Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Dreams Vs. Reality

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Recommended: Frankenstein thematic essay

Dimitri Dimakos
Professor Shanahan
LSP 112
1/30/17

Analysis of Frankenstein: Dreams vs. Reality

In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, written in 1818, the theme that a desire and dream to acquire something can take control of you and possible ruin one’s life. Shelly shows this theme through the characters Victor Frankenstein, who made it clear that his desire to obtain more knowledge than any man before him lead to his demise. This eagerness to learn was mentioned initially at the start of the story. Victor grows up in Geneva and is “deeply smitten with the thirst for knowledge” (20). Frankenstein's obsession with learning the “unknown” leads him to study philosophy at a University, and then the story begins from that point. One quote, …show more content…

When Victor finally completed the monster, he first instinct was to leave it. Alone, the monster when out and tried to figure the world out. When it does venture out, everybody that he comes across is afraid of his ugly appearance. In addition, due to the fact that at this point the monster knew nothing of the world he lived in, he acted more like a wild animal than a human. However, the monster was not all that stupid. Eventually, he encounters the De Lacey family - a peasant father with two kids, and they actually treat him kindly. He also sympathises with the monster, and I feel like he could relate with it because he too might have felt insecure about his appearance. The monster becomes intrigued by the family’s use of language, and spies on the family through a hole looking into the house for awhile. The monster described the family as superior beings, and said “I looked upon them as superior beings, who would be the arbiters of my future destiny.” (122)
Judging by the monsters determination to obtain this knowledge, I feel his overall goal with this was to be liked by people. Since he saw his own creator’s disapproval of him, maybe all he was looking for was to be loved. I feel this way because in chapter seven the monster claims “benevolence and generosity were ever present before me” (139), meaning that he might be seeking those

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