In her work "Black Frankenstein: The Making of an American Metaphor," Elizabeth Young investigates the racial connotations of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" in American society. Young contends that from the novel's publication in 1818, the monster has acted as a metaphor for race relations in the United States, and he investigates this claim. Young begins by explaining that the word "metaphor" comes from two Greek words meaning "to transfer" and "to set up a comparison." A metaphor is any statement that expresses a relationship between two things that are not exactly the same but have some connection with each other. For example, when someone says, "Frankenstein is a metaphor for human nature," they are comparing humanity to a monster. Human nature is like the monster in that it is both good and bad; therefore, humanity is like the monster in that it is neither good nor bad. Metaphors can be used to explain how people think and feel, such as "rage is the result of anger being expressed." They can also be used to describe real-life situations, such as "the battle of Athens vs. Sparta" or "the war between David and Goliath". In literature, metaphors allow authors to express complex ideas in a simple way for readers who may not fully understand these ideas. For example, Shakespeare uses comparisons such as "rose vs. violets" to explain why Romeo and Juliet should not marry.