The Acquisition Of Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Ignorance is Bliss Those who are more knowledgeable than others are often regarded as more sophisticated and intelligent than their peers in modern society. Although the acquisition of knowledge and the modernization of technology may bring about advancements in today’s civilization, these same concepts eventually cause humans to become dominated by these crutches that they rely so heavily on. Through reading Frankenstein, I noticed that the prevalent theme is that the abundance of knowledge can lead to dangerous consequences and drive one to their eventual fate. First, Victor Frankenstein enrolls in a university, aiming to further his education in the sciences. In this university, Victor deepens his knowledge in alchemy, a subject based on chemistry, in order to go beyond normal human limits and find the trick to the reversal of death. With his newfound knowledge in hand, Victor embarks on a path to self-destruction. He is soon able to
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On his way to find his creator, the monster tries to save a girl from drowning, is shot, and vows eternal hatred and vengeance on mankind. It is at this point when the monster realizes that he is an outcast and kills William in an attempt to show that even he can create desolation and to catch the attention of Victor, his creator. The monster’s knowledge of who he is and how he has been created negatively affects the way in which he lives his life:
Sorrow only increased with knowledge. Oh, that I had forever remained in my native wood, nor known nor felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat! Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind when it has once seized on it like a lichen on the rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling, but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death (Shelley
On his way to find his creator, the monster tries to save a girl from drowning, is shot, and vows eternal hatred and vengeance on mankind. It is at this point when the monster realizes that he is an outcast and kills William in an attempt to show that even he can create desolation and to catch the attention of Victor, his creator. The monster’s knowledge of who he is and how he has been created negatively affects the way in which he lives his life:
Sorrow only increased with knowledge. Oh, that I had forever remained in my native wood, nor known nor felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat! Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind when it has once seized on it like a lichen on the rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling, but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death (Shelley