Title: Monsters of the Midway
Author: Mike Resnick
Date of Publication: 1991
Place of Publication: The Ultimate Frankenstein
Type: Short Story
Characters: No Character
Themes: ANDROID; RACE/POLITICS
Critical Summary: “Monsters of the Midway” combines modern day NFL football with creatures inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It tells the story of the Chicago Bears’ new players through short newspaper headings and columns. The team has recruited five rookies who, from the start of the story, seem peculiar and out of the ordinary. The new recruits lead the Chicago Bears to victory over each opposing team, leaving their adversaries completely bewildered. As the Bears head towards the Super Bowl undefeated, new information emerges of suspicious connections between Dr. Alfredo Rathermann, who has won a Nobel Prize for his work in the reanimation of dead tissue, and the Chicago Bears.
The short story’s biggest connection to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the theme of the Android, as the rookie players are discovered to be reanimated creatures constructed by Dr. Rathermann. Being that they are large and indestructible, the question of whether it is fair to have non-human creations playing in the NFL is raised. This story also relates to the theme of Race/Politics, since the NFL is required to consider the rights of these creatures as being part of the NFL. This also raises questions about similarities to Victor Frankenstein’s monster, and whether it deserved the same rights as other humans. Victor considers whether the creature should have procreative rights. In Monsters of the Midway, it is evident that if these creatures were permitted to play in the NFL, there would come a time that no natural born human would equal the creatures’ physical prowess, and that removing them from the sport is necessary to preserve the essence of human competition. Victor Frankenstein shares a similar realization in believing that the creature and its potential new race could eventually overtake humans, and become a superior species.
Administrative Notes: Alondra Chavez; Adam Shelley (editing)