Blog Post 4

Jaime Hynes

My recent service experience helping in Ms. Grant’s Kindergarten class helped me to do much reflecting. As I sat at a tiny desk and laminated flashcards decorated with various pictures and words, I observed the children interacting with each other. When you’re as young as they are, about five years old, you are so open and accepting to everything and everyone. Specifically, everyone is your friend when you’re a Kindergartener. You don’t really understand the concept of loneliness or how it feels to not connect with the people around you. You just run around and play, only worried about what you’re going to eat at snack time.

In the book “Frankenstein”, Walton’s second letter addresses his lack of friends and inability to find comfort in his shipmates. He feels that no one on his ship can relate to him or connect to him the way he wishes they could. However, in his next letter, he states he is confident that he will achieve his goal on the voyage and disregards his feeling of loneliness. When comparing this situation to the children in my kindergarten class, I came to the realization that, as we get older, we lose sight of the importance of friendship and intimacy in order to pursue our goals. It’s not until we take a step back from our busy lives and think about the people in our lives and how important they are to us.

 As a human with only five years of experience on this planet, there is clearly much more knowledge and growth to be gained. However, I feel that there is beauty in the children’s innocence and ignorance. As I alluded to earlier, they are oblivious to feelings of loneliness and other mental struggles, since they are too young to fully understand these concepts. Life is so simple at this age; your worries and anxieties are very limited. Sometimes, I feel as though possessing knowledge can be a dangerous skill to have.

The stranger, who soon is revealed to be Victor Frankenstein, that Walton runs into says to him, “You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been.” Throughout the first half of the novel, it is evident that Victor and Walton’s search for knowledge can lead to unfortunate consequences, proving that knowledge sometimes can involve risk. Walton’s attempt to explore the North Pole in the pursuit of knowledge will be extremely dangerous, resulting in him being trapped between sheets of ice. This story shows how the desire to go beyond human limits can result in destruction.