In Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein is out to achieve fame and glory when he creates the creature, when he realizes what he has done is wrong he tries to escape the monster which leads to the killing of his loved ones. I listen to a lot of music in my spare time and this scenario reminds me of DMX's trilogy of songs
Damien, Damien II (The Omen), and
Damien III. These three songs tell a "fictional" semi-biographical story of DMX's rise to fame. He meets a man Damien who symbolizes the Devil and makes the mistake of selling his soul for glory and fame. The connection to the book is that through the songs is when DMX doesn't want to listen to the demands of Damien he escapes, and in the final two songs it explains how Damien haunts DMX and his family forever. Although they are not exactly the same the motives of glory lead to the demise of the main character in both scenarios. And I should mention you have to have a particular taste in music to enjoy these songs, but if you were to listen to them you would see the fascinating connection. I just think it is amazing how a book written in the 19th century can tie in to a rappers story, my friend said to me the other day "things change, but they never actually change" which i think fits so well with the connection of the book and song. So no matter what century it is you can always find a similarity or a common underlying moral.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the reasons these books have stuck around is that they continue to tell us something we find relevant.
Have you seen the movie?
Yeah I actually watched the movie right at the end of us reading the book, I found the book was better.
DeleteGlory and fame, a nice motivator, maybe not always bad?
ReplyDeleteHowever, when the need for glory consumes you it tends to be a little bad.
The idea that “things change, but they never actually changed” really made me think about how every story, movie, song, piece of art that is produced today is really just replicating the themes and ideas that the great thinkers of the past decided to put to paper. There are very few roads that we have left to travel.
ReplyDeleteI found your quote "things change,but they never actually change" very interesting and also that it tells the truth about life. I think that civilizations have been the same throughout the centuries, the only thing that changes is the characters.
ReplyDelete