The Power Of Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Even though it contained many themes of our everyday life, mainly it consisted of knowledge can lead to bad things. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley makes the theme evident with knowledge in the characters development. Reading the novel Frankenstein makes the word knowledge may pop into ones head throughout the text. The Webster’s dictionary defines the word knowledge as, “Understanding gained by actual experience; range of information; clear perception of truth; something learned and kept in the mind” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). In

Under Frankenstein’s interpretation of the monster, the reader can actively imagine and adopt the feelings that he has towards the monster. Imagery is used very proficiently here as this is precisely what Shelley wishes to accomplish in this section of the passage; she wants the readers to cringe at the monster’s portrayal, and that’s exactly what they do.

He ends up becoming obsessed with this and ultimately finds a way to bring back someone from the dead. With the knowledge gained from his experiment Victor realizes that he created a monster and leaves the creature on it's own. He leaves all the papers he uses to create the monster in his possession, which leads to the creature finding out how he was made and just abandoned right after his creation. This ultimately leads to the monster's hatred for Victor and his thirst for revenge on Victor. Some knowledge is good, some bad knowledge but if that knowledge falls into the hands of the wrong people the results can be disastrous.

The most outstanding example of ostracism that occurred throughout the novel is based on the monster’s physical features and structure. This is prevalent due to the fact that the moment the monster is created, Victor calls it a catastrophe and is horrified by what he has created. He explained, “The beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 51). When Victor uses words such as “dream vanished”, “breathless horror” and “disgust” he is showing his emotions for the

However, after it is abandoned and mistreated first by Victor and then by the De Lacey family, the monster turns to revenge, it became blinded, and “...feelings of revenge and hatred filled [its] bosom… [and it] bent [its] mind towards injury and death” (Shelley 99). These events caused the monster to devote its sole purpose to enacting revenge on those who wronged it.

Although the question of “who is to blame” Is up in the air, it’s quite obvious that the monster was directly to blame for the murders. But, when you think about the fact that he was merely created and not born, so he wasn’t able to differentiate right from wrong, or how to control his feelings. His anger was stemmed from his hate of his creator Victor. The wrongs that Victor did unto the creature is what caused the creature’s anger to overtake whatever bit of logical thinking and ability to reason and in a way, throw it out it out the window. So, physically speaking, the creature was to blame.

“I have devoted my creator, the select specimen of all that is worthy of love and admiration among men, to misery; I have pursued him even to that irremediable ruin.” (Shelley 275). Finally, his transformation into the monster he was instantly labeled to become was complete because society and his own maker were not willing to give him the possibility of redemption. We are all presented with labels at different periods throughout our lives, redefining, altering, or eradicating them. So, why could the creature not do this for himself and cause society to somehow accept him? Desolate and desperate for the affections of another, it led the creature to make irrational decisions from rage.

Jeffery Cohen has a clear opinion of this. “We distrust and loathe the monster at the same time we envy its freedom, and perhaps its sublime despair.” They are both terrifying and the heart of fantasies. This accounts for the monster’s popularity. The seventh thesis “The Monster Stands at the Threshold…of Becoming” brings attention to the fact that we are the creators of monsters. They make us question why we have created them; how we perceive the world, how we have misinterpreted so that we can reevaluate cultural assumptions about the different race, gender, sexuality.

“I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to hell of intense tortures such as no language can describe.” (Frankenstein 101) Frankenstein is a novel written by Mary Shelley. This quote was said by Victor Frankenstein explaining how he felt about Justine’s trial after the death of William. Once Justine’s trial ended in her death, Victor became very guilty because he knew that this all started because of his passion and ignorance that led to the creation of his dream. His guilt made him flee from his family and separate himself from society. While on his expedition he ran into his creation which made him seem more monster than human.

His hatred for Victor was so intense, it fueled a mad desire for revenge. On page 102, when the monster learns that William is a Frankenstein, he says “you belong then to my enemy,” having never actually met Victor in person. He hated his creator to such a degree that he was willing to do anything to hurt him. The monster was right, however, in hating Victor because of Victor’s terrible treatment and disposition towards the monster. The first wrong that Victor committed was making the monster unbearably ugly.