According to Rousseau, education through experience is the proper way of learning. Rousseau chooses to reject societies idea of schooling and prefers a more natural way of learning. In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein’s monster learns that in order to survive, it must teach itself how to communicate, and what is necessary for it to do and not to do.

Rousseau’s theory of education by man, nature and things is reflected in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein through the beast Frankenstein creates; the strongest influence of beast’s development is education by man because the beast is most affect by it, through his development of human emotions, like love and hate, which essentially drives the plot of the novel.

Institutionalized education, although the most widely accepted, is not the only method of education. In James Marcus Bach’s “A Buccanner Scholar” he expressed the importance of living a life of pursuit and passion and how it would lead to success. Bach’s philosophy shown true for human rights activist Malcolm X. Malcolm X stumbled upon his passion while incarcerated and it was solely through his own desire to learn that he became a political force to be reckoned with. Education is an undeniable part of the success, school however, is not.

In Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, he devises a plan to achieve moral perfection with 13 virtues through self examination. Although Franklin did not achieve moral perfection, he did become a happier and greater man. The idea of improving morally is evident in Tom Sawyer from Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer becomes a better person and transitions from a child to a man because he had matured morally with Franklin’s virtues.

There are many other methods to becoming educated besides the traditional institutional schooling, and all it takes to achieve it is ones own desire and motivation to learn. Perhaps, the best way to learn is by teaching yourself, because in this way, you are able to focus more on things that matter to you and study things that are relevant to your interests, without being confined to the limitations of forced institutional methods. James Marcus Bach’s vision of a “Buccanner Scholar”, is a successful example of this notion and is embodied by the historical figure Malcolm X, as Malcolm X’s own desire to learn ultimately resulted in his achievement of becoming an educated person.

In “An answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?”, Immanuel Kant defines enlightenment to be someone who is courageous enough to make use of their own understanding without being influenced by others.  Through Malcolm X we witness that with education anyone can be enlightened. A prisoner, not only in a cell but in his own mind, had taught himself how to read and write and  by remaining disciplined in his studies, he began to understand not only the history of his people but his spirit to share it with all of America.

In Emile, Rousseau argues that though books and teachers take a role in one’s education, it is more important to start with freedom and experience to make it one’s personal understanding. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the creature had the freedom and used it to learn about sensations and how to speak, read and write, which strengthens Rousseau’s idea of allowing nature to take control.

Emerson’s theory on books from his speech, “The American Scholar,” argues that while books are beneficial to foundational components of one’s education, they limit the mind from thinking further than the thoughts already presented to it. The education of Shelley’s the monster from Frankenstein echoes this theory, as the books he reads help him understand the world around him and himself but give him reason to justify his growing detestation for humans, therefore preventing him from looking past this hate.

Through Malcolm X, we can see that an individual’s education is dependent of the situation the person is in and their own personal commitment to learning. Through the characters Victor and Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” we can fully see and understand this idea of an education.

“The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest slavery, and my enslavers… As I writhed under the sting and torment of this knowledge, I almost envied my fellow slaves their stupid contentment. This knowledge opened my eyes to the horrible pit, and revealed the teeth of the frightful dragon that was ready to pounce upon me (My Bondage and My Freedom  ch. XI).”

Both Ernest Gaines and Frederick Douglass realized the power of education and its ability to break the shackles of conformity. Using “A Lesson Before Dying” to support Frederick Douglass’ claim in My Bondage and My freedom that  knowledge has the power to “open” one’s eyes to reality, I plan to show the impact an education had in allowing African-Americans to stand up against conformity and fight for the right to be equal in the South before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.