}Frankenstein pursues knowledge to the exclusion of everything else. His advice to Walton, however, is that a person should always preserve a sense of balance and not allow any passion or desire to disturb his or her tranquility. Do you agree with Frankenstein’s advice? Take a position defending or disagreeing with his insight. Give at least two reasons for your position, and support each reason with examples or facts.}
11 Comments
Kira M
2/1/2014 04:17:12 pm
I agree with Frankenstein's advice, one should not ruin himself with his obsession. Frankenstein would know this very well from personal experience, he has no friendships during his time at university, only academic acquaintances. He goes mad with the need to learn and he doesn't want Walton to make the same mistakes that he has. Also in the time of his obsession, Frankenstein loses touch with the ones that he holds most dear, his family and closest friends. Distancing yourself like that is never good, it takes a toll on your mental stability. Frankenstein just hopes to convince Walton to balance out his passion with other things, to not let it consume him.
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Dennis.K
2/1/2014 09:04:33 pm
I think that Frankenstein makes a good point regarding the balance between a passion or desire and your normal personal life, meaning family and friends and all that goes a long with it. The advice is wise, knowing that if you do only focus on your work, your normal and tranquil life will get messed up. Focusing to much on your desires might ruin relationship and might exclude you from what is actually going on. In the end, what is really more important than your normal life.
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Frida E.
2/3/2014 04:54:39 am
In the first four chapters of the book Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, we get to know a man name Victor (also known as Frankenstein), who becomes obsessed with his research. He becomes so preoccupied with pursuing his ambition and the knowledge he wants to obtain, that his sane mind becomes distto not let the pursuit of his passion or desire disturb his tranquillityurbed. Walton, the man whom he tells his story to, gets the advice . Personally I thought it was a little bit tough to decide whether or not I disagree or agree with this advice; because I think that if the pursuit or case you're going for is suppose to lead to something life changing, then I don't see the problem with becoming less sane along the way. However, I must say I personally agree with Victor Frankenstein's advice to Walton, and that you should not let any passion or desire disturb your tranquillity. One reason why I think you shouldn't let your passion take over your mind, is that one summer I travelled with some friends throughout Norway following a political party that we supported. We were all very politically interested and this trip was something we had all been looking forward to, however, during that summer the only thing we talked about or was surround around was politics, which at least made me balance around my sanity. Politics is something that I've always been interested in and the reason for me kind off going insane wasn't the quantity of it, however, when my friends and I all become so obsessed with this political party that we forgot the other things in the world going on around us. After this two month long trip I ended up signing out of the political party, and began to pursuit another interest in the branch of politics. This little two month obsession of mine made me realize that if I didn't quit right after this trip was over, well then I would not be so sure if I would actually be able to stop obsessing about it. Politics were suppose to be my joyful interest, and not an obsession making me less sane for everyday. Another reason why I agree with Victor Frankenstein's advice is because I once had a friend whom became obsessed with working out. He had always been very fit, interested in sports, and happy about his interest. However, when he was one with school and decided to pursuit a degree in personal fitness his joyful interest became more of an insanity battle against himself. He was so obsessed with this topic which was good because it was something he had decided to study, however he started to get so pulled into it that he had no time for anything else than what regarded working out and his studies. He did in fact get his degree, however, he realized when he was done that he wasn't happy any more. That this joyful interest of his that he once loved, wasn't as fun any more as what it used to be. His beloved interest had became a part of an insanity and something that pulled him more and more away from society. I think that Victor Frankenstein's advice to Walton was a good one, because you should never let your desire or passion disturb your tranquillity.
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Ryan M
2/3/2014 05:59:36 am
In Frankenstein, Frankenstein is obsessed with learning, and gives advice to Walton. In Frankenstein's advice he says "a person should always preserve a sense of balance and not allow any passion or desire to disturb his or her tranquility," and I would have to disagree with that statement. I believe everyone is made differently to take on their own path. Not everyone has the patience or determination to just focus on learning. For example people may take up music as a career or be an athlete and not do well in school or learning in general, so this quote would not apply to everyone. Another reason why i disagree with this statement is because I believe no one person can be focus on learning so much that it is the only thing they do. I believe your brain needs some time where its not always stressed with work. I believe your brain needs a equality of food, work, and just relaxing time in order to function at its best.
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Victor B
2/4/2014 03:13:32 am
I agree with Frankenstein advice that you should have a balance and not let work get the best of you. You witness Frankenstein letting his work get the best of him he even says in Chapter IV " The summer months passed while i was thus engaged, heart and soul , in one pursuit. He let everything go by him he no longer socialized or exercised and lost social skills and was sleep deprived and no longer contacted with him family. That is why I agree with it because I witness Frankenstein struggle and witness him go mad in a certain way.
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Saverio Young
2/4/2014 04:50:15 am
Frankenstein pursues knowledge to the exclusion of everything else. His advice to Walton, however, is that a person should always preserve a sense of balance and not allow any passion or desire to disturb his or her tranquility.I do not agree with this because the mind wants to wonder and should not spend all its time learning because it needs other things to work correctly and the other thing is some people may not want to learn everything because they may be disapointed in the end, they may find out to much about things and it could come off as a disapointment.
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August W.
2/4/2014 05:23:49 am
In Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" the main narrator of the story, Victor Frankenstein, tells Walton early on in the book that his obsession with reanimating life/bringing alchemy into reality drove him for years throughout his time at university. Frankenstein goes on to tell Walton that this obsession turned him into something terrible, sickly, uncaring, and highly devoted to only one thing in life, making him forget all those around him. This obsession was labeled by Frankenstein as a terrible thing, and an imbalance to his "natural tranquility", which should not be taken with a grain of salt. The reason being is that many great technological feats and advancements in all fields of life were made due to people that were highly driven, or "obsessed", with making a new discovery. One example of this comes from a great scientist of our time, Albert Einstein. Einstein was so driven (obsessed) by physics that he wanted to know everything and anything about it, ranging from Newton, to the ancient scientific philosophers of Greece. While making his greatest contributions to the world Einstein would often sit in a trance like state for largely extended periods of time, ignoring/shutting out anyone who tempted to interrupt him in his work and would not come out of this state until he had reached a satisfactory conclusion or a proper moment where he would have to come back to the theory later. Thanks to his drive for physics, which Frankenstein would say upset his "natural tranquility", we have the modern theories for physics which we base all our knowledge and mathematic calculations to do great things off of. Another example comes from the great inventor of our time, Thomas Edison. While at the height of his inventive age, Edison would often work for 20 hours a day and then get 4 hours of sleep on a couch in his work shop before awakening again and progressing forward with his machines and inventions. This behavior as characterized by Frankenstein would be considered highly unnatural to Edison's usual, natural state. Yet because of this obsession that made Edison devoid of all contact with people outside his workshop, and only granting himself 4 hours of sleep a night we have the modern inventions of: the light bulb, electricity, the mimeograph, phonograph, microphone, and the movie camera. Thus Frankensteins conclusion that an obsession over a certain field or subject is unhealthy to a man, is incorrect and can actually be good for them and the rest of the world due to the persons passion and drive for what they are doing.
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Cullen Ennis
2/11/2014 08:25:18 pm
In order to live life to the fullest, you have to pursue your interests and desires, and you have to make and accomplish goals that concern those interests. To say that one must balance out their life with many different activities in order to live it the fullest is not always true; while a balanced lifestyle is healthy, and allows you to enjoy many different facets of life, if you do not have interests in many different things, that may not be the life for you. I agree with Frankenstein's advice in the novel, for myself, as I need to balance out my lifestyle to maintain tranquility. I know for a fact that there are obsessions in my life that draw my attention away, but I personally feel that I need to take a break from them at some point, to relax and also to stimulate my brain in other ways, to remain healthy. It's also important to be able to relax, so if your obsession draws away from your relaxing time, it is important to make that time for yourself, otherwise you may feel drained instead of energized by the activities you do. As Frankenstein ignores and neglects the monster he creates in the novel, he also ignores and neglects himself and his family, in the process of making the monster. When an obsession takes over you to the point that you neglect yourself or others, then it is time to take Frankenstein's advice, and find a point of balance.
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Berk Dikici
2/16/2014 12:32:18 am
I agree with Frankenstein's advice, that a person should always preserve a sense of balance and not allow any passion to disturb his or her tranquility,because focusing in one type of passion for a long time can mess up a person's social life and make himself maybe go little bit crazy.Frankenstein experienced this situation and that is the reason why he is giving Walton that advice so that he won't make the same mistake he did.Another reason why i agree with Frankenstein is, that having a balance and not just focusing on one passion makes you able to control your own life style and makes it easier to find out what of person you are.
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Alec J.
2/16/2014 11:13:11 pm
In the frame story of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", Victor Frankenstein gives Robert Walton the following advice:"A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind, and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquillity"(Chapter 4). In my opinion, there is a good message in this statement, however, I also believe that it is never good or accurate to generalize and therefore, this statement cannot be applied to every aspect of life. Also, I have the feeling that the beliefs expressed in that advice are fueled by the Age of Reason, the Industrial Revolution, and all those other things that led people away from passion and feelings toward efficiency and reason. That being said, I do think this advice can often times be helpful when it comes to tasks that require tranquility and a calm mind. But, I do think that one sometimes needs a little spontaneity or creativity apart from a strictly reason oriented mind. If this other part did not exist, I do not believe there would be any sort of art or fresh ideas. Creativity and great accomplishments or discoveries (not all as harmful as Frankenstein's discovery) are often fueled by passion. All in all, I do believe there to be truth in Frankenstein's advice, but like everything else in life it can never be generalized. There are always exceptions.
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Monsieur Clement
2/26/2014 08:29:18 am
Frankenstein's story is a testament to the vices of pursuing knowledge. He tried to grasp knowledge that was beyond him and he was unprepared for the consequences that followed. The pursuit of knowledge is said to be the most noble of pursuits, but is it worth the sacrifice. As one blindly pursuits knowledge, their life slowly decays in front of them, as it did for Frankenstein. On the other hand, if we quit pursuing knowledge, our lives take a standstill and we fail to realize future potential. Even if a balance or a moderation is found, will it guarantee a complete, fulfilling life? I believe so. One should never be satisfied with where they are, for like a shark, we must keep moving forward. Knowledge is the key to opening the door of opportunity, unlocking potential to move forward. One's life and happiness is only threatened when knowledge is pursue blindly. Moderation is found when we open our eyes to the consequences of our actions and choose which to open, which doors to close and which ones to slam close, lock and run from. Frankenstein found his troubles, because he did not see this as a door to close shut. He saw the opportunity in front of him, but did not ask or see what was on the other side of this door. Other character flaws caused Frankenstein's downfall, such as pride, dishonesty and selfishness. He was like a father who brought a child into the world because he could, but when he realized the consequences of his actions he ran from his problem, which only created more. Only after his problems enveloped his life and cause his downfall, did he realize that moderating his pursuit of knowledge would have saved him. He was right.
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