The Basis Of an Early Impulse Of Good Will, And a Common Catalyst For Dangerous and Driven Monsters

Mansley, a paranoid federal agent, from finding and destroying the Giant. Although The Iron Giant is considered to be Frankenstein’s brainchild, The Iron Giant diverged from Frankenstein in that The Iron Giant became the creature Bird thought Shelley’s monster might have ended up to be had the monster received the apt nurturing and education. The Iron Giant matches point with Frankenstein in many aspects, which range from each creature’s physical appearance to each creature’s respective actions. Within both works, the two creatures of “gigantic stature” and rigid of voice, live on a “coarser diet” than mankind, and, like a young child, can only utter incoherent sounds later refined into articulate speech. When both creatures begin to connect with their respective environments, however, they establish a much closer affinity.

For instance, as it drifts through the woods in New England, the metal汉eating giant makes the error of trying to chew on a piece of electrical equipment, giving the giant a colossal electric shock. Likewise, while rummaging for food in the forest, Frankenstein’s creature receives a shock of its own when it, out of joy, sticks its hand into live embers. Furthermore, just as Frankenstein’s monster embraces the De Lacey family and mimes their daily chores with charitable intent, the Iron Giant notices汉that Dean creates works of art using scrap metal and then responds by making some art of his own using cars and chains. Both originally childlike, these two creatures act on an early impulse towards goodwill, and a shared catalyst contributes to their divergent transformations into dangerous and hunted monsters: violence.

Because of its undertone of innocence, The Iron Giant may seem to take a much lighter side on the Frankenstein story, but it’s important to note that the Iron Giant is not a gentle giant: when Hogarth aims a toy ray gun at him, the Iron Giant shows his potential for destruction. Dean later realized that the giant had automatically fired at Hogarth because his programming had perceived the weapon as a danger. Likewise, Frankenstein’s creature reacts with violence after having suffered violence against himself. For instance, when he makes his bid to reveal himself to De Lacey, Felix, the man’s adult son, arrives unexpectedly and assaults the monster on sight. As it is with the Iron Giant, violence against the monster breeds violence, and he shortly burns down the De Lacey cottage in a rage.

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In terms of moral development, Bird and Shelly have very distinct ways they develop their main character’s morals. In The Iron Giant, Bird does not introduce the Iron Giant’s creator, rather, Bird gives the Iron Giant an attentive educator. On the contrary, Shelly does not give Frankenstein’s creation an educator. As a result, Bird uproots the affiliation of creator-creature to educator-educated that is contained in Frankenstein. Early on in The Iron Giant, Hogarth explains the Iron Giant is “like a little kid.” It is true that both monsters are “orphaned creations,”, but the film’s purposeful omission of the Iron Giant’s creator signifies the absence of Frankenstein from his own creation’s development.

In terms of educational development, Bird and Shelly, again, have very distinct ways they develop their main character's education. In The Iron Giant, Hogarth toils to teach the Iron Giant how to make right decisions. To begin, Hogarth compares the Iron Giant to Superman. He explains that Superman started off like the giant. At a key moment in the film, the giant points to an Atomo comic, interested by the similarities between himself and the metal man, only for Hogarth to move quickly to turn him away from that identification: “He’s not the hero. He’s the villain. He’s not like you.” Hogarth proceeds to cover up the image of Atomo with the Superman comic, driving his point home: “You’re a good guy. Like Superman.” On the contrary, Frankenstein never encouraged his creature to be “good”, rather, Frankenstein abandons his creature in his time of need for guidance. In the absence of an educator, like Hogarth, Frankenstein’s monster comes to favor an evil identification over being a hero. These feelings of bitterness and rebelliousness overcome the monster’s gentler ideals, and the quest to wound and then dominate his creator consumes him.

At the eleventh hour, Hogarth becomes that one who manages to avert the tragedy of the original Frankenstein story. Hogarth’s love for the giant succeeds in moving him only in tandem with an invocation of their old lessons. At the critical moment of tension when the giant’s blind, vengeful rage has led him to aim a cannon at Hogarth himself, the boy appeals to the giant’s memory more than his emotions: “Remember? It’s bad to kill. Guns kill. And you don’t have to be a gun.” Hoggard, along with his lessons, had successfully stopped the Iron Giant rampage. At this point, Kent Mansley launches a nuclear warhead at the Giant, which is still in the city, insuring the deaths of the thousands of people that live there.

However, Hoggard’s successful comparison of the Giant and Superman effectively leads up to the climax of the film where the Iron Giant selflessly decides to sacrifice himself in order to protect the people that had previously tried to kill him from the nuclear warhead. Although Bird’s film is simply a makeover of Shelley's novel, its real innovation lies in the inclusion of the giant’s educator in the plot. Bird’s inclusion of a strong educator shows what creature frankenstein’s creature would’ve been had Frankenstein not abandoned him and gave him the proper education. We see a creature truly abandoned by its maker, yet one whose capacities for self-determination and “self-creation” win out over alienation.

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