Knowledge: Tree or Fire?

               In Frankenstein, the monster broods constantly. In Paradise Lost, Adam and Satan are the same. Their individual circumstances are different, but they're all thrown into grief that causes them to question their own creator. Why was I formed? Why am I exiled? Why can't I be higher than God?

               One instance is the monster's peripeteia after it studies Paradise Lost, Lives, and Sorrows of Werther. Like Adam, the monster bights the forbidden fruit of knowledge. Before, it just considered itself to be unlike the others; it was even pleased with the thought of having protectors that were happier than it was. The books illustrate characters that are comparable to it. Through comparison, the full situation of its abandonment by its master and the hopelessness in trying to be human hits the monster right in its stitched heart.

           Likewise, Satan is exiled. Unlike the monster, Satan has his own hubris involved. He was a top angel; his angel name, Lucifer, literally translates to his celestial work, "light-bearer".

       How did one of the most regarded and beautiful angels become estranged? He denied his creator. Much like the monster, woe changes into hatred for humanity. Unlike the monster, Satan knew exactly what he was up against beforehand, and his creator held him in high esteem. Thematically, this hubris demonstrates a large flaw in arrogance and ambition; regardless of how much he thinks one knows (which rebel angel to choose and a plan of attack), knowledge doesn't ensure success.

                Adam, one of the first humans created, was Satan's target. The forbidden fruit is bitten, and Adam and Eve are almost as woeful as Satan and the monster. Much like the monster after it is spurned by the De Lacey family, Adam questions his existence. His thought process has completely changed; before, only his environment was on his mind, but now he contemplates God, who is beyond human reach.

                 The common thread between Frankenstein's monster, Satan, and Adam is their resulting knowledge. Adam differs here because he doesn't contemplate until after he is enticed. Even then, his mold as a human isn't broken. Satan and the monster's level before their deepest inquiries afforded them a stable position in their individual lives. Between the three, knowledge completely shifted their life. Thematically, this implies that knowledge, as abstract as it is, can burn more than it can develop a person.



Definition of Lucifer courtesy of IsraelofGod.org
The Thinker image courtesy of Auguste Rodin and Chantal Powell Artists Blog
Wildfire Image courtesy of Mindspower