Matthew Whiteford 15 February 2014 Block #2 Mrs.

Cook(Technically) Frankenstein: Focus question 1 When ever you hear people discussing Frankenstein. We might assume they are referring to the freshly resurrected corpse that was revived via lighting with a mad man scientist pulling the monsters string as it reeks havoc on neighboring villagers. But this only becomes a fallacy if we never read the book. The real Frankenstein is the mad scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who isnt really mad, and the monster is the result of his misguided pursuit in science. To have a fundamental understanding of why Victor becomes the scientist that he is. We must look to the roots of his scientific origins. His influence in the world of science all started out when he was just a teenager. During a thunder storm, he became fascinated by the power of nature as a it destroys a tree near his house. Or as Victor puts it, "As I stood at the door, on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak which stood about twenty yards from our house; and so soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak had disappeared, and nothing remained but a blasted stump."(Frankenstein 26) Because of this, he starts pursuing knowledge in the science of nature and its capabilities, which we can assume this is why he used lighting to create his monster. However his pursuit in science was ultimately due to his research about some famous alchemist that he read about, For example, Cornelius Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Paracelsus that thunderstorm was merely a catalyst. Speaking of Paracelsus, his research in the art of alchemy and medicine played a role in Victor's pursuit in science. They both shared a similar stories just as shown in his biography by A. Cockren. The authors states that, "at the age of sixteen, Paracelsus entered the University at Basle where he applied himself to the study of alchemy, surgery, and medicine. With science of alchemy he was already acquainted, having previously studied the works of Isaac Hollandus. Hollandus' writing roused in him the ambition to cure disease by medicine superior to those available at that time to use, for apart from his incursions into alchemy," In the end, anything related to Paracelsus was dismissed as impossibilities by Victor's Professor at the University of Ingolstadt, Mr. Waldman. He convinces Victor to have a more modern approach to science to which he does. The important thing to consider here is what drove him to being the scientist that ultimately creates his monster. From the ancient alchemists, Paracelsus, the thunderstorm, to his professor are all what defined him as a scientist. Besides the obvious event of creating his monster, some events are waiting to be told by him. Will he say that he tried to revive his dead

mother at first but failed? Will he explain what drove him to resurrecting the dead? What other scientific fields will he study? Only time will tell.