¶ … power to transcend time and culture, which is why many of the world's best stories are also the most enduring ones. Most powerful stories are also political in scope. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley warns the world about the arrogance of egotism and the dangers of selfishness and irresponsibility. In "Shooting an Elephant," George Orwell sends a message about the pitfalls of colonialism. Both of these stories are powerful because their narrative serves a greater purpose. A powerful story has strong character development, because strong characters grapple with the grey areas of ethics and morality. Rather than showing clear divisions between good and bad, stories like Frankenstein and "Shooting an Elephant" show that no person is fully good or fully evil. The biggest power in Shelley's Frankenstein is the tension between the creature's emotional needs and his creator's inability to meet those needs. The story serves as a metaphor for irresponsible parenting, and also warns about the disastrous consequences of reckless egotism. The title character Dr. Frankenstein had not thought through his experiment. It might have been that he did not know it was going to be a success, but more likely, it was simply due to the classical Greek concept of the tragic flaw: hubris. Pride is the downfall of most of literature's strongest characters, and it is like this for Dr. Frankenstein. Although few would call Dr. Frankenstein a strong character, he is nevertheless a delivery...
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