Destructive knowledge is
a reoccurring theme in Mary Shelley’s 1818 text, Frankenstein. There are instances
where a character gains knowledge in some way, and that knowledge ends up having
irreparable repercussions. The main character, Victor Frankenstein, creates and
brings to life a monster out of dead body parts. Frankenstein is disgusted by
the monster, causing the monster to run away, eventually killing most of Victor’s
family and friends. Even as a young man he had a lust for learning, especially
when it came to science. One day, Victor stumbles upon a book about natural
philosophy by Cornelius Agrippa. Victor was excited about his discovery and
eager to read it, but when he tells his father what he had found, his father
dismisses it as “sad trash”. Victor decides to read it anyway, and by doing so,
it opens up his mind to the science, giving him a preference for it. Years
later, Victor verbalizes his regret of this decision while telling his life
story to Robert Walton, the Captain of the ship that saves his life. Victor
wishes he would have focused on a different theory of science all together because
of what that science had eventually inspired him to; which was constructing a
corpse from dead body parts and then bringing it to life. Victor says, “It is
even possible, that the train of my ideas would never have received the fatal
impulse that led to my ruin” (Shelley, 1818). Victor is conveying that if he never
would have gained the knowledge from that book, he probably wouldn’t have
created the monster that murdered his family and friends.
Although it never fully
explains how the monster is actually brought to life, you can infer it was by a
lightning strike or electrocution. Victor recounts the time when his house was
directly underneath a powerful lightning storm that ended up disintegrating an
entire oak tree right in front of his eyes. He says, “The catastrophe of this
tree excited my extreme astonishment; and I eagerly inquired of my father the
nature and origin of thunder and lightning” (Ibid). Victor’s father goes on to
explain the power of lightning through a series of experiments using a kite
made with a wire and a string. I believe Frankenstein held on to this knowledge
for years and used it to bring his monster to life. I infer this because Frankenstein
even mentions that there was a great storm the night his creation first awoke.
Thus, this knowledge of lightning was detrimental to Frankenstein because it brought
his creation to life that ended up murdering his friends and family. All in
all, certain things that Victor Frankenstein learns throughout his life end up
hurting him and the people around him than actually helping anyone or anything.
Works Cited
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein.
Minneapolis: Stone Arch, 2008. Print.
This is a very good analysis of the horrible events that happen in the story. Although his knowledge of certain subjects leads to fatal mistakes, it is also important to understand that knowledge alone does not negatively affect people but how that person decides to use that knowledge. Frankenstein could have used his knowledge to invent new medicines or technologies.
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein was affected by his rearing. His awkward teen years may have left him mentally unstable or rather hubristic. Frankenstein at one point talked about his thoughts and feelings concerning his youth; “I, who had ever been surrounded by amiable companions, continually engaged in endeavoring to bestow mutual pleasure, I was now alone. In the university, whither I was going, I must form my own friends, and be my own protector. My life had hitherto been remarkably secluded and domestic; and this had given me invincible repugnance to new countenances. . . I believed myself totally unfitted for the company of strangers. . . I ardently desired the acquisition of knowledge” (Shelly 41). Frankenstein thinks about his feelings and his reasoning towards being solitary, while wanting an education with other individuals. The only thing that seems to make Frankenstein calm is the act of learning.
He seems to use learning and knowledge as a method of getting what he desires: human connection and the reason why he contemplates creating a 'person' in the first place?
*Book: quote was taken from:
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Vanessa & Ivan
Franklin's experiments are a good example of the dual nature of science and knowledge, in that it can kill as well as be harnessed for good uses.
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