ipl-logo

Frankenstein And Jurassic Park: The Pursuit Of Knowledge

1463 Words6 Pages

The Pursuit of Knowledge Literacy article: Written by Anthony Gullo Frankenstein and Jurassic Park - both set in times of great scientific exploration - explores the pursuit of knowledge and the power by humans, and how they can be blinded to the ethical consequences. It is natural for humans to pursue knowledge. But when does it go too far, and become a concern - a safety hazard for people? This pursuit of knowledge, blinds humans from asking, ‘Is this ethical?’ The world had many periods of great scientific advancements. In the 1990s, a great scientific shift began to happen. The world wide web was being developed, computers were becoming more mainstream, and humans had started to do experiments on cloning. American citizens were rich. …show more content…

This is subtly shown when Victor agrees that discovery is not good by saying “Learn from me, if not my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world that he who aspires to become greater than nature will allow.” This quote compresses the theme of discovery isn’t good for the world, as the quote emphasizes that to obtain knowledge can be perilous and cautions against the pursuit of knowledge to the audience, Victor’s loss of his love ones highlights the loss that he experienced when creating the monster. Ultimately, the quote serves as a reminder that discovery is …show more content…

Victor’s ambition to become god, “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn”, ultimately blinded him, causing his destructive future. Creating the monster, which took him so long, made him reject his loved ones. His lack of foresight ultimately led to the creature’s abandonment, and its reign of destruction to the very loved ones and himself who he left to create the monster. Hammonds shares this a same path of destruction, that Victor did. Hammond’s dream of making a dinosaur park blinded him to the dangers that could be associated with his ‘dream’, associated with the risks of genetic manipulation, and the uncontrollable nature of animals. “He prays because he knows he doesn’t control it. He’s at the mercy of it” is a perfect quote by Ian Malcolm, inviting the audience to believe Hammond has no control of the park, and hasn’t realised the implications of what he is doing, let alone the future of the park. “The scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they should, they didn’t stop to think if they should (Ian)”, this sustains the view that nobody at the park had consideration for what would happen if their experiment worked. When failure did eventually happen, the dinosaurs escaped and wreaked havoc on the island, causing multiple deaths. This ultimately aligns with the topic of pursuit of knowledge leading to their destructive

Show More
Related

Villainy Quotes In Frankenstein

885 Words | 4 Pages

An example that can identify Victor as being the true villain in the story is Victor's lack of thought and deposition when he sees the creature he had created. He states that he is “Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep”(Shelley 59). This quote exemplifies how Victor immediately despises the creature based on its looks and abandons it rather than taking the creature under his wing to give it guidance and care. It also demonstrates the ambition of creating new life for scientific achievement, without considering the consequences. Another example that we see victor lack a sense of guidance and responsibility is his talk with the creature he states that he “consents” to the monster's request and will “deliver into your hands a female who will accompany you”(Shelley 159).

Read More

Similarities Between Frankenstein And Jurassic Park

1376 Words | 6 Pages

Spielberg uses Hammond’s change in perspective to show how vulnerable Hammond is when not hiding behind his ambitions; “Are the children all right?” (Hammond),

Read More

Examples Of Moral Ambiguity In Frankenstein

790 Words | 4 Pages

In this, Victor brought up things that no mortal should know about, such as: cloning, stem cell research, and IVFs. Examples of these were shown when the author states, “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn… my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical… the physical secrets of the world” (43). Victor is knowingly tampering with knowledge that is essentially too great for man. He is also essentially trying to be like God, which is the original sin, and as a result, he is put in eternal despair.

Read More

The Quest For Glory In Mary Shelly's Frankenstein

706 Words | 3 Pages

Victor borders Megalomania. This can clearly be seen when he explains his ambitions, “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me.” The theme of learning reflects the ideology of knowledge for good or evil purposes. This quote also shows insight into Victor's state of mind, how he had built up his own ego thinking that he would be revered by the creature he creates. Victor is changing into a different person.

Read More

The Struggle For Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

672 Words | 3 Pages

He uses the little that he knows to fuel his hatred towards humans and his creator. This shows the exponential growth of the problems that Victor has created as a result of his desire for knowledge. Not only did he create the destructive monster, but now the monster is using a hunger for knowledge, the very thing that created it, to do even more damage. This root cause is linked to everything that is causing Victor’s suffering. The monster also compares his relationship to Victor to that of God and Adam, wishing that he had the same supplication to his creator that Adam did, “I remembered Adam’s supplication to his creator.

Read More

The Quest For Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

839 Words | 4 Pages

It is often said that the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know. Even Aristotle said, “The more you know, the more you know you don 't know.”. This can often lead to a yearning for more knowledge and sometimes, can be somebody’s downfall. In this case, it was Victor Frankenstein’s downfall. His love for science and his ever-growing quest to learn about the human body ultimately destroyed him, his family, his wife to be, and his best friend.

Read More

Misuse Of Knowledge In Frankenstein

389 Words | 2 Pages

The misuse of knowlege he gains is trying to create life. Victor should not interefere with nature. Creating life from Victor leads to a tragedy, due to the abomination le let choose on the world. Interefering with nature always tries to create balance, in this case Victor's creation led to the fall of lis family. Victor's knowledge was dangerous because the outcome led to mejor destructions.

Read More

Frankenstein Pursuit Of Knowledge Essay

1851 Words | 8 Pages

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a cautionary tale that warns against the dangers of ambition and the pursuit of knowledge without ethical considerations. Through the experiences of her characters, Shelley explores the consequences of unchecked ambition and the pursuit of knowledge for both the individual and society. In this paper, we will examine the role of ambition and the pursuit of knowledge in Frankenstein and how it leads to the downfall of its characters. We will also explore the significance of gender and society in shaping the novel's critique of science and progress. Shelley's novel is structured around the character of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but ambitious scientist who becomes obsessed with creating life from dead matter.

Read More

Lack Of Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein '

454 Words | 2 Pages

The search of knowledge can help take away the doubt, but it can affect the ones around you. Victor doubts and knowledge cause the death of his wife, best friend, and his brother. Victor should have known that bringing something back to life would had consequences. His relentless search of knowledge did brought him suffering because he involved his family and didn't thought about the consequences. Victor’s passion about learning new things brought him to the creation of an ugly monster.

Read More

Loss Of Humanity In Frankenstein Essay

1019 Words | 5 Pages

This shows the humanity in the monster and his tendency to be amiable. He was also able to learn from his mistakes. For example, the creature realized that he needed to stop stealing the family’s supplies after he noticed how much they needed them. Victor, however, didn’t learn from his mistake of creating the monster, and created another. The monster also refers to the family in the cabin as “[his] friends” when they didn’t know of his existence (103).

Read More

Education And Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

1909 Words | 8 Pages

In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein (1818), Shelley shows her audience that while acquiring knowledge leads to survival for the Creature and power for Victor Frankenstein, the path to obtain this knowledge leads to the destruction of one’s self. Education and knowledge have major negative effects on both of the characters’ attitude, perception, and decisions. The life experiences of each character is dependent on the amount of knowledge that the character possesses. Knowledge gives Victor Frankenstein a superiority complex, and it changes the Creature’s perspective of the world and the people in it. The Creature, like a baby, is brought into the world with no prior knowledge of how society behaves.

Read More

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: The Pursuit Of Knowledge

1420 Words | 6 Pages

This quote makes it apparent that Victor regrets his decision to heavily pursue knowledge and create his monster, clearly showing that the path that he embarked on was one that resulted in severe suffering. In conclusion, it is clear that Victor Frankenstein’s intentions are pure, however he is unaware that his pursuit of knowledge directly leads to his personal suffering. Robert Walton, similar to many explorers during his time, is ambitious to discover land beyond the North Pole. However, to reach this goal, he has to walk the dangerous path of acquiring knowledge. Walton’s goal, which is to reach the North Pole, requires him to captain a ship which travels through thick and thin.

Read More

Pursuit Of Knowledge In Frankenstein

1109 Words | 5 Pages

“If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us” Adlai E. Stevenson. The politician explains his perception of creativity in this quote along with its connection to ambition by relating determination and faith to the discovery of knowledge. He believes that nothing can restrict our drive to seek information when one entirely devotes himself to the pursuit. Similarly, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, Robert Walton, and the creature all attempt to acquire arcane knowledge at any and all costs. Their ambition drives them to take risks and even put the lives of themselves and others on the line.

Read More

Knowledge In Frankenstein

755 Words | 4 Pages

The results do not only affect them, but also the lives of the people around them. Seeking knowledge is not wrong, however, pursuing forbidden knowledge is depicted as morally wrong and destructive, both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and John Milton’s Paradise Lost caution against transgressing natural boundaries, leading to the tragic downfall of not only the characters involved but also the society. On the topic Milton's Paradise Lost and Shelley's Frankenstein both place emphasis on the idea that knowledge is neither necessarily good nor evil, but that its morality is instead determined by how it is sought out and applied: “Knowledge, which is indispensable and inevitable in the postlapsarian world, occupies an insecure and dubious position between the extremes of ignorance and wisdom” (Tianhu Hao, 338). Knowledge is the foundation upon which human

Read More

The Dangers Of Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

943 Words | 4 Pages

The Dangers of Knowledge Frankenstein, a novel written by Mary Shelley, is notoriously accredited for its development and implication of multiple themes. Set in the 1700’s, Frankenstein is a gothic fiction telling of isolation, knowledge, and nature. The biggest of these being knowledge and inevitably its consequences. With knowledge comes question; What poses the most danger? The knowledge itself, or the journey to gain information?

Read More

More about Frankenstein And Jurassic Park: The Pursuit Of Knowledge

Related Topics

Open Document