Knowledge, The Sculptor Of Character : Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein

Listening to the monster’s story for the first time, it becomes evident to both the reader and Frankenstein that the monster initially lacked knowledge and experience with the world, however it adapted through trial-and-error and adjusting its actions based on newfound knowledge. This is especially proven when the monster was incapable of even being able to discern between its senses; it took him “a long time before [he] learned to distinguish between the operations of [his] various senses” (Shelley 70). Shelley shows that, despite having a fresh slate, the monster had a developed body and brain. After being abandoned by Victor, the monster had to get accustomed to bright and dark, cold and heat, and hunger. Just as a child would, the monster learned about the world from making mistakes. For example, when he “found a fire which had been left by some wandering beggars, and was overcome with delight at the warmth [he] experienced from it,” and “thrust [his] hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain” (Shelley 71). Probably the biggest parallel between the monster and a child would be with learning how to communicate. While learning about the world, the monster found that humans fear it, and run away from it. As a result, the monster stayed away from humans and found refuge near a cottage. The monster tries to learn the language by listening to the group of cottagers converse. He “found that … people possessed a method of

Throughout the novel, “Frankenstein,” the “monster” was seen as hideous. As a result, many including the creator himself did not give the “monster” a chance and portrayed him as evil. Rather than looking at his personality, they looked at his outward appearance, which scared them off and made them assume he was a “monster.” When readers, including myself, read this story, we feel disappointed about how during this time everything revolved based upon looks and not on what really mattered like charisma. Overall he is portrayed as an evil, scary creature. When Victor describes him he is so harsh and cruel it makes him seem to be a monster. “He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks,” (Shelley 59) this phrase proves how when Victor describes the monster he did not care to think about what the monster was trying to say because he was too scared of his horrible looks.

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

Knowledge is a useful tool man uses to enhance life and grow as a species. What Victor doesn’t realise is there are some things man is not supposed to figure out. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor’s thirst for knowledge brought with it a path of suffering and devastation.

The Danger of Forbidden Knowledge Scientific development is important in any society but, can get chaotic when knowledge is given to an unsuitable person. Having an excessive amount of the “wrong” type of knowledge leads to damaging mistakes. Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein examines what limits should be placed on scientific discovery. The two primary characters, Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein are important factors in examining this topic. In the novel Frankenstein, scientific endeavor and development are challenged through creation, education, and exploration as it leads to forbidden knowledge in both Walton and Frankenstein’s lives.

Moral knowledge, a tricky subject to grapple with because morals are subjective to everyone. We can’t say whether one is right or wrong, as the truth behind that knowledge is not determined. Since we can’t surely know what we say is right or wrong, is it ok to experiment with ideas that might not be determined to be right at that time? History has proven that the concepts of right and wrong are able to change over time. David Hume has much to say about the development of moral knowledge as he creates his argument in the midst of all his other beliefs. This idea of moral knowledge also plays out in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. An unfortunate story of an ambitious man’s dream to create life, little did he know he would fear his own creature. The creature’s short lived life showed us the nature of moral knowledge in Hume’s model and shows us how it turned a pure existence into a monster. I argue that Mary Shelley expresses the necessity of experimentation in the development of moral knowledge in Frankenstein, as the creature’s unfortunate transformation to a monster developed through a series of human encounters such as the creature 's encounter with the De Lacy family. Ultimately the creature’s development critics Hume’s stagnant view of moral knowledge simply being a product one’s feeling of external approval or disapproval, which leads one to be prejudice. Hume builds his thoughts on the accusation of moral knowledge in his text A Treatise of Human Nature. He bases his

It was dark and without motion, then a sound. It was a boy, saying my name. “Maria, are you awake?” the boy said. I woke up, there, sitting next to me, was a boy who looked eerily similar to me. Same brown hair, green eyes, pale skin, we were even wearing the same outfit! “Who are you?” I asked. “Maria, are you kidding me, it’s Edward!” To which I gave a confused face, ‘I don't know any Edwards.” I said. “I’m your twin brother Maria! Man, you must have hit your head hard.” He said. “Ok, I guess that makes sense.” I replied. We sat there waiting for a few minutes in a dark, lifeless forest. Until, from behind some bushes, appeared a large and beautiful woman. She had blue skin and hair as well as a long flowing dress and a trident in each hand. When she saw us, she imediantly strapped both tridents to her back. I jumped up and hid behind Edward, because the creature was definently not human. The giant woman came up to me and asked me how I was doing. “What are you?” I asked. “Oh! I’m a spirit, your spirit. But, you call me Naide.” The giant woman said. “Do you not remember me?” she asked.

Alienation, knowledge, and society have influenced people's decisions for many years. Victor is motivated by his great deal of knowledge to bring life to the dead, but who knew so much knowledge could be a bad thing. The monster goes through many negative situations which later results in many terrible deeds. Not only did it lead to many terrible deeds it lead to many deaths. Mary Shelley tries to explain that life and death are not to be tinkered with in Frankenstein. Victor and the monster are influenced by alienation, knowledge, and society which leads to the downfall of Victor and the monster.

Frankenstein was one of Mary Shelley’s most popular novels; this novel is modeled after the many struggles Mary Shelly faced throughout her lifetime. Mary Shelley’s hardships included the loss of three children and a half-sister, and she was widowed at a young age.

What comes to mind when you think of a monster? Do you think of the Devil, a vampire, Hitler, or the Boogeyman? These come to mind when you think of a being that has no compassion, no empathy, and doesn’t feel remorse. Those would be the mental attributes that separate a human from a monster. The creature has more human qualities than Victor because he had immense remorse, felt the immense desolation of loneliness, and changed due to events in his early life.

In today’s world, people are surrounded with profound things and ideas that they are captivated and desire more knowledge over it. The same thing can be said about the main character in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is so captivated over science and the secrets of life that he decides to play God and create his own monster. Through Victor’s tragedy and the monster’s anguish and seeking of identity, can Shelley develop a theme of the danger of knowledge. Shelley’s novel exposes the dangers of too much knowledge and the dangers of advancing sciences. She creates a tone of foreboding to demonstrate that if mankind keeps playing God through the use of science, that they will reach the same ending as did Victor.

I think this novel is pretty realistic in some ways. Before I read the book, I thought the story would just about the monster named “Frankenstein”. However as I read through it, I started to think the author Mary Shelley had pretty good sense of looking future. Maybe during nineteenth century, this book may sound ridiculous and unrealistic. However it is not a surprise if you see a clone of a certain animal or biologically modified products. Some fruits such as cherry tomatoes did not even exist one hundred years ago. It is the result of a DNA modification. It also causes of mass production of medicines and drugs that may save thousands of people.

Frankenstein was originally published in 1818 by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. It tells the story of how Victor Frankenstein, a passionate science student, created a surrealistic monster out of human remains. Many have disputed over whether Frankenstein is, or isn’t, a Romantic or Gothic Horror story. I proposed Marry Shelley has intertwined both of these abstract genres to formulate a phenomenal work of art.

In Mary Shelley's, Frankenstein, the pursuit of knowledge plays a huge role in her novel. In the classic novel, knowledge for either good or evil has been utilized in the story. Whether it's the danger of too much knowledge, or the misuse of knowledge, the pursuit of knowledge can be located throughout the novel.

The monster swiftly learned how society operates during his encounters with the villagers who drove him out of town, along with Felix attacking him to defend his father. The situation was certainly not helped by the monster discovering how repulsive he is.