Frankenstein Incomplete Knowledge

Easily one of the most notable themes in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the role of nature versus nurture in developing children, recurs throughout the novel with the two main characters, Frankenstein and his creature, believing in opposite sides of this theme. Favoring nature, Frankenstein maintains that the creature was always evil from the moment of creation, regardless of the creature’s experiences. However, the creature, in his narrative to Frankenstein, argues that “[he] was benevolent and good; misery made [him] a fiend” (106). In adherence with John Locke’s concept of tabula rasa, the creature was born with a blank slate, and only through his experiences does he gain knowledge and personality. Struggling to persevere in the human world, Frankenstein’s creature merely wants humans to welcome him as one of them. The change of the creature from looking “upon crime as a distant evil” because “benevolence and generosity were ever present” in him to seeking revenge on Frankenstein results from a culmination of horrible experiences (103). While it may be hard to see the creature as a trustworthy narrator because of how he has acted and his ulterior motives, he does present physical evidence to support his tale. Facing rejection in different forms, he becomes truly evil, giving up hope of companionship as a result of his trials and lessons. From the moment of his creation, the creature encounters abandonment, violence, isolation, and rejection everywhere he turns.

Philosophers and scientists alike have debated for centuries whether a person’s character is the result of nature or nurture. In the writings of Thomas Hobbes, it is expressed that humans are endowed with character from birth, and that they are innately evil in nature. John Locke’s response to this theory is that everyone is born with a tabula rasa, or blank slate, and then develops character after a series of formative experiences. The idea that true character is the result of experiences and societal interaction is a theme deeply explored throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Through different interactions with the monster, Shelley attempts to express that it is because of Victor’s failings as a parent and creator, because of the

Ever since man stepped foot on Earth, the search for knowledge has been neverending. Within the past few centuries, man reached new heights never before dreamed of when it came to information and inventions. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein embodies this quest for intellect. Victor Frankenstein, the main character, sets off on a journey to acquire as much education as possible, but by doing so ends up creating a shockwave of various effects. Thus, Frankenstein displays how the obsessive pursuit of and acquirement of knowledge leads to extraordinary accomplishments, such as new technology and inventions. However, at the same time, this impulse spurs nefarious actions and consequences.

Frankenstein’s monster of knowledge It’s a common saying that most people wish they “didn’t know so much”, but why exactly do people wish they didn’t know so much? It’s rarely about actual intellectual facts, but more about situations that leave room for personal interpretation. This exact situation is seen throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Knowledge is used in many ways in this novel, without the reader realizing it, unless they are thinking about it at the moment. In this novel, there are many instances where a character would have a different outlook if they were presented the information in a different way, which is common for normal society today.

Mary Shelley’s story of internal turmoil, the cruelty of altering the laws of nature, and the consequences of redefining the laws of nature is a harrowing one, known widely by many audiences, yet it is never the nature of the characters that is discussed, only the outcome. Shelley’s deliberate use of different character foils portrays the deeper connections and themes in her 1818 novel, Frankenstein. The creation and presence of Frankenstein’s monster directly foils the character of Victor Frankenstein himself, illustrating overarching themes of self inflicted isolation and internal conflict, exposing the dangers and consequences of complete and total narcissism, and revealing a truth many still refuse to accept: we, as humans, are capable

In Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein”, Victor Frankenstein’s monster is an unrealistic character. The monster is involved with the realistic elements of desire of control, alienation, and thoughtless ambition. It is revealed the overall theme of the novel, that the pursuit of knowledge, is dangerous.

“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).

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

Savage and Pitiful Can a murder be pitiful while being hatred by other people? The tragic in Frankenstein made a monster isolated from the world. The monster who lost all his hopes and means to live, whom later decides to revenge against his creator; whom shall never will be happy as before will start his journey to chase this unambiguous monster, and they shall never be seen again. The shifts in the story changed the reality of the monster, as the confused, lonely, and savage monster becomes educated through works like “Paradise Lost”, but his kind of education is different from others, education is the most cause of the tragic in the story. Another important shift of the story that turned the Monster to such a heartless being is the creator himself, the happiness of Victor Frankenstein is what the monster hated and wanted, he wants so much of it, so he ends up destroy everything he hates.

An examination of Shelley’s views of the dangers of knowledge contained in her novel Frankenstein

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.

When we all write, we are somehow influenced by the events in our own life. Whether it be experiences we have encountered, events, people, or desires; all are entangled with the pleasurable and not so pleasurable. Some believe Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, was written to show the painful life she endured. She presents a novel about Victor Frankenstein, a man who creates a living creature only to be horrified by him. Shelley’s personal fears become evident in Frankenstein as the events and characters throughout the novel are also found in her own life. The life of Mary Shelley had a significant influence on her writing of Frankenstein, one of the most famous stories of all time.

When knowledge gained begins to detriment a person’s character, they will change negatively and reshape their relationship with the people around them, and how one views others. The most recurring motif in the novel, Frankenstein, depicts the pursuit of knowledge and its consequences throughout the story and how it affects the way one perceives the world around them. Yet, some may believe that gaining knowledge, no matter what form, will not lead to any consequent behaviors; however, this is wrong. The repercussions of acquiring knowledge are prevalent in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, especially depicted in the monster and Victor Frankenstein.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has become a classic in modern literature. Her tale is full of moral lessons that encompass a wide variety of subjects but one of the most prevalent is the theme of knowledge and its pursuit. Frankenstein, Walton, and the Monster all have an appetite for acquiring knowledge and actively pursue their perspective interests, but it soon turns to the obsessive and proves to be dangerous. Each of the character’s desires demonstrates to be detrimental to them when no boundaries are established. Through the use of consequences, Shelley’s Frankenstein shows that the relentless and obsessive pursuit of knowledge can lead to dangerous and disastrous situations.

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.