In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,
a theme of the dangers that come with knowledge persists throughout the novel.
Early on, Victor Frankenstein warns Captain
Walton of these dangers when he appears near death in the thick ice surrounding Walton’s ship. His weak and destroyed appearance spoke volumes of the destruction his knowledge had done to his body alone. In Volume II, Victor’s creation, referred to as the “creature” from this point on, tells Victor his story of “life” in the body of a lifeless corpse. He spends what amounts to a year in a hovel, watching and learning from a family in a cottage. As he learns, he grows somewhat disgusted with his personal appearance and lack of upbringing and caretakers. As he learned, he reflected: “I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge…of what strange nature is knowledge! I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling” (83). The creature admits that he has learned enough to now feel deeper emotions. He watched this family interact and love and help each other, and he became saddened at the idea of abandonment. Whatever created him did not love or care for him in the way this family he has come to know so well has. As a result, he begins to experience sorrow and feelings of loneliness that lead him to have darker emotions towards society. His knowledge of his appearance also disturbs him. He learns to talk and read for the simple fact that he wanted people to accept him and look beyond his monstrous build. Once his cottage companions see his looks, they are horrified and run him out of the house without giving him a chance to speak. With his knowledge of his frightening appearance, he becomes angry at society, and acts upon his emotions. The creature’s increase in knowledge resulted in dark emotions and feelings of isolation that he most likely did not want to encounter when widening his learning.
Walton of these dangers when he appears near death in the thick ice surrounding Walton’s ship. His weak and destroyed appearance spoke volumes of the destruction his knowledge had done to his body alone. In Volume II, Victor’s creation, referred to as the “creature” from this point on, tells Victor his story of “life” in the body of a lifeless corpse. He spends what amounts to a year in a hovel, watching and learning from a family in a cottage. As he learns, he grows somewhat disgusted with his personal appearance and lack of upbringing and caretakers. As he learned, he reflected: “I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge…of what strange nature is knowledge! I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling” (83). The creature admits that he has learned enough to now feel deeper emotions. He watched this family interact and love and help each other, and he became saddened at the idea of abandonment. Whatever created him did not love or care for him in the way this family he has come to know so well has. As a result, he begins to experience sorrow and feelings of loneliness that lead him to have darker emotions towards society. His knowledge of his appearance also disturbs him. He learns to talk and read for the simple fact that he wanted people to accept him and look beyond his monstrous build. Once his cottage companions see his looks, they are horrified and run him out of the house without giving him a chance to speak. With his knowledge of his frightening appearance, he becomes angry at society, and acts upon his emotions. The creature’s increase in knowledge resulted in dark emotions and feelings of isolation that he most likely did not want to encounter when widening his learning.
I like your theme of knowledge! It is true that Frankenstein's creation does gain knowledge and that this knowledge leads to his various actions. I think you could develop this more and pull some more quotes out to support this way of thought so that it is not so much of a summary as a development of knowledge throughout the creature's life.
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