Jeff VanderMeer’s world in Borne is vast and complex, yet its theme is almost exceedingly simple: don’t be an idiot of a parent. This seems to be a deep-rooted theme in science fiction; and, if you really think, shouldn’t be a surprise. The very first science-fiction novel was about the world’s worst parent: Victor Frankenstein. That being said, VanderMeer’s ways of telling his version of this theme is much different than Mary Shelley’s.
First, we’re in a post-apocalyptic setting where parenting is practically impossible. In a flying-bear-eat-human world, there is no time for child rearing. Rachel, our main character, frequently flashes back to her own parents and how life was before, during, and after the apocalypse. She laments she never got to hear their true thoughts and that they put up a front to shield her from the realities of the world affecting her. Rachel eventually finds and “raises” an amorphous creature named Borne, who is a pretty big handful. While definitely not the best parent, Rachel tries and expresses regret when she gets things wrong. We’re also introduced to the Magician’s ruthless and mean children; appropriate to the nature of the city they reside in. They physically beat Rachel to an inch of her life, for Pete's sake. (An obvious example of what not to do with kids.) Then, by the end of the novel after Borne is gone, Rachel adopts more children to take care of - showing that there was a lesson learned.
Since I brought up Frankenstein, I feel that it’s necessary to bring up the similarities of the two stories. Both have human-grown monsters who have gained full sentience. For Frankenstein, it was obviously the monster; and for Borne, it was, well, Borne (and Wick, but he’s not relevant unless he counts as an unsupportive father). Both novels touched on the “how-to”s and “how-not-to”s of raising your horrid, monster child. Both were very vague on how exactly these monster children were made.
So, there are the similarities. What are the differences? Rachael, for one, isn’t the one who made Borne and is therefore never put in the position of God, like Frankenstein was. In fact, she never fully understands Borne or what happens to him. She’s extremely accepting of him, no matter the circumstance. Truly what an adoptive parent should do. Even after finding out about his certain… murderous tendencies, she tries to accommodate and figure out a way around the behavior. Borne, unlike the monster in Frankenstein, doesn’t have a choice in his killing and he never does so for revenge. Rachel also only abandons him after finding that he’s been doing things behind both her and Wick’s back, clearly a consequence of his own actions. Frankenstein, on the other hand, throws any thought of nurture to the wind as soon as his monster is alive.
The biggest difference between Borne and Frankenstein is this: one focuses on the development of an individual as a parent and the resulting trial and error while trying to balance survival. The other is about abandoning your creation and having said creation make your life a living hell because of it. Both are extraordinary examples of a ‘parenting is hard’ theme, and I’m happy there’s at least one parent who’s trying in the sci-fi horror genre.
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