Frankenstein: Knowledge(Theme)

       In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, she uses several different topics as themes to characterize the characters and help explain why they do certain things.  One significant topic she uses is that of knowledge.  The acquiring of knowledge is the main connection between the main characters in the novel.  Those characters thus far being Victor Frankenstein, the creature, and Robert Walton.  They all search and long for knowledge.  Robert Walton searches for the knowledge of the workings of the compass and a safe passage to the North Pole.  Frankenstein searched for the knowledge of the secret of life.  "A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me," (Shelley, 32).  Frankenstein confided this to Walton when telling the story of his fate.  The Creature itself is learning how to be more human-like.  It is teaching itself how to talk and behave like a human.  There is an arcing of the thirst for knowledge throughout the novel thus-far.