up of organs and limbs from many different people, there is no telling what kind of havoc the system will cause as different organs are rejected, and maybe even a battle between multiple white blood cells and immune systems from multiple people takes place inside the monster. Frankenstein would have an easier time applying his discovery to dead human being, containing only the original body parts.

After the monster comes to life, he spends some time observing a family living in a cottage, in which time he learns to read and speak, with a decently expansive vocabulary as evidenced by his later conversation with Frankenstein. How exactly did Frankenstein learn to speak perfectly, read and come to understand human society in under 2 years? Well, theoretically, if the monster had a perfectly functioning human brain with the specific areas that are used to understand and produce language, he would have the same ability to learn language as any other human. That is still a stretch logically, since after two years most humans don't use words like "benevolent", "endeavoured" and "melancholy".  However it is doubtful that while trying the build the best, strongest and most amazing creature he could, Frankenstein would give his monster the brain of a newborn. If the monster was given the brain of an adult, his experience in learning how to speak could be closer compared to someone learning a new language rather than a baby learning to speak for the first time. This makes his ability to learn the language more believable, especially considering how dedicated he was. The idea of acquiring a brain from someone who has already lived a life of course opens up more theoretical questions about how it would function. Wouldn't he still have the personality and memories for the original owner since the brain creates personality and stores memory? Why then, would he not remember how to speak or remember how the world works?  Since humans have never actually physically transplanted someone's head, or brought someone back from the dead, there is really no way to explain or know for sure what the brain would be like in that situation.

Where language production and 

understanding take place in the brain

Is it actually possible to create a monster like that of Frankenstein's? No. Will modern day humans have to worry about monsters roaming the streets anytime soon? Doubtful. Will there ever be a way to scientifically explain how Frankenstein's monster could have been possible? Not yet, but who knows what the future will bring? While logically a monster like Frankenstein's is still purely fiction, the fact that we can taken organs from one person and put them into someone else, design children before they are born through genetics, and have the advanced technology we do today, makes humans closer than Mary Shelly could have probably ever imagined 200 years ago to having the scientific ability to do what Victor Frankenstein did in her novel.