Essay On What Does Frankenstein Learn

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a prime example of “learn from past mistakes and experiences of others and yourself”. The characters learned several lessons, whether they be from themselves or another character. The monster learned from himself, the monster learned from the cottagers, Captain Walton learned from Frankenstein, and Frankenstein learned from himself. The monster Frankenstein created had to ultimately learn how to function. He felt sensations which he had to decipher to figure out what they meant and how to treat them. The creation felt hunger, thirst, fatigue, coldness, emotions, and pain (Shelley 71-72). The monster explained to Frankenstein, “‘A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and
The monster claimed the hovel and discovered a crack, through which he could observe the people living in the cottage (74). From listening to conversations and watching associations, he learned how to speak and comprehend the language of the cottagers. The monster accounted for this experience,
Presently I found, by the frequent recurrence of some sound which the stranger repeated after them, that she was endeavouring to learn their language; and the idea instantly occurred to me that I should make use of the same instructions to the same end… she and I improved rapidly in the knowledge of language, so that in two months I began to comprehend most of the words uttered by my protectors. (83)
The monster also learned from books that he had read and that the cottagers had read to each other. One of the inhabitants read and explained Ruins of Empires to another inhabitant. From the book, the monster learned “‘a cursory knowledge of history and a view of several empires at present existing in the world; it gave me an insight into the manners, governments, and religions of the different nations of the earth’” (84). The monster helped others learn lessons as well, for Frankenstein used the monster to warn