Knowledge
By: Jake and Andy
Knowledge
In this book Shelley makes knowledge a prominent theme. It can bee seen from cover to cover. From Victors quest for knowledge during his college years and his experiments to the creature learning how to read, write, and speak.
Quotes by Victor.
1. "It was the secrets of Heaven and Earth I desired to learn."(Chapter 2)
2. "Destiny was to potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction." (Chapter 2)
3. It was to be decided whether the result of my curiosity and lawless devices would cause the death of two of my fellow beings."(Chapter 8)
- This means that he is striving to gain knowledge that was unobtainable. There are people today who also strive for these things. No matter how dangerous it is people will always want things that they cannot have.
2. "Destiny was to potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction." (Chapter 2)
- This shows that his lust for knowledge was always destined to create destruction. We, as the readers, knew this already of course. Also the destruction was the price he had to pay for the knowledge he wanted.
3. It was to be decided whether the result of my curiosity and lawless devices would cause the death of two of my fellow beings."(Chapter 8)
- Once again his lust for knowledge comes back to bite him. He cannot take back what had already happened, and he knows it. He knows that it is all his fault. If he had not done his experiments they would both still be alive.
Quotes made by the creature.
1. "These thoughts exhilarated me and lead me to apply with fresh ardor to the acquiring of the art of language."(Chapter 12)
2. "My days were spent in close attention that I might more speedily master the language; and I may boast that I improved more rapidly than the Arabian who understood very little and conversed in broken accents whilst I comprehended and could imitate almost every word that was spoken." (Chapter 13)
3. "I had saved a human being from destruction and as a recompense I now writhe under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone."(Chapter 16)
- This shows that he is enjoying his pursuit of knowledge in the ways of language. This can be seen as a good thing. Like Victor he enjoys learning. Though this can also be seen as bad because once he learns enough to read Victor's journal bad things start to happen.
2. "My days were spent in close attention that I might more speedily master the language; and I may boast that I improved more rapidly than the Arabian who understood very little and conversed in broken accents whilst I comprehended and could imitate almost every word that was spoken." (Chapter 13)
- He is spending a lot of time gaining knowledge of the language and he is proud of how fast he is improving. It seems amazing that a creature who earlier could barely comprehend feelings is now able to read and speak.
3. "I had saved a human being from destruction and as a recompense I now writhe under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone."(Chapter 16)
- This is the monster learning that no matter what he does, even if it saves a human life he will always be rejected. This serves as a powerful message to the creature. It plants the seed of deep mistrust for every human being.
Modern Connections
Nowadays Knowledge is a very important part of society. Without it we would not have the doctors, lawyers, or leaders that we have now. Also, as we learned with Victor, there will always be those who strive for knowledge that we do not have access to yet. They strive fore something that we do not yet understand, which could be disastrous.