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Theme Of Knowledge Is Power In Frankenstein

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Despite being written over 200 years ago, themes and ideas within Frankenstein that are conveyed through its construction of characters are still relevant in modern day society. Frankenstein was written by Marey Shelley in 1818, and follows the story of a young scientist who creates a horrid creature through a series of experiments. Due to being rejected by humanity, the creator decides to take revenge on Victor Frankenstein himself who created him. Shelley's unique construction of character's allows for the idea of 'knowledge is danger' to run throughout the novel, in contrast to the common saying 'knowledge is power'. this idea can be directly connected to current events, with particular focus on the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence around the world.

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Frankenstein is portrayed as an eager learner and one who constantly seeks new knowledge. This results in him ignoring the effects of his actions, leading to his ultimate demise. As Victor is about to complete his project of bringing the dead back back to life, he states "No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me on, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success". This statement depicts how as soon as success became visible in Frankenstein's eyes, he became blind to the consequences and only focused on the beneficial outcomes. Furthermore, the mentioning of 'a hurricane' foreshadows the extremely violent events that Victor must endure and pay victim to in the future. In addition to this, before Frankenstein begins the narration of his story to Robert Walton, he warns Walton to "Learn from me...that the acquirement of knowledge is dangerous and how much happier a man who believes his home town to be the world than a man who aspires to become greater than his knowledge will allow. This warning conveys the regret and pain felt by Victor's character, who only now realises the drastic

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