Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus , the successful work written by Mary Shelley and published in 1818, is often considered the first modern science fiction novel. The story of young Victor Frankenstein, who brings a body to life from corpse remains, is often seen as a reflection on the limits of ethics and scientific knowledge.
Now, a team of researchers from Dartmouth College, in Hanover (New Hampshire), and the University of California, Merced, points out in a study published in the journal BioScience that Frankenstein also explores one of the fundamental principles of ecology .
The authors of the essay state that at one point the creature asks its creator for a companion to alleviate its loneliness and indicates that its desire is to live in South America. In his plea it is clear that his intention is to go unnoticed, since, in addition, they would not eat the same food as people. These are his words: “If you agree, neither you nor any other human being will see us again. I’m going to the vast plains of South America. My food is not the same as man’s; I do not destroy the lamb to satisfy my hunger; berries and acorns are enough food for me. My partner will be identical to me, and will know how to be content with my same luck ”.
At first, Frankenstein considers the request reasonable, since he thinks that these two beings, isolated, would barely interact with humanity. However, he later reconsiders it and concludes that the reproductive potential of both could, in the long term, pose a threat to our species. According to the researchers, it would be a perfect example of a phenomenon known as the principle of competitive exclusion , which would not be formulated until the beginning of the 20th century. In essence, it establishes that two species that compete for the same resources cannot coexist so that their populations remain stable if the other ecological factors remain constant. That is, if one has even a slight advantage over the other, it will eventually dominate it. For the signatories of the study, the professor of Anthropology and Biological Sciences Nathaniel J. Dominy and the expert in natural sciences Justin D. Yeakel, this means that when Frankenstein prevents the monster’s plan, he is actually saving humanity .
Dominy and Yeakel used the same computer tools ecologists use to examine the evolution of sprawling communities to establish how quickly a pair of Frankenstein monsters would drive us to extinction. In this way, they determined that, based on population density data from 1816 – when the novel was written -, in the worst case scenario, two creatures settled in a practically depopulated region, in which they hardly had to compete for resources, would end up ending our civilization in about 4,000 years .
