Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelly at tender age of nineteen. The story is about Victor Frankenstein and his creation – The Monster. The setting of the story is during the Victorian / Romantic era that was in transitioning to industrial revolution. Victor Frankenstein is an ambitious young man who long to create “life”; however, he had ran away from it after he successes. The Monster, Victor Frankenstein’s creation, is large and ugly looking creature that was made of human corps; whom long for companionship of human.
Although they had different objectives in mind, either positive or negative ambitions, both are striving for a sense of power. Victor Frankensteins main ambitions were to become and uphold a godly figure by creating new life. He had grown up learning from outdated books, so this was all he knew. After attending a university in Ingolstadt and being taught new sciences he was completely blown away. Being young and naive he had a mind
Consequences. A word so strong that we often forget that everything we do in this world has them. In history, many a countless men have done things without thinking before they act and Victor Frankenstein is no different. In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor's life-changing experiment, that has the possibility to change society as a whole, ironically goes wrong and Victor must deal with the resulting consequences. The whole purpose of the creature was not only knowledgeable standpoint but also an emotional one too.
After the death of his mother., Victor becomes obsessed with putting the spark of life into a lifeless being. He shut himself off from the rest of the world and endlessly worked on his creation. Victor says of himself, “two years passed in [that] manner, during which I paid no visit to Geneva, but was engaged, heart and soul, in the pursuit of some discoveries which I hoped to make” (3:29). He also notes his physical appearance at the time and says, “My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement”(4:32). Creating this life had become his sole obsession and gave purpose to his very existence.
In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, we are introduced to Victor Frankenstein; a man obsessed with discovering the secret to creating life. While his goals appear somewhat benevolent; "wealth was an inferior object; but what glory would attend the discovery, if I could banish disease from the human frame, and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death!" (p. 42), he seeks the fame and glory that would come with
He was “part scientist, part poet; sometimes proud, sometimes humble…a bundle of marvelous contradictions.” He was a contradiction, perhaps, but that just proves that J. Robert Oppenheimer was more than that; he was human. Any man would struggle with himself due to the nature of his invention and the devastation that it caused. It was simultaneously glorious and regrettable. Never before had an invention been so groundbreaking, so impressive; yet, at the same time so universally and unequivocally destructive and fundamentally evil. So yes, Oppenheimer was proud of contribution to one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs in history.
The reader's empathy for various characters shifts throughout the novel. First the reader empathises with Victory Frankenstein who is a family man and has good intentions to cure the human race of death. Then the monster narrates, which shows the reader that he is not an evil monster under his horrible appearance but an innocent and childlike creature, this makes the reader empathise with the monster instead of Victor Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein narrates again, during which he loses his family and becomes bitter and sad, these emotions help the reader to empathise once more with Frankenstein. The novel's alternative title is the modern day Prometheus.
After having our first seminar I have a lot of ideas about the creature in which Frankenstein had created. I believe that he is a knowledge hungry creature who desires to obtain knowledge so he can be able to interact with humans and that he isn’t so lonely since his created deserted him. His personality allows him to want to interact with humans but once he tries he realizes how much he really doesn’t fit in. Throughout chapters 11 and 17 the creature undergoes a lot of trouble to interact with humans and to learn from their language and from their ways of life. I believe when the creature is telling Frankenstein how he learned how to use fire was one of the major discoveries that the creature had made.
Victor would be given awards and job offers from universities across the country, and would go down in history as a great hero. His family would be so proud of having such a great sibling, and he would just become filled with so much happiness and love for his monster. He would then spoil Frankestein by buying him all these wonderful gifts, and giving him all this fame and respect from people around the world. Frankensteins monster would feel like he is actually important and wanted, and everything would just work out like it was supposed to. I really think that if Frankenstein had just made his monster look more lively and attractive, then all the bad things that happened in the book would have been avoided.
“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 his world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow (Shelley).” Knowledge is one of the most powerful tools one could possess, especially when used correctly. Learning and knowing things are both huge parts of living and growing and becoming a functioning part of society. In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, the use of knowledge is a huge concept found throughout the book as well is the concept of a noble savage. Knowledge proves itself to be both good and evil depending on the person absorbing and using it for whatever their reason may be. With this in mind, notice how the man with the years of schooling and decades of experience and intelligence gained throughout his lifetime, also known as the scientist, doctor, or creator is