You Have Been
Eaten by a Wretch
By Carl Santavicca
“It is
pitch black, you are likely to be eaten by a grue”(Zork). Unfortunately, no
more than five minutes into playing the video game Zork, these were the words I
read in black and white across my screen. And then just like that, as happens
all too often when I play video games, I was dead. Not to worry however, just
like always, I have new life breathed back into me as if I were Frankenstein’s
monster; able to begin again, less a few items that I had picked up. How was my
exploration similar to that of Victor in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein? Have I
been desensitized the consequences of my actions due to video gaming as Victor
was by his privileged upbringing. In which ways have Victor and I not learned
from the consequences of our actions. And, in which ways, if only a little,
have we actually learned from our mistakes and desired to not repeat them
again.
Initially
Victor set out with his ambition to create life where there was none and do
something that has never been done before. Similarly, whether it be in Zork or
a first person shooter like Call-of Duty my goal is to get to that next level,
explore that next dungeon, or be better than everyone else that I’m playing
against. It is this desire that prompts Victor to not first create a creature
of “simpler organization” but to go for broke; “I resolved, contrary to my
first intention, to make the being of a gigantic stature; that is to say, about
eight feet in height, and proportionately large”(Shelly49). Victor had not fully contemplated the
possible consequences of making his creature larger and stronger than a mere
human. Just as I had not contemplated the possibility of death that awaited me
by descending into the darkness below the field house in Zork or running
headlong into the war zone that is Call of Duty multiplayer.
What is it
that makes both Victor and I so ignorant of the consequences of actions and how
are we both similar different in those ways? It is apparent that, even since
the earliest video games, myself and other gamers have been able to restart if
we made an error or even worse died. Also as video games progressed many
provided me with more than one life, or even special codes or hidden secrets to
gain additional chances at glory. This ability has the effect of desensitizing
one to the consequences of those actions. Could you imagine how boring a video
game would be if you only had one life, just like in reality; I’m sure myself,
and tons of other gamers, would be way more cautious if there was no
possibility of resurrection, if every time I got shot or stabbed in a game it
actually caused physical pain, or when the thief robbed me in Zork, that he
actually got to keep my iPhone.
Similarly
Victor is desensitized by his affluent upbringing; his parents provided him
with everything he desired: “My parents were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and
indulgence. We felt that they were not the tyrants to rule our lot according to
their caprice, but the agents and creators of all the many delights which we
enjoyed”(Shelly 28-29). It was this treatment that resulted in Victor not being
able to take responsibility for his actions and blaming others, like his
parents, for his misplaced course of study: “’Ah! Cornelius Agrippa! My dear
Victor do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash.’ If instead of this
remark, my father had taken pains to explain to me that the principles of
Agrippa had been entirely exploded….”(Shelly30-31). Or “I was their plaything and their idol, and
something better—their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on
them by Heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their
hands to direct to happiness or misery”(Shelly24). These show that Victor
though it was others responsibility to ensure his happiness, and as a result to
take blame for his actions as well. We see this also throughout the story as
Victor continuously blames the Wretch for the deaths of William, Justine, Henry,
and Elizabeth, while mentioning his involvement however never fully taking
ownership to their murders and the consequences that go with it.
Those who do not learn
from history are doomed to repeat it. No matter how many times I hear that I
cant help from repeating some of my past mistakes while playing video games.
For example: after being eaten by a grue, I immediately return to the same spot
knowing there is a beast waiting in the dark that has already killed me once;
or returning to the same spot where I had just been gunned down on Call of
Duty. Had this been real life, and having the knowledge that danger was there,
I definitely would put as much distance, as possible, between that area and
myself. Whether I return out of pride or revenge, the fact is that my virtual
death is not much of a deterrent at all. In what ways does Victor experience
the same “virtual death” and not learn from the experience: enter the deaths of
his friends and family. While the actual death of Victor is possible, and eventually
does happen, he experiences the death of his friends and family one by one, and
yet does not learn from the situation. He remains ignorant of the monsters
threats, even on his wedding day, and learned nothing from its past actions: “I
continued walking up and the passages of the house, and inspecting every
corner…when suddenly I heard a shrill and dreadful scream. It came from the
room in which Elizabeth had retired. As I heard it, the whole truth rushed into
my mind”(Shelly225). Had he realized that
the monster’s intent was not to kill him, but to make him alone and miserable,
he may have been able to ultimately protect his bride.
Let there be light! On
occasion, no matter how thick headed Victor and I both are, we do occasionally
learn from the consequences of our actions. As noted before, I knowingly
returned to the scene of my previous demise; however on the follow up trip I
did so equipped with a lantern and a sword (Zork). The only thing that was
disappointing upon my return was I did not get to extract my revenge on the
grue that slayed me earlier. In relation Victor, despite his spoiled rich child
ability to blame others, did learn from one of his mistakes when he ceased
construction of a second monster for fear of the unknown behavior of the new
creature: “I was about to form another being, of whose dispositions I was alike
ignorant”(Shelly188). Overall the consequences between Victor’s upbringing and
the videogame desensitization of violence and death are definitely relevant.
However what is more relevant is how we actually learn from our mistakes and
the mistakes of others and attempt to minimize and possibly eliminate the predictable
disasters that can befall us.
1 comment:
I like the questions you ask in the introduction - especially that you are open to the possibility that you really have learned (after all, Zork does punish us, even if only moderately, for death). I would have liked to see some hint of your final argument here in the introduction, though, and certainly I would need it in a revision.
The next couple paragraphs are kind of repetitive, which is not to say they're totally wrong - just that they don't advance. I'm not much of a gamer these days, but when I do play games I tend to lean towards very hard core ones. One of my most interesting gaming experiences was with an RPG called Wizardry 8 (possibly worth your effort to look it up). I played it through once, reloading often, then again on "Ironman" - a mode which meant that death was final, and that I couldn't restart except by going back 10, 20 or 30 hours to the very beginning. It was very different, and your essay reminds me of that experience.
Your comparison of how you learned (slowly) to how Victor learned (also slowly) is ok in itself, but the problem that it raises is that ultimately you don't really have much of an argument - video gamers/Victors avoid consequences, except when they don't. That isn't much of a conclusion, although you have said some interesting things along the way.
If you revise, you want to cut some of the fat (there's a lot of repetition here), and really focus on whether you can advance the argument - is the ability to restart ultimately an evasion of all consequences and meaning, or does it have its own logic and its own potential for learning? You seem to be sitting on the fence here - you want to actually take and develop a position.
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