The Importance Of Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Words: 1264
Pages: 6

At the beginning of life, humans are born with blankness in their minds with no exposure to the outside world. A newborn could have no knowledge, no worries and they only explore to attain the main essentials of life. As they attain these essentials, they begin to develop knowledge, but an excess amount of knowledge could lead to disasters. The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley demonstrates through its characters that a neurotic desire for too much knowledge may ruin a person’s life. Victor Frankenstein, the main character of the novel, had a thirst for alchemy after studying chemical processes and the decay of human beings. After his science career was complete, specifically his chemistry studies, Victor decided to return to Geneva where …show more content…
Justine was an outstanding and innocent girl, and she would always help the Frankenstein family to ensure their house was spotless. Because of what she endures, it makes her a sympathetic person in the novel. When Victor withheld the truth, he took that sympathy away from her and portrayed her as a murderer to the city. He regrets his actions and could only think of Justine as nothing but a virtuous person; “Justine also was a girl of merit, and possessed qualities which promised to render her life happy: now all was to be obliterated in an ignominious grave; and I was the cause! A thousand times rather would I have confessed guilty of the crime ascribed to Justine” (54). Victor did not confess who the actual murderer of William was. He could not risk exposing his creation. Instead, he left Justine to pay for the death of William and get killed. Victor’s actions were selfish and cruel. Justine was always pleasant to Victor and his family. The punishment that Victor contributed to Justine gave him the characteristics of a monster. When people do not fix their problems in life, they continue to grow in a negative way and cause even bigger problems. A person can make tremendous mistakes, but when they do, they should take courage in order to make things right. If Victor took the courage to state the true murderer of William, Justine could have had the life she