One of the most important themes of this novel is how the pursuit of knowledge can cause a well-respected man to self-destruct. Victor Frankenstein has an obsession to access the secret of life, which eventually leads to his destruction. Likewise, Walton wants to surpass previous explorations by reaching the North Pole. This pursuit of knowledge becomes dangerous to everyone. Victor's creation destroys everyone he cherishes, and Walton becomes trapped between sheets of ice that could be deadly to his crew and he himself. Unfortunately, Victor's hatred for his monster drives him to his death. Luckily for Walton, he learns from Victor's story and decides to forfeit his expedition and return to his family he left behind.
I agree with Emily. The main theme of the story was the "Pursuit of Knowledge", or greed. I feel like they wanted to be so special by discovering things, which is what messed them up. They bit off more than they could chew, in other words.
An evident recurring theme that I have noticed is the danger of the pursuit of knowledge beyond human understanding. This is reflected through the efforts of Walton and Victor Frankenstein and seems a main focus of Mary Shelley's novel.
In the novel Frankenstein, there seems to be a recurring theme or motif of monsters or monstrosity. For example, Victor continually hides from his creature because he is disgusted and frightened to look at him. Also Victor himself becomes somewhat of a monster by locking himself away and shrouding his activities in secrecy and by removing any contact he had with the outside world. Another motif or theme in the novel is secrecy. For example, Victor toils for months in secrecy in his pursuit of a perfect being removing all relations with his friends and even family. During the voyage to the artic, Walton hides from fellow crew members and writes enigmatic letters to his sister. Both of these themes are prevalent throughout the novel.
The pursuit of knowledge causing Victor to self-destruct is one theme, but I don't think it's the most important one. The broader issue of the morality of creating this monster is more poignant. This conflict creates a social commentary about how science is continually departing from religion, perhaps at the peril of the scientists.
For me, an interesting reoccurring theme that I saw is similar to Emily's in that both Victor and Walton wanted to be the pioneers in their respective fields. Each saw success without the consequences and were fueled by blind motivation that eventually corrupted them.
The theme that stands out the strongest is the theme of forbidden destructive knowledge. It raises serious questions about whether humans should be allowed to discover how life is created, and what would happen if they did. As fallible creatures, should we be able to hold the knowledge to all life.. essentially giving us the power to be gods? From the picture painted in Frankenstein, humans arent capable of handling such power, seen from the way that Victor's knowledge almost destroys him and the way that his inability to be master to his creation almost destroys the monster and does destroy any possibility of the monster being raised as docile and capable of love and normal human relationships.
I also agree with Emily. I think that the pursuit of knowledge is the main theme. Both Victor and Walton are pursuing the knowledge of the unknown. Both of which, like Alex said, bit off more than they can chew. Walton put himself and his crew in danger to discover "unvisited regions". Victor pursued knowledge of creating life, he succeeded but ended up creating a monster.
As already said before the major theme through out the novel is the pursuit of knowledge along with life vs death. Frankenstein struggles to grasp responsibilities of creating life while discoving a new realm of nateral science
One themed I noticed is how there is that constant search to have a "friend" or to make a friendship. What I mean is that Dr. Frankenstein's fiance is constantly desperate to have her fiance back. The constant theme is love. Also, even the monster seems to continually get more and more frustrated because he's alienized from society and I think that's a major factor as to why he gets so angry...IN short, it's obvious we all need to have a friend by our side, and when we don't, life is difficult.
10 comments:
One of the most important themes of this novel is how the pursuit of knowledge can cause a well-respected man to self-destruct. Victor Frankenstein has an obsession to access the secret of life, which eventually leads to his destruction. Likewise, Walton wants to surpass previous explorations by reaching the North Pole. This pursuit of knowledge becomes dangerous to everyone. Victor's creation destroys everyone he cherishes, and Walton becomes trapped between sheets of ice that could be deadly to his crew and he himself. Unfortunately, Victor's hatred for his monster drives him to his death. Luckily for Walton, he learns from Victor's story and decides to forfeit his expedition and return to his family he left behind.
I agree with Emily. The main theme of the story was the "Pursuit of Knowledge", or greed. I feel like they wanted to be so special by discovering things, which is what messed them up. They bit off more than they could chew, in other words.
An evident recurring theme that I have noticed is the danger of the pursuit of knowledge beyond human understanding. This is reflected through the efforts of Walton and Victor Frankenstein and seems a main focus of Mary Shelley's novel.
In the novel Frankenstein, there seems to be a recurring theme or motif of monsters or monstrosity.
For example, Victor continually hides from his creature because he is disgusted and frightened to look at him. Also Victor himself becomes somewhat of a monster by locking himself away and shrouding his activities in secrecy and by removing any contact he had with the outside world. Another motif or theme in the novel is secrecy. For example, Victor toils for months in secrecy in his pursuit of a perfect being removing all relations with his friends and even family. During the voyage to the artic, Walton hides from fellow crew members and writes enigmatic letters to his sister. Both of these themes are prevalent throughout the novel.
The pursuit of knowledge causing Victor to self-destruct is one theme, but I don't think it's the most important one. The broader issue of the morality of creating this monster is more poignant. This conflict creates a social commentary about how science is continually departing from religion, perhaps at the peril of the scientists.
For me, an interesting reoccurring theme that I saw is similar to Emily's in that both Victor and Walton wanted to be the pioneers in their respective fields. Each saw success without the consequences and were fueled by blind motivation that eventually corrupted them.
The theme that stands out the strongest is the theme of forbidden destructive knowledge. It raises serious questions about whether humans should be allowed to discover how life is created, and what would happen if they did. As fallible creatures, should we be able to hold the knowledge to all life.. essentially giving us the power to be gods? From the picture painted in Frankenstein, humans arent capable of handling such power, seen from the way that Victor's knowledge almost destroys him and the way that his inability to be master to his creation almost destroys the monster and does destroy any possibility of the monster being raised as docile and capable of love and normal human relationships.
I also agree with Emily. I think that the pursuit of knowledge is the main theme. Both Victor and Walton are pursuing the knowledge of the unknown. Both of which, like Alex said, bit off more than they can chew. Walton put himself and his crew in danger to discover "unvisited regions". Victor pursued knowledge of creating life, he succeeded but ended up creating a monster.
As already said before the major theme through out the novel is the pursuit of knowledge along with life vs death. Frankenstein struggles to grasp responsibilities of creating life while discoving a new realm of nateral science
One themed I noticed is how there is that constant search to have a "friend" or to make a friendship. What I mean is that Dr. Frankenstein's fiance is constantly desperate to have her fiance back. The constant theme is love. Also, even the monster seems to continually get more and more frustrated because he's alienized from society and I think that's a major factor as to why he gets so angry...IN short, it's obvious we all need to have a friend by our side, and when we don't, life is difficult.
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