Essay On The Pursuit Of Knowledge In Frankenstein

Knowledge has brought the human race to many of its brightest moments, as well as many of its darkest: the discovery of the atomic bomb and chemical warfare, among others. This begs the question, how far would you go in the pursuit of knowledge? Mary Shelley investigates the concept of ¨too far¨ in her novel, Frankenstein. She chronicles the path of a scientist, from his initial thirst for knowledge, to his creation of an artificial creature, to his eventual death because of the Creature. Throughout the novel, that scientist, Victor Frankenstein, regrets his initial decision to create the Creature, and the consequences of his actions far outweigh any possible reward that he imagined before he even began; what he imagined was being applauded …show more content…
This traversal of the boundary doesn’t refer to the discovery of “undiscoverable” things, rather, this is the violation of the scientific process. This occurs within Frankenstein when Victor hastily builds the Creature, instead of being patient and evaluating all of the possible outcomes of his venture. While retelling his story to Walton, Victor describes the process of his work …show more content…
Shelley’s use of “unremitting ardour” shows that Victor worked tirelessly on the Creature, without pausing to rest or evaluate the possible consequences of his actions, as further shown by “the moon gazed on my midnight labours.” In addition, this “ardour” violates a key principle of the scientific process, which states that a scientist must have an objective view in all of his undertakings. Moreover, his “unrelaxed and breathless eagerness” prevents him from truly dedicating time to each aspect of his Creation, causing a rushed environment, in which mistakes and inaccuracies thrive. His singular focus, as shown by,”the hope to which I had dedicated myself,” was the source of his gross misconduct and disregard for scientific principle and the scientific process. He had dedicated himself to one of his own emotions,”hope,” and was therefore driven by emotions and not logic. Hope, by nature, is an ignorant emotion because it causes people to blindly proceed along, rather than consider and evaluate their course of action and its consequences. Hope caused Victor’s singular focus to become even more concentrated because hope eliminates the consideration of possible setbacks from one’s mind. He succeeds in his creation of the Creature, but his lack of forethought pushes him into the avoidable scenario of instant regret upon the completion of his quest. Therefore, Victor’s