Title: The Frankenstein Union Revolts
Author: Don C. Seitz
Date of First Publication: 1926
Place of Publication: The Outlook
Type: Short Story
Characters: No Character
Themes: RACE/POLITICS; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER
Critical Summary: This is a short story told from the perspective of both new and used cars at an auto dealership. The used cars share terrifying stories of their experiences being driven by their reckless owners. The vehicles on the lot describe how they were created as slaves to their human masters. One car in particular relates the story of his birth, describing how it was torture to have his creator not care enough to put all of his parts in the proper place. These horror stories inform the new cars on the lot by making them wary of being purchased.
The story contains the themes of the Sympathetic Monster, The Posthuman and Race/Politics. The human-made cars become the embodiment of The Posthuman or in this case an automobile that makes the reader question exactly what it means to be human, or what objects portray human qualities. In relation to Frankenstein’s monster, the used cars have suffered for someone else’s creative recklessness.
The theme of the Sympathetic Monster is portrayed in how Frankenstein’s monster and the cars have no control over their circumstances. Both yet experience scorn, hatred, exclusion, loneliness, and misunderstanding. These are all things that the reader can relate to. The creature and the cars on the lot are the modern monsters that can be identified and sympathized with, while at the same time feared.
The story also deals with the theme of Race/Politics. The cars speak of the union that the men in the shop are in, and they propose to start or join their own union for protection. Their idea quickly spreads and as a result the International Frankenstein Union is brought to life. As a result, car owners, drivers, manufacturers, and the public were afraid that the automobiles were some kind of “Frankensteinian” monster and would rise up to ultimately destroy humankind.
Administrative Notes: Samantha Henshaw, CSUF; Adam Shelley, CSUF (editing)