Title: El Sueno de la Razón
Author: Daniel Fox
Date of First Publication: 1994
Place of Publication: The Mammoth Book of Frankenstein
Type: Short story
Characters: No Character
Themes: ANDROID; BYRONIC HERO; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER
Critical Summary: Trying to perfect humanity, a team of scientists use genetic engineering to create Nathaniel, what they believe to be a great gift that they produced for humankind. They showered his life with an abundance of experiences and kept him as safe and happy as possible. He wanted for nothing and was allowed to develop his superhuman skills. He is handsome, healthy, smart and capable of great leaps over his peers. He was supposed to be the definition of perfection.
Nathaniel’s character is depicted as an intelligent person, who possesses many skills that come so easily to him, he gets bored. During a communal eating time, he does not get along with his teammates, who have their own skills and talents. Split into smaller groups for exploration, Nathanial is angry he was not made group leader but is given the panic button in case of emergencies because he is silent and brave.
On the island, Nathanial is isolated from the others, despite the fact that he keeps them all safe twice by using his strength. Unable to sleep, he talks to the team leader, who tells him the truth. No one would ever be comfortable with him because he’s artificial. He isn’t the same as them. Despite this harsh truth, Nathaniel saves them all again, when their boats sink. He creates a raft and collects everyone on it. He presses the panic button, and disappears. The official report proclaimed it a heroic sacrifice, but the team believed it to be suicide. Nathaniel was too artificial to ever connect with people and he couldn’t continue to be so isolated if his best was not enough. Still, the artificial human program continued with another failed project.
Nathaniel is a Byronic hero. He is smarter, stronger, and dangerously stubborn. He is also the sympathetic monster, isolated and too different to connect with others. He makes others uneasy; he’s uncanny. Fox’s story is a nod to the inevitability of anything different, any kind of greater being, being seen as a threat to their own existence. However, the experiments continue to create beings even better, and worse at connecting with other creatures.<rewrite this sentence There is no reason behind the scientists making creatures this superior. The title, “the sleep of reason,” is ironic. They are, like Victor, obsessed.
Administrative Notes: Noelle Simonne Zaffiro, CSUF; Amanda Howard, CSUF (editing)