How+Frankenstein+and+Prometheus+Are+Like+Back+to+the+Future

Prometheus is like the movie Back to the Future in many ways. Just as Prometheus stole the power to make fire from the Gods, Doc Brown found a way to go back in time with his automobile time machine. This was a power previously reserved for the Gods to exercise, not for the common man to experiment with. Both situations are similar because there was some form of punishment for the actions taken. Prometheus was punished by death and became an example for the rest of mankind of just how strong the Gods were compared to the power of man. Marty McFly, the main character in Back to the Future, is not as much punished as he is exposed to the potential repercussions of tampering with the Gods. When he goes back in time and toys with his parents’ first meeting, he is playing with his existence, because if they don’t meet and get married, then he never exists in the future and therefore won’t be able to return to the future. In his near run-in with nonexistence, Marty is not only messing with the time aspect of Godly power, but in the existence part of Godly power, which brings up the issue of Frankenstein. In creating his monster, Dr. Frankenstein is stealing and almost mocking the power of God to create life. He makes his monster in pursuit of discovering things that were not meant to be discovered. In Back to the Future, time travel is not something that was meant to be created and utilized, much as creating human life was not meant to happen in Frankenstein. There are certain fascinations that humans have with the unknown and the powers of higher bodies, and these three examples show both endless possibilities for discovery, and also the often unconsidered repercussions that follow.