In last week’s reading of Emile, a major premise of Rousseau’s was that there are three “masters” of education. That of man, nature and things. He expressed that these three masters work best when in conjunction with one another. “Since all three modes of education must work together, the two that we can control must follow the lead of that which is beyond our control” (p.1). The “uncontrollable” mode of education Rousseau is referring to is that of nature. It was interesting to see his ideologies supported in such a fascinating story like that of Frankenstein.

In Emile, Rousseau goes on to describe infancy. He states, ”We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of education”(p.1). While not technically an infant, nor physically weak, Frankenstein’s monster might be regarded as such. In chapter 11, we begin to get insight on how he (meaning the monster) learns and navigates through the world. Born with no innate knowledge the monster must experience things and derive conclusions based of his own experiences. “… until I felt tormented by hunger and thirst. This roused me from my nearly dormant state, and I ate some berries which I found hanging on the trees or lying on the ground (11).” Naturally the monster experienced hunger and was able to conclude that eating satisfies that hunger. Through experience, the monster was also able to conclude that fire is not to be touched and that going to sleep when he’s tired, were practical solutions to very natural occurrences.

 Another of the three masters of education is that of men. Seeing as Frankenstein didn’t send his monster off to college, the education of man (in this instance) is solely observed knowledge from those around him. Through education of men, he learned basic communication skills. The monster goes on to say ,”While I improved in speech, I also learned the science of letters as it was taught to the stranger, and this opened before me a wide field for wonder and delight”(12). It was through his experiences with nature, things and men that he learned how to function in the world. I believe that the story of Frankenstein greatly illustrates many aspects of Emile.