Frankenstein Learning From His Own Mistakes

            At the end of class on Thursday, we brought up the notion of Frankenstein as a lesson for future generations. When Victor Frankenstein tells his story to Captain Walton, Victor refuses to tell the Captain the secret of his scientific discovery because Victor has learned exactly “how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is […] than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (38).  Victor regrets the scientific advancements he made when building his Creature and acknowledges the tendency of human beings to pursue knowledge past the point of caution. Walton mirrors Frankenstein’s excessive ambition in his desire to find the Northwest Passage. In the final chapter of the novel, Walton’s crew threatens to mutiny because Walton wanted to continue their journey northwards despite the increasing danger. Walton is compelled to continue on because of his desire for knowledge, similar to Frankenstein’s ambition to build the Creature. However, it is not Walton who resists the crew, but Frankenstein: he tells them, “You were hereafter to be hailed as the benefactors of your species, your names adored as belonging to brave men who encountered death for honour and the benefit of mankind” (191). This sounds similar to Victor’s reasoning for building the Creature in the first place: pursuing knowledge for the benefit of mankind despite all dangers. It seems like Victor Frankenstein, even after being brutally punished for pushing the boundaries of scientific advancement, had not completely learned his own lesson of the dangers in science. This is the aspect of Frankenstein that is timeless. Human beings are continuously learning more about the world around them, and with each step in discovery comes new questions about how far is too far. Whether it be the internet or cloning technology, each “discovery” brings up questions over whether or not it is actually beneficial to the world. Frankenstein is a general warning of the power of human beings to create things that we may ultimately regret.