Dangers Of Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Will Durant, an American writer from 1935 to 1975, once said, “Knowledge is the eye of desire and can become the pilot of the soul”. This becomes the sad truth for many characters in Frankenstein, as the pursuit of knowledge takes over their lives. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, she introduces Victor Frankenstein, a self-declared cursed man who in pursuit of knowledge and fame, created a human superior to all others using dead body parts. Victor relays his tale to Robert Walton, a man with a similar pursuit, after his creation kills Victor’s family. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley conveys the dangers of knowledge through similarities between several character’s experiences, proving that although knowledge is a powerful tool, it has the ability …show more content…

Victor’s obsession leads him down a dangerous path that caused his life to be ruined and shows the dangers knowledge can possess over one’s life. Victor became passionate in the building of the Creation, and lost himself in the process. When describing his experience to Robert Walton he states, “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation” (Shelley 43). Victor had become narrow-minded and solely focused on the making of the creation. The danger of knowledge is the potential to lose oneself in this example. Later in the novel, Victor advises Robert Walton against following down a similar path that he had went down, referencing the destruction that knowledge had caused in his life. Victor advises, “I will not lead you on, unguarded and ardent as I then was, to your destruction and infallible misery. Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, 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). Victor wishes to aid Walton in seeing the light, after Victor had lost everything, as in the aftermath of his creation, …show more content…

This saves Walton’s life and the life of his crew from the dangers the pursuit of knowledge put him in. Walton had become blinded from his hopes and dreams of achieving fame from this pursuit of knowledge, causing him to endanger the lives of many. But after hearing both Victor and the Creation’s tale, Walton saves himself from the dangers knowledge can cause in one’s life. Robert Walton had become obsessed with his mission to the Arctic, and risks the life of his crew from his narrow-sighted behavior. Walton states in a letter to his sister Margaret, “We were immured in ice and should probably never escape; but they feared that if, as was possible, the ice should dissipate, and a free passage be opened, I should be rash enough to continue my voyage and lead them into fresh dangers after they might happily have surmounted this. They insisted, therefore, that I should engage with a solemn promise that if the vessel should be freed I would instantly direct my course southward” (Shelley 204). Walton’s crew, clear-minded of the fog that knowledge had caused in Walton’s mind, saw the dangers Walton’s actions were causing. Due to Walton’s pursuit of knowledge, his crew and his own life are in danger of death, showcasing one of the dangers of knowledge. Although Walton suffers from the same tunnel-vision regarding his pursuit of

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