Frankenstein's Pursuit Of Knowledge

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In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s message on the pursuit of knowledge, is that there should always be limits. This message is shown through Victor Frankenstein’s obsession over pursuit of knowledge, which leads him to make the creation. When the creation is shunned by Victor and society, due to his ugly nature and his 8 foot tall complexion The creation kills everyone Victor loves, to show Vitor what it is like to be lonely. This conveys a message that the pursuit of knowledge and how much knowledge humans can gather, should have limits, otherwise man can destroy himself through attaining it. Mary Shelley uses Gothic literature to further explain her message, it is used to connect with the reader through nature and other elements. One …show more content…
This trait is used mostly from the creations perspective in story, due to his violent killings of Victor’s loved ones. It shows how if someone is spurned from society and outcast by their creator, with no knowledge of human nature, they will resort to violence for answers. Victor realizes this when he receives a letter from his father, telling him how “[William] is murdered” (58). Due to the monster not having anyone to talk to, or any purpose in life, he becomes frustrated and confused. Then when William talks of his horrid face and is related to his creator (the reason for his misery) and the creation knows nothing but to strangle the boy. Showing that in his current state he only know violence as a solution to his problems. Violence is also shown to convey the character's moods and foreshadowing in the novel. When Victor was a child he was self taught and discovered that he doesn’t like science, this was learned when he realized how destructive it could be. This happened when he “witnessed a most violent thunderstorm” (26), that destroyed an oak tree in his front yard. Victor is able to witness the destruction of science especially science he can’t understand, but as Victor moves on in his life he is introduced to philosophy. Once in depth with philosophy he then returns to science, and forgets about the traumatic experience, but the reader does not. This is Mary Shelley telling the reader of nature's destruction, and then later showing the reader, what happens when man tries to harness that destruction. Violence is used to scare the reader and show them the possibilities of man, furthering her message on how, man should have limits to the knowledge and power they can
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