The quest for knowledge, and the danger in the quest, is a main theme in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein. The novel’s three main characters, Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the monster all relentlessly search for different kinds of knowledge. They each discover danger and even tragedy in their obsessive quests.
Robert Walton is the captain of a ship on a very dangerous voyage. It’s his quest to be the first man to successfully navigate to the North Pole. He explains to his sister in a letter that he is determined to see and walk on a land that has never been seen before. He imagines it will be a “country of eternal light,” and his excitement about it all “is sufficient to conquer all fear of danger or death” (5). But only about three months later, when he writes to his sister again, he complains about how lonely and isolated he is.
A few months later, when Walton’s ship is stuck in the Arctic ice and fog, he and his men rescued a “stranger” who is lost and wandering on the ice. It is Victor Frankenstein. As Walton nurses Victor back to health, they begin to become friends and Victor tells Walton of his history and his “fate.” Victor tells Walton, “You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent …show more content…
His tale could be seen as a warning against pushing too hard to learn scientific mysteries. The theme may not be that the pursuit of all knowledge and discovery is dangerous and wrong. But Victor Frankenstein pushed his search past what was morally acceptable or healthy. He explained, “Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil, as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave, or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay? I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit”
Robert Walton is the captain of a ship on a very dangerous voyage. It’s his quest to be the first man to successfully navigate to the North Pole. He explains to his sister in a letter that he is determined to see and walk on a land that has never been seen before. He imagines it will be a “country of eternal light,” and his excitement about it all “is sufficient to conquer all fear of danger or death” (5). But only about three months later, when he writes to his sister again, he complains about how lonely and isolated he is.
A few months later, when Walton’s ship is stuck in the Arctic ice and fog, he and his men rescued a “stranger” who is lost and wandering on the ice. It is Victor Frankenstein. As Walton nurses Victor back to health, they begin to become friends and Victor tells Walton of his history and his “fate.” Victor tells Walton, “You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent …show more content…
His tale could be seen as a warning against pushing too hard to learn scientific mysteries. The theme may not be that the pursuit of all knowledge and discovery is dangerous and wrong. But Victor Frankenstein pushed his search past what was morally acceptable or healthy. He explained, “Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil, as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave, or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay? I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit”