Frankenstein-"is Knowledge Power"

Clayton L. Bullock

Captain Roy

English 211 – Essay 1

16 February 2016

Is Knowledge Power?

Would you agree that most people have heard the phrase “knowledge is power” at least once in their lifetime?  Perhaps the drive to attain as much knowledge as possible can utterly destroy a person through the breaking of their physical and mental states?  In the opening pages of the book Frankenstein says, “My dreams were therefore undisturbed by reality” (69). Meaning that he was detached from reality from the beginning which was a foreshadowing of his mental brokeness to ensue later in the novel. The decline of his mental health eventually led to a snowball effect which put his physical health at risk.  This snowball effect eventually led to his destruction which all started through the pursuit of knowledge.

From the opening pages of the book we find that Victor Frankenstein is a man of immense knowledge.  The first hint we see of his interest in resurrecting his own sort of “creature” is when he tells the reader that  he has a great determination in learning of the “raising of ghosts or devils was… A fulfillment of which I most eagerly sought” (69). The next few pages of the book are devoted to giving the reader more details of Victors schooling and the means as to how he learned to resurrect a “creature” of his own.  Victor worked for two years non-stop, but not without negative effect on his health such as “every night oppressed by a slow fever, and I became nervous to a most painful degree.” (83). This is the beginning of his health decline throughout the novel.  It shows that Victor is a determined individual and will stop at nothing until he reaches his goal. This is the first example that shows that Victor loses regard to his own personal health, and later we will see how it has a negative impact on his wellbeing. The connection between his interest in bringing life to “creatures” will eventually lead to his demise. So, his interest of life in turn actually leads to his death.

After the revival of Victors “creature”, it begins to wreak havoc and despair on Victor’s life. Justine is sentenced to death for the accused killing of William, both of which are Victor’s family members. He blames himself for these deaths and is sent further into despair and depression stating, “A weight of despair and remorse pressed on my heart…sleep fled from my eyes; I wandered like an evil spirit, for I had committed deeds of mischief beyond description…I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures” (111). After these events unfold Victor starts to believe that the deaths of his family member are from his doing.  He calls his creation of his monster a “deed of mischief beyond description” further blamin himself for his family members demise. This sends him into a state of despair and depression even he tells us that, “The state of mind preyed upon my health…” (111). He goes on to describe how this state of mind he had effected his health saying, “solitude was my only consolidation—deep, dark, death-like solitude” (111). This is his second major sign of a declining health except this is his first time when he regards his mental health as being affected.  Later in the book we see Victor is still obsessed with his solitude and hermit way of life he has adopted after the deaths of William and Justine. He spends his time, “whole days on the lake alone in a little boat…” (161), further strengthening the idea that his mental state is shattered and on the decline due to his creation of the “monster”. The monster has successfully made Victor feel as though he does, a sense of being alone in the world.

After all of Victors close friends and family are either murdered, executed, or die, he enters his lowest point of mental brokenness in the novel. He has reached his final breaking point and will not recover.  At this point in the novel he becomes so separated and detached from reality that he does not know what became of himself. Victor describes this event saying that he, “lost all sensation…they called me mad; and during many months, a solitary cell had been my habitation” (200). From going mad he is sent to what seems to be described as a prison cell because he cannot handle himself in life. This is the first time in the novel he is referred to as mad which is interesting because most people would argue that he went mad when he resorted to isolation which happened long before this event.  His mental brokenness is important because, this state of mind leads Victor to do some things that will put his physical health at risk. He describes his situation as one where, “All voluntary thought was swallowed up and lost” (202), meaning that he was so distraught he didn’t realize his own actions he was about to commit and furthermore didn’t care as to the outcome of his actions.