Knowledge In Frankenstein

    Sometimes, in novels like Frankenstein, the motives of the author are unclear.  It is clear however, that one of the many themes Mary Shelley presents is the humanity of Victor Frankenstein's creation.  Although she presents evidence in both support and opposition to the creation's humanity, it is apparent that this being is indeed human.  His humanity is not only witnessed in his physical being, but in his intellectual and emotional thoughts as well.  His humanity is argued by the fact that being human does not mean coming from a specific genetic chain and having family to relate to, but to embrace many of the distinct traits that set humans apart from other animals in this

Frankenstein puts the monster into a situation that causes him to be one of a kind. The monster had no one to whom he could relate. Victor thrusts the burden of existence upon the monster by creating him, leaving no route for escape from the situation. Frankenstein causes the monster to live a life in solitude, and the monster realizes the contempt others have for him. The monster feels as if he is no different, and believes he “deserved better treatment”(Shelley 114). Through his observations, the fiend ponders whether his existence is truly that of humanity or rather of “a monster, a blot upon the earth from which all men fled and whom all men disowned”(Shelley 119). By creating him, Victor forces these hardships upon the monster.

The idea of pursuing knowledge clouded Victor’s mind and when his creature is born he is shocked to discover that what he has created is far off his own expectations. Not only did the monster destroy his expectations of developing a creature that went beyond human knowledge, but it also affected his life, dignity, and fears. Victor himself admits to his own mistake when he says, “The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature...but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless honor and disgust filled my heart ” (36). Victor Frankenstein realizes what his obsession with pursuing an extensive amount of knowledge has brought him. His destiny to achieve the impossible with no regard for anyone or anything but himself shows that he is blinded by knowledge when creating the monster and is incapable to foresee the outcome of his creation. Victor’s goal was meant to improve and help humanity, but instead it leads to

The idea that the pursuit of knowledge brings about consequences is one that appears in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. With this particular piece, the concept that knowledge brings about negative repercussions is a primary theme. However, it is the inability to obtain absolute awareness of a situation that leads to a person’s disgruntlement. In regard to the text, Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s initial obsession with creating life soon turns to remorse as the creature he creates becomes the root of all pain and upheaval in his life.

Frankenstein is a book written by Mary Shelley in 1818, that is revolved around a under privileged scientist named Victor Frankenstein who manages to create a unnatural human-like being. The story was written when Shelley was in her late teen age years, and was published when she was just twenty years old. Frankenstein is filled with several different elements of the Gothic and Romantic Movement of British literature, and is considered to be one of the earliest forms of science fiction. Frankenstein is a very complicated and complex story that challenges different ethics and morals on the apparent theme of dangerous knowledge. With the mysterious experiment that Dr. Victor Frankenstein conducted, Shelly causes her reader to ultimately ask

“Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (Shelley 60). In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, she expresses her beliefs regarding the danger of pursuing happiness through the attainment of knowledge, because true happiness is found in the emotional connections established between people. The pursuit of knowledge is not necessarily an evil thing, but it can cause destruction when it is pursued beyond natural limits. Victor Frankenstein becomes a slave to his passion for learning in more than one way; first his life is controlled by

“Learn from me…how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (Shelley, 39).

Like most horror stories, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has a wretched monster who terrorizes and kills his victims with ease. However, the story is not as simple as it seems. One increasingly popular view of the true nature of the creature is one of understanding. This sympathetic view is often strengthened by looking at the upbringing of the creature in the harsh world in which he matures much as a child would. With no friends or even a true father, the creature can be said to be a product of society and its negative views and constant rejections of him. Although this popular view serves to lessen the severity of his crimes in most people’s eyes, the fact remains that the creature is in fact a cold-hearted wretch whose vindictive nature

In the novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein shows the cruel karma that joins in the achievement of attaining knowledge. With countless examples to support this statement, the opinion of this reader holds strong with the opinion of Mary Shelly, that the power of knowledge, though incredibly tempting to grasp hold of tightly, can be a dangerous achievement that can lead to more destruction than it can recover.

Though childhood had already been invented by the time Frankenstein appeared, the monster lacked one, his “upbringing” (Reese 49). He has never been properly taught how to survive around humans or how to distinguish between right and wrong. He was curious about human life such as communication, feelings, behavior, and respect for each other. He strived for more he decided to learn how to speak, read and express feelings by observing and watching families. To achieve his goal of communication with humans, he needs to learn the basic knowledge of the language. As the creature admired human’s graceful minds and beautiful physical figures and was shocked by his ugliness when he caught sight of his reflection in a pool of water. After realizing he was horribly different from human beings. Painfully the monster cried and spoke of sadness for his investigation of knowledge. He said, “I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me; I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge.”(Shelly 87). This knowledge took away the creatures hope for happiness and filled his heart with bitterness. He decided to take revenge on his creator because he was angry and blamed his creator for having brought him to life as a monster. The creature thought he would be happy when other’s lives were ruined; knowledge would bring him happiness and community acceptance. Admittedly, he was the victim of his wrong doing: “You, who call Frankenstein your friend, seem to have knowledge of my crimes and his misfortunes.” (Shelly, Walton, In Continuation,

Knowledge is knowing that Frankenstein is not the monster, but wisdom is knowing that he in fact becomes the monster. Inside all of us there is darkness, light, and the potential to become what we all fear: a monster. It is the choice to not give in to our inner demons that keeps us human. The biggest demon that some hold is the desire to make a human, but not through reproduction, thus taking the power of life and death out of the universe’s hands. Worse than that though, is taking life and death out of the universe and then abandoning your creation, much like abandoning a child.

It is a common belief in today’s society that more knowledge is positive. However, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley shows that expanded knowledge is very dangerous and can often lead to depression and other mental illnesses. In addition, more than 30 different studies have been conducted that link higher intelligence to mental disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and others. Although there are benefits to the acquisition of more knowledge, it is not as positive as many understand it to be. Many people believe that more knowledge is a good thing and that it can lead to happiness and fulfillment.

In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the effects of dangerous knowledge are shown through the main characters. New boundaries of knowledge are crossed and people suffer the consequences. Characters in the novel learn how easily knowledge can become corrupted. Shelley explains knowledge is a life source as well as a dangerous weapon used by and against Frankenstein and his creature. This expresses the theme and warns against the consequences of dangerous knowledge.

Throughout the novel, Victor’s craving for knowledge made him suffer a lot. It started out as a burning desire to learn. Victor is a young Swiss boy grew up in Geneva reading the works of ancient and outdated alchemists, where he learns about modern science and masters all things that the professor has to teach him when he was in University. Victor is too genius to finish learning all things, therefore after he left the University he continued to seek for higher knowledge, this is when he started to get interested with the “secret life”. To understand the knowledge of “secret life”, he spent hours and hours reading and studying. Then when he decided to create the creature, his goal changed. He is so passionate that would work on the monster

“The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends” (Nietzsche). In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley knowledge is seen as a dangerous concept because of Victor's creation, the man of knowledge neither loves nor hates, but in this case, hate is seen all throughout towards the creature. In the novel, we see how the creature’s surroundings affect him and make him have so much anger towards the people who showed him rejection and hatred because of his appearance. The creature is abandoned by his creator Victor Frankenstein in an unknown world where he needs to face challenges that his environment has impacted in a psychological