Creating monstrosities

The ambition to act as creators seems to be built into the human condition. Indeed, this creative urge may well be part of what it means to be in the “image of God.” And yet creation has always been problematic, even for Yahweh who in Genesis 6 laments for the mess his creatures have made of the “good” creation. As for Yahweh, so too for human endeavors in the Hebrew Bible and beyond, as attempts to create, or make, lead to problematic outcomes. This chapter cycles through three biblical texts (Gen 4; Job 3; Ps 8) and engages the work of two novels: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and the more recent Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, which reflect on human ambition as creators. Together they create the ambiguity in the construction of the title here, bringing into question who is truly monstrous.