The Dangers of Knowledge Frankenstein, a novel written by Mary Shelley, is notoriously accredited for its development and implication of multiple themes. Set in the 1700’s, Frankenstein is a gothic fiction telling of isolation, knowledge, and nature. The biggest of these being knowledge and inevitably its consequences. With knowledge comes question; What poses the most danger? The knowledge itself, or the journey to gain information?
Unlike Victor Frankenstein’s birth, the creature searched for glory from a beginning of loneliness and a craving for love from the humans he wished to be. Even though he was unfamiliar with the typical childhood when he was first ‘awakened’, the monster knew he had “no money, no friends, no kind of property”, and he wished to change that (128). He wanted what everyone else got freely, and even with this unfairness, he tried desperately to earn these ‘normal’ assurances he didn’t already own—like acceptance. When the creature was furiously denied these privileges, he turned away from humanity and their prejudice and looked to his own race, demanding a similar undead wife from Frankenstein. “‘You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being.
Victor Frankenstein is selfish. The novel portrays Victor as a selfish character who is only concerned about his own well-being. Frankenstein wanted to manipulate the power of life. He abandons his creation because of the creature’s appearance and also withholds information or lies about his creation. Due to Victor 's selfishness, readers feel sorry for his creation.
In the novel Frankenstein, the author Mary Shelley shows the everlasting power of nature by limiting the knowledge man can learn about it. Throughout the book there are many times when Victor yearns for nature in order to heal him from the misery and violence in his life. This misery and violence are caused by his determination to learn more about the natural world. The monster Victor creates, due to his loneliness, defies the unwritten rules of nature and exemplifies the supernatural aspect of the novel. Victor’s mood completely shifts when he is around nature and he instantly feels calmer when near it.
The desire to discover what has not yet been discovered or to know what remains unknown often causes destruction and misery. In the Gothic novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley during the Romantic Era, the protagonist Victor Frankenstein experiences anguish after creating life. Victor shares with the reader the anxiety he suffers and the grievous events that permanently alter his perspective after creating a monster. Throughout the novel the reader develops sympathy for Victor due to his dedication to do the right thing, admirable purpose for his creation and the consequences he endures. One is compelled to show affection toward Victor because of his determination to perform noble acts despite the hardships he faces.
Leading to his innovative behavior in creating the monster. Taken in the literary sense, the monster is a tragic hero that pertains to the outcome of Victor's actions. Philosophically, suggesting that a tragic hero obtains characteristics and is faced by certain circumstances. The Monster is destined for failure but so is Frankenstein himself, a quote which The Monster pronounces himself as wretched, leads to believe that Victor’s creation is just a mirror image: But it is true that I am a wretch. I have murdered the lovely and the helpless; I have strangled the innocent as they slept and grasped to death his throat who never injured me or any other living thing.
The Monster Is A Man and Victor is God During the main story of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor is shown struggling to understand why his monster has ruined his life. Victor created the monster to be a better version of humans, to be physically perfect superhuman. However, due to his pride, Victor put more into his monster than just conciousness. When Victor gave the monster life, he became a godly figure to the monster, a creator of life. The monster learned of his creator’s humanity and became the physical embodiments of man’s sins; greed, envy, anger, lust, and pride.
The scientist Victor Frankenstein calls his creation a “wretch” and assumes that it is evil solely based on it's appearance. Shelley chose to write her novel to criticize and comment on human nature’s form of judgment. In order to accomplish her writing purpose she shares Frankenstein’s reaction to his creation's existence through imagery and foreshadowing. Shelley shared Frankenstein’s reaction to his creation
Mary Shelley's use of foreshadowing and different thematic elements, is what makes Frankenstein a true horror story.Themes such as fate and deception are prevalent throughout the novel. These themes aide in foreshadowing and allowing the reader to predict what will happen throughout the story. One prediction is that the monster that Victor has created, will attack the town and destroy everything he loves. Frankenstein will have to admit his faults and be outcast from his family and country. A major clue to the course of Frankenstein’s journey is revealed when he states that “..the first misfortune of my life occurred-an omen,as it were, of my future misery.” (18) This foreshadows the tragedies Victor will face for viewing life and death as insignificant.
Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, is enriched with a dense story line filled with motifs, idioms, and allusions that relate to reality and human life. Throughout the book, the common idea of a “monster” being created by man and is continuously emphasized in order to relate to readers on a personal level. How the “monster” thinks, feels, and acts towards society is a mirror image of how close Victor’s creation is able to show human like qualities. Perhaps the most interesting idea that Shelley introduces is how the Monster is created; by Victor Frankenstein showing parts of different humans together. Rather summarized, the monster was created by scientific methods based on the advancement of the technology.