Preview

Robert Walton In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
441 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Robert Walton In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
trrtdddddddddddddddddThe first character that we are introduced to in Frankenstein is Robert Walton. Walton spent a couple of years in preparation for his voyage to the Arctic in isolation. During his voyage, Walton sends letters to his sister sporadically to tell her how lonely he is out there by himself. He is on a ship with many deck hands and crewmembers, but in his letter to Margaret, his sister, he states, " I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy" Although Walton has a boat full of men, he still feels lonely and friendless, and wishes he had a friend on the boat to keep him occupied. Once he rescues Victor, his feelings of loneliness slowly disappear. …show more content…
Frankenstein spent a long time working on his creation is his dungeon of a basement away from the rest of the world. According to Frankenstein, he spent so much time working that he started to forget his friends and family .Frankenstein's work had pretty much become his life. Frankenstein did not realize how lonely ge was until one of his old friends, Clerval, arrived and reminded him of all his family and friends he had left behind.The first character that we are introduced to in Frankenstein is Robert Walton. Walton spent a couple of years in preparation for his voyage to the Arctic in isolation. During his voyage, Walton sends letters to his sister sporadically to tell her how lonely he is out there by himself. He is on a ship with many deck hands and crewmembers, but in his letter to Margaret, his sister, he states, " I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy" Although Walton has a boat full of men, he still feels lonely and friendless, and wishes he had a friend on the boat to keep him occupied. Once he rescues Victor, his feelings of loneliness slowly

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The lens through which readers encounter monsters is often a skewed one. This lens could be that of the author, who seeks to embody a monster as a horrific, non-human entity that will cause havoc in an area. Similarly, this lens could be that of a character in a piece, one who witnesses the monster’s wrath and destruction firsthand and hopes to avoid the cruel savage being. Monster narratives rarely unfold from the perceptive of the monster, and, as such, audiences must rely on other sources as to the monster’s course of action. Such voices can carry a bias with them. As in the case of the author, the omniscient perspective provides descriptions of the monster without directly interacting the monster. This perspective could easily fail to report…

    • 1844 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Walton wanted to travel to the arctic, and even reach the northernmost area of the cold wasteland. Frankenstein, wished to accomplish something very abnormal and fantastic. He wished to create life and obtain the ability to bring things back from the dead. In Frankenstein, both men aim to accomplish great endeavors, but the author uses the characterization of Victor Frankenstein and Robert Walton to warn people of the dangers that fall upon those who seek knowledge of unknown ideas and concepts. An example of this in the modern era is the science that led to the development of nuclear and advanced military technology.…

    • 103 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Friendship and companionship are very important to both Victor Frankenstein and Robert Walton. Victor finds companionship and friendship from his childhood friend, Henry Clerval. On more then one occasion, Victor expresses his gratitude for having a friend like Clerval. "Clerval! Beloved…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is obvious that Victor Frankenstein has reconstructed Walton’s views of the creature. Walton describes him as ‘ apparently a gigantic structure’, ‘savage inhabitant’. This shows that Robert Walton has a natural opinion based on appearance. As Walton acts as the narrator, his views influence the reader. However, due to his split personality, we must ask ourselves as to whether or not, we trust him. His loneliness forces him…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The most obvious part of Frankenstein’s personality is his misery. In his August 13th letter, Robert Walton calls Frankenstein a “broken spirit” who appears “destroyed by misery” (23-24). Frankenstein’s expression is often “expressive of a calm settled grief” (24). Frankenstein himself tells Walton, “But I—I have lost everything, and cannot begin life anew” (24). Shelley relentlessly reminds readers of Frankenstein’s utter hopelessness and despair. However, she also shows Frankenstein’s lighter side. He loves the wonders of the world deeply; Walton says that “no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature” (24). Indeed, Shelley makes it seem like Frankenstein’s love of the world around him transcends everything else in his life. She says about him, “Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures” (24-25). Shelley also stresses Frankenstein’s singularly keen mind. Walton tells his sister,…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The literary element of characterization plays a big role in conveying the feeling of loneliness in Frankenstein. When Victor first sees the monster he’s created he says:…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the next couple of days the shipmate spent their time nursing the stranger. Eager for this stranger to talk the shipmate had question about this stranger like who is he where his from and how did he end up on that huge sheet of ice. Walton sees that this man is still fragile so he prevents his men from troubling this man with a load of questions. As time went on Walton establish a friendship with stranger and the stranger being to tell Walton about his life. The stranger that Walton and his men had found was Victor Frankenstein who would narrate the following letters that was sent to Walton sister. Victor begin to tell Walton about his childhood in Geneva with his adopted sister Elizabeth Lavenza and friend Henry Clerval, Also how his mother had die of an illness right before he went off to school , He went on to say how he attend the university of ingolstadt to study natural philosophy and chemistry. Where he then isolated his self from his family, friends and studies he becomes obsess with the discoverer of the secret life after years of researching he is certain that he has found it. With the knowledge that Victors spent months alone in his apartment where he created a monster that was formed by different human body…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Each year it is harder to fit in with society. Throughout the story Frankenstein starts feeling more lonely and wants to go out but he can’t cause he is different. He feels like he won’t be accepted outside of his home. The only human he has communicated too is Victor so far. It will make him feel like he is not wanted around.…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a book about the longing for companionship and social acceptance. British novelist C.S. Lewis once stated “We read to know we are not alone.” (C.S. Lewis) Throughout Shelley’s novel, there it is noticeable that Robert Walton, the monster, and Victor Frankenstein himself are in need of a companion in their life. We first find a longing for companionship when Robert Walton is writing to his sister and says “I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavor to sustain me in dejection. (Shelley 9)…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The narrative of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is set at various locations around Europe. In the first of his letters sent to his sister, the reader sees that the explorer, Robert Walton, is on a voyage to the North Pole in his ship. The narrative of Frankenstein is relayed from Victor Frankenstein, the man whom Walton discovered, abandoned in a ship. Victor begins by telling of his adolescent life and the formulation of a hideous creature that he ultimately rejects due to his wretched appearance. This leads the creature to commit a series of vengeful crimes on those whom his creator holds dear. The reader learns by the end of the narrative that subsequent to Victor’s death, the creature realizes that he has been deprived of ever finding happiness.…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Nevertheless, within Frankenstein there are many individuals that are successful. These include: Henry Clerval, Robert Walton, Alphonse Frankenstein, and other secondary characters behave as individuals because their selected life path confines them to exist primarily as individuals. For example, the ship captain Walton is an explorer seeking to find the supposed paradise of the North Pole. However, at the same time he yearns for a friend, a companion. His interest and need for a friend is not a fleeting emotion, “I greatly need a friend who would have sense enough not to despise me as romantic, and affection enough for me to endeavour to regulate my mind” (54). Walton recognizes a facet of friendship that Frankenstein overlooks until it is…

    • 216 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    All the tragedy, murder, and despair in Frankenstein occurs because of a lack of connection to either family or people in general. The true evil in Frankenstein is not Victor or FM, but isolation and solitude. When Victor becomes lost in his studies he removes himself from human society, and therefore loses sight of his responsibilities and the consequences of his actions. FM becomes vengeful not because he’s evil, but because his isolation creates overwhelming hate and anger towards Victor. It becomes clear that both FM and Victor see isolation from family and society as a worst possible outcome, and the cause of hatred, violence, and revenge. Mary Shelley demonstrates how through the themes of solitude and friendship, solitude corrupts and friendship rejuvenates, but, ultimately, nature drives all beings into solitude.…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emotional and physical isolation in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein are the most pertinent and prevailing themes throughout the novel. These themes are so important because everything the monster, Victor, and Robert Walton do or feel directly relates to their poignant seclusion. The effects of this terrible burden have progressively damaging results upon the three.…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Both Walton and Frankenstein wish to establish themselves in the scientific world, and the creature desires to have a companion to fulfill the lack of meaningful relationships in his life. Frankenstein is the only one who truly achieves his ambition, but his achievement has the most devastating consequences. Although Walton never achieves his scientific ambition, he is able to protect his own life and the lives of his crew. The creature’s failure to achieve his goal of companionship causes him to ruin the lives of others, destroying their abilities to achieve their own ambitions. The novel does not serve as a warning against ambition, but as a reminder to think about how the ambition is achieved, and who it may…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life goes on and the older people get, the more knowledge they obtain, and so did Frankenstein. He began with self-instruction and continued studies in Ingolstadt, which may sound terrific, but we know that his thirst for knowledge was one of the reasons that led him to misery. He sets away that wonderful world of joy and friends for a filthy laboratory and a dream that is consumed of ambition. In my personal opinion I think that the opportunity he had in going away for college was worth gold, but it doesn 't explain the fact that he ceases the relationship with his family and friends. He know it and he reveals it when he says, "And the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics