Frankenstein Essay On Power And Knowledge

The year is 1971. Imagine studying psychology at Stanford University. The program is looking for healthy and mentally fit men to participate in a paid study. Out of the 70 that signed up 20 of them are selected for the study; 10 guards and 10 prisoners. The prisoners are dressed in baggy smocks and referred to by their numbers. These “prisoners” are locked in makeshift jail on the lowest psych floor in the college. The guards are given no rules on how they must treat the prisoners. The experiment lasted only one week due to the brutality of the guards. Obviously there is more to the story than meets the eye but this experiment shows how power and knowledge can affect how your brain works. These guards started out benign. As they settled

Power and knowledge for that matter are forces of human society that lead people to act in a way that they would not normally act. These abnormal acts of the person in power are often dangerous and often lead to their own demise. When people act on their power they are often trying to show that they are powerful. Thus making decisions with no regard to their safety or that of others. Doctor Faustus was corrupted by his power. Once he was in power he began acting more like a child playing pranks than a scholar who deserves our respect.(Okerlund). Victor Frankenstein, corrupted by his experience with death as a young man, sought power unknown to this world, the power to bring life from death. Doctor Henry Jekyll, corrupted by his search for knowledge of good and evil, found a way to further reveal the evil side of his personality. Eve in the Bible was corrupted by Satan, persuaded her husband, Adam, to eat of the fruit, thus bringing on the fall of all of

Think of it like fire, useful but dangerous.”(Lynch and Lowery) Society naturally orders itself into a hierarchy like in a business but it also occurs among strangers. Lowery cites six sources for power, coercion, information, legitimate, expert, and referent. Other people's perception of your power is directly related to actions and appearances. Power is a force of human creation but it challenges our society. Power affects how our brains work. Faustus for example was given power and he immediately started abusing it and then he was drug to hell by Satan and all his demons. Frankenstine found the power to reanimate life but by being able to gain life through unnatural methods he lost his own life. Jekyll discovered how to separate elements of one's personality and then took that ability to his grave because of the dangerous nature of the experiment. Power alters the way we perceive others. Power can affect people physically also. Power can lead to dangerous actions, such as Frankenstein reanimating the monster leading to his death and the death of others. This is also shown in the Bible because when the religious rulers realized the power of Jesus they crucified him. Knowledge and power lead to people acting in a way they would not normally act. Sometimes knowledge drives people to action, like knowing something you aren’t supposed to can lead you to tell other people about