The desire to discover the secrets of the universe and become famous has always been a human vice, but these searches mainly lead to ruin. In some people, these basic human drives reach dangerous proportions. Mary Shelly uses Frankenstein to express her views on the dangers of ambition, science, and selfishness. The novel features three characters, each seeking knowledge, who must face the reality of their ambitions. The characters of Walton, Frankenstein, and the Creature are used to illustrate the consequences of being overzealous in the pursuit of fame and knowledge. Even though it was written in the early 19th century, Frankenstein can be seen as a parable that will always be relevant to scientists of any century. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The novel begins with a series of letters from Walton, a man seeking to discover the secrets of the Arctic Circle, to his sister. Through these letters Walton's desire for fame is shown, through discovering things to discover. He writes these letters to his sister to ease her fears and to demonstrate his determination to complete his adventure. In these letters Walton shows his contempt for anything other than his possible discoveries. Walton talks mostly about his crew and his hopes for the voyage, and shows barely any concern for what his sister might think or feel about his absence. When he states that his curiosity is “enough to overcome any fear of danger or death” (Shelly, page 913), Walton shows that he is so blinded by the pursuit of knowledge that he does not think about the safety of his crew. This blind ambition parallels Victor Frankenstein's ambitions, and may be the reason why Walton and Victor become fast friends. When Victor is found on the ship, half-dead and insane from his quest for knowledge, he protests being saved until he is saved. assured that Walton will help him find his creation. After all the suffering Victor has put himself through, he would really have to be crazy to even think about refusing rescue. With this scene Shelly really proves her point about the danger of knowledge. Walton joining forces with Victor proves his ambition even more, because he now has two big missions to take part in. The story Walton is told by Victor only serves to pique Walton's curiosity about his strange passenger even more. Victor goes on to explain his childlike curiosity in preventing death and the enlightenment he receives through his studies. At this point the reader is able to get a sense of his growing madness and megalomania. When Victor states that "[he] alone should be reserved to discover such an astonishing secret" (932), he shows how his ego blinds him to the real dangers of resuscitation. With the description of his schooling, Victor is trying to prove to the readers and to Walton that he is not crazy. The reader is given a fair amount of foreshadowing in Victor's story of his past; when someone insists that they're not crazy, they probably are. Victor's assembling and reanimation of the corpses he uses to create his creature demonstrates his inability to temper knowledge with discretion. Since Victor had "chosen [the creature's] characteristics as beautiful" (935), he has difficulty seeing "the miserable monster [he] had created" (935), and considers the creature's imperfection an affront to his ego which causes Victor to fall into “a nervous fever”.