"Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind, when it has once seized on it, like a linchen on the rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling." (136)The creature is assimilating many concepts new to him, especially the realizations of the differences between humans and himself. Some say ignorance is bliss, and in my opinion after understanding these differences it would be hard for the creature not to want to forget the knowledge that he is different from the rest of society, especially when all he wants are friends and relations that would accept him. It is interesting to me that the creature is still very interested in learning new things, even when almost everything he learns causes him to realize some pain or sadness.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
The education of the creature really struck my interest in this reading. Something that I have thought about was how as humans we learn and develop and mature in a variety of stages from birth through the years until death. Something I noticed that the creature lacks, are those beginning stages of childhood. The creature is obviously still learning and developing into the being that he is or will become, but he is taking it all in at once, rather than having the benefit of years to accumulate the knowledge and level of understanding that other people would have by his age, whatever that should be. In some ways, the creature is still in the developmental phase of a child, evidenced by his education of speech and reading. On the other hand, the creature seems to be very bright and able to comprehend a good deal more than what a child might. One point that stood out to me especially in the reading was the section on which the creature refers to the nature of knowledge.
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I think that the way new knowledge is sometimes harmful to the creature parallels a typical loss of innocence. This process seems to be accelerated and, as Iska points out, the creature does not really have a childhood as a result. I think this has to do with the lack of a guardian for the creature. Unlike most children, the creature does not have someone to censor the information he gains access to, leaving the creature is confronted with information he is not yet able to process effectively.
ReplyDelete"He [Adam] had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial car of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with, and acquire knowledge from beings of a superior nature: but I was wretched helpless and alone..." (Shelley 144) To go off both of the excellent points of how the creature was unable to start from birth and acquire knowledge through some guardianship. The creature recognizes from his readings that he was not guided for no one wanted to.
ReplyDeleteI see the creature as being possessed by the same driving curiosity that overcame and still plagues Frankenstein as seen on page 120 "...determined to listen to his tale. I was partly urged by curiosity...". Being the creature of the creator im not surprised by this parallel but I do agree with Iska that the creatures thirst for knowledge and understanding continues despite the ever growing understanding of the gap between himself and Victor's "fellows". Victor on the other hand was possessed by that curiosity until he was able to practice his newfound knowledge, from which the creature arose and the root of Victor's emotional turmoil. This makes me wonder if the creature will reach a similar point where this curiosity will be satiated out of complete understanding or a rejection of it as Victor experienced.
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