Title: Mother of Invention

Author: Graham Masterton

Date of First Publication: 1994

Place of Publication: The Mammoth Book of Frankenstein

Type: Short Story

Characters: No Character

Themes: MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; BYRONIC HERO; ANDROID

Critical Summary: In the story “Mother of Invention” we follow the story of David, Aanewly, a remarried man who has recently lost his father. Throughout the story we learn of the relationship between David and his father, whom he admires greatly. We also see mentions of his mother’s relationship with a woman named Aunt Rosemary, who isn’t really David’s aunt, but had been around David and his family for a very long time. After David’s father passed away, his aunt Rosemary and his mother had a falling out and no longer spoke. David and his new wife, Bonny, pay a visit to David’s mother, who disapproves of Daniel’s relationship with Bonny as she is Daniel’s second wife, and Daniel’s father had always preached a strong sense of monogamous loyalty. As the story progresses, Daniel finds a strange number of pictures of his mother. The timeframe is what bothers Daniel, as in some his mother disappears, reappears with a very sickly gaze, and then disappears and reappears with her health back. Daniel decides to dig for information at a hospital where the attendant informs him that after an accident his mother had, she was pronounced dead. Daniel confronts his mother about it, and Daniel’s mother reveals the disgusting secrets that were locked behind Daniel’s father. Daniel’s father had been a brilliant surgeon, and an obsessive lover. After Daniel’s mother had been in a car crash, his father could not let her go. One day he was able to bring her back to life, and from that day forth harvested organs and body parts to rebuild the woman he loved. The immorality of the matter disgusting Daniel, he then comes to a shocking revelation that his Aunt Rosemary, who also had a lot of disfigurements, was the result of the remains of the harvested body parts being stitched together and brought to animation.

“Mother of Invention” explores the concepts of obsession and control through the Android theme. Much like in Frankenstein, Daniel’s father feels a need to control that which man had not previously been able to control, death. He attempts to, and successfully gains control of, mortality. However, the price for this control is a hefty one. As details in the story unfold and Daniel’s father is revealed to have killed others for his wife to remain human. The fact that Daniel’s mother was kept alive by using other humans parts still challenges the definition of humanity. Although Daniel’s mother was alive and still human, how humane was it to keep her alive through the means which Daniel’s father used? The methodology used in the experiments questions the humanity of Daniel’s mother, and more importantly, the humanity of Daniel’s father.

Administrative Notes:  Ivan Garcia, CSUF; Dr. David Sandner, CSUF (editing)