Lack Of Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, she uses the being to explain the positives and the negatives of knowledge. Victor Frankenstein is a very bright man with a strong future ahead of him. Ever since he was a child, he aspired to make great discoveries like the ones he had read about of Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus. Victor “read and studied the wild fancies of these writers with delight (21)” because of the immense knowledge they taught him. He simply loved to learn. However, all his hopes and dreams come toppling down when he creates his monster. Although he is brought great joy during the two years of its construction, he is disgusted with the knowledge of what he has created as soon as the being finally opens its eyes. Immediately following the creation becoming animated, Frankenstein abandons it. It takes the creation a while to figure out what it is, and the story of its making but with the help of a small family, a hovel, and Victor’s journal, it begins to …show more content…

They seem to have a certain bond that both had been searching for but neither had been able to find. For both of these reasons, Victor decides to impart some advice as well as his life story. Victor tells Walton, “You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be the serpent to sting you, as mine has been (pg. 13).” The longer Walton listens to Frankenstein’s story, the more he understands the advice imparted upon him. Victor had a great future ahead of him that was ruined by his ambition to, in a sense, become a God. He advises Walton to not let his ambition for knowledge and greatness guide him to do something that he will regret for the rest of his life. Victor thought that through his knowledge of creation, he was helping the world but he only ended up bringing chaos and destruction into his life and the lives of his loved

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