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Frankenstein's recount of his story to Walton reveals a sense of intimacy and affinity which eventually discourages Walton to further continue his Arctic voyage after listening to his story. Preston suggests that Walton sees in Frankenstein's insatiable search for scientific mastery 'a reflection of his own restlessness and desire for knowledge' . Frankenstein, through the telling of his narrative, tells Walton to 'learn [...] how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge' lest him become the 'author of your own speedy ruin' (Frankenstein, p.38). The initial intentions of Frankenstein's research are corrupted (?) by the arrogance of his 'fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature' (Frankenstein, p.54) which leads him to become a 'slave …show more content…
of passion' (Frankenstein, p.32). This emotive language runs throughout Frankenstein's narrative, and combined with the framed structure of the epistolary first person narration, this serves to highlight Shelley's damnation of Frankenstein's hubris.
As Frankenstein relates past occurrences to Walton, his passionate discourse contains reflections on the 'fatal impulse which led to my ruin' (Frankenstein, p.53). I argue that this narrative structure also allows readers to see Walton listening and learning from Frankenstein's mistakes and turning back from his Arctic voyage. Walton realises by example that he should 'consider the effects of what [he] was now doing' (Frankenstein, p.266). Thus, it is through Frankenstein's telling of his story and Walton listening and learning from Frankenstein's mistakes which allows Walton to realise that Frankenstein has become so obsessed with creating life that he never stops considering the morality of his endeavours. This idea of unrestrained scientific development was a key concern of Romantic thinkers as they reacted against the rapid scientific expansion of Enlightenment society . Society at large is the direct target of Shelley's warning. She regards the folly of scientific hubris not only as a problem in itself, but as a symptom revealing an underlying lack of moral
guidance. However, Beth Newman argues that Frankenstein's voice compels attention, but it does so 'without seeming to compel, wooing its listeners to receptivity through its richness and resonance' . Frankenstein's telling of his story draws Walton's attention and this is demonstrated when Walton praises Frankenstein's gentleness and wisdom in a letter to his sister, but what impresses him most is something else: 'when he speaks, although his words are culled with the choicest art, they flow with rapidity and unparalleled eloquence' (Frankenstein, p.27). Frankenstein's fluency as a speaker makes him almost divine in Walton's eyes (Frankenstein, p.210), and Walton is not alone in being moved by Frankenstein's powers of oratory: 'even the sailors feel the power of his eloquence; when he speaks, they no longer despair: he rouses their energies [...] while they hear his voice [...] will vanish before the resolutions of man' (Frankenstein, p.213). Nonetheless, Walton suggests that Frankenstein's fluency with words and his ability to manipulate language is only part of what makes him persuasive; its effects upon his men last only 'while they hear his voice'. There is something spellbinding in that alone; 'as long as Frankenstein speaks, Walton and his men cannot choose but hear' . This reveals that for all his avid attention, Walton listens, but not to the words. He is drawn by the voice rather than the story Frankenstein tells. By extension, I argue that even-though Frankenstein's narrative compels attention, his narrative only takes on the accents of self-justification, and Walton and his crew are in no position to challenge those accents.
The start of Robert Walton and the monster’s final conversation, this paragraph near the end of Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein uncovers the untold perspective of Victor Frankenstein’s creation. Revealing to Robert that Frankenstein’s misery was not the only casualty of the novel, Shelly’s utilization of the monster’s pain illustrates mankind’s hatred and abandonment of the artificial being. Moreover, directing spiteful words towards Victor Frankenstein, Felix De Lacey, and even himself, the monster’s narration reflects the being’s unresolved emotions that have emerged because of society’s cruelty. Although science fiction, the narrative of Frankenstein’s monster exemplifies the literary reproduction of England’s monarchy deserting its own
As in many other stories, Robert Walton performs a primary role, the narrator. As a polar exploring narrator, first of all, Robert Walton holds a third person view when recounting Frankenstein’s tale, which gives a more objective and reliable feeling to the readers. Secondly, Walton’s narration not only gives a just account for the narrative of Frankenstein, but also sets the scene for Victor’s own story and life to begin, to break, and to end. The novel starts right with the letter from Robert to his sister, so readers are brought right into the plot. At the same time, because it introduces the background of meeting Frankenstein, the story has a sense of reality. Then within the time Victor explains his adventure, Robert functions as a joint for different events and breaks of Victor. When approaching the experience of learning about the death of Henry, Victor once said, “I must pause here, for it requires all my fortitude to recall the memory of the frightful events which I am about to relate, in proper detail, to my recollection” (158). Even though Walton is not directly introduced into the conversation, audience can feel that the reference to Walton pulls th...
Humans and nonhuman animals are social creatures by nature and crave intimacy with others. God is the only being that can remain in isolation without intimacy without facing negative consequences. While God does not have intimacy with others he does love all human beings equally. A man living in isolation will eventually lose his mind unlike God. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein exhibits a need to be God that makes him believe he can live in isolation and without intimacy like God. Some may argue that Frankenstein has a god complex because of his unshakable belief in himself and consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility;
Walton's letters play an important role for the reader may find many foreshadowed themes. As the novel progresses, the reader will realize how Walton and Victor Frankenstein share similar views on their life's roles. Both men are driven by an excessive ambition, as they desire to accomplish great things for the humankind. Walton is an explorer who wants to discover a new passage to the Pacific and therefore conjures "inestimable benefit on all mankind to the last generation" (16). Victor's purpose is to "pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation" (49). These explorers will demonstrate that such pursuit can prove to be very dangerous in quest for knowledge. Walton's ship becomes stuck in the ice and Victor's creation finally kills everyone dear to him. However, this parallel is not the only one: we can easily compare Walton's search for a friend ("I have no friend, Margaret" (19)) with the monster's request for a female because he feels alone ("I desired love and fellowship" (224)). This similarity between man and monster suggests that the monster perhaps is more similar to men than what we may perceive. If it is assumed that Shelley also shared this view when she wrote the novel, maybe she meant that the real monster manifests itself differently tha...
To begin our analysis, I will look to how Mary Shelley positions Victor Frankenstein's motivations to create life against natural laws within the ideas of individualism, as Victor can correlate directly to the educated human at the center of Enlightenment, Industrialism, and Romanticism values. With the burgeoning interest in scientific discovery during the Industrial Revolution "transform[ing] British culture" and "changing the world"(Lipking 2065), many concepts of society were also changed, which Shelley looked to explore through Victor's actions. Rooted in the scientifically curious spirit of Industrial England, Victor's attempt to create life can show many examples of how an importance of the individual acquisition of knowledge and accomplishment can disrupt society. Victor's...
During the first four letters of Frankenstein, Walton's ambitions are revealed. He is on a journey and takes himself and his crew through treacherous conditions, and yet, he continues. His ambition causes him to disregard the possibility of death and the danger he is putting himself and others in in order to reach his goal. Unlike Victor though, Walton is able to save himself, all thanks to Victor himself. After spending some time with Walton on the ship, Victor realizes that Walton shares his ambitious nature. He asks him, “Unhappy man! Do you share my madness? Have you drunk also from the intoxicating draught? Hear me; let me reveal my tale, and you will dash the cup from your lips!” After telling him about the dangers of ambition, Victor tells Walton, “Farewell, Walton! Seek happiness and tranquility and avoid ambition, even it it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and
In the novel Frankenstein, the author, Mary Shelley writes about a scientist named Victor Frankenstein who brings to life a human- like creature. Viewing this book through a psychoanalytic lens uncovers the many layers that make up this text and the characters. The psychoanalytic theory deals with a person’s underlying desire, most famously, the oedipal complex. The oedipal complex is the belief that all people possess the desire to partake in affectionate relations with a parent of the opposite sex. In Frankenstein, Shelley uses Victors conscious and subconscious to suggest that Victor possesses the oedipal complex, and that he feels intense guilt for the monster that he has brought to life.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a nineteenth century literary work that delves into the world of science and the plausible outcomes of morally insensitive technological research. Although the novel brings to the forefront several issues about knowledge and sublime nature, the novel mostly explores the psychological and physical journey of two complex characters. While each character exhibits several interesting traits that range from passive and contemplative to rash and impulsive, their most attractive quality is their monstrosity. Their monstrosities, however, differ in the way each of the character’s act and respond to their environment. Throughout Frankenstein, one assumes that Frankenstein’s creation is the true monster. While the creation’s actions are indeed monstrous, one must also realize that his creator, Victor Frankenstein is also a villain. His inconsiderate and selfish acts as well as his passion for science result in the death of his friend and family members and ultimately in his own demise.
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, is a book in which men pursue their goals against hopeless odds. Robert Walton’s decision to turn the ship around at the end of the novel is questioned by many. This essay will discuss the interpreted views on Robert Walton’s decision to retreat by Victor Frankenstein, Mary Shelley and myself. Although, some may disagree ultimately Robert Walton made the right choice to turn his ship around at the end of the novel and is therefore not a failure.
Although “Frankenstein” is the story of Victor and his monster, Walton is the most reliable narrator throughout the novel. However, like most narrator’s, even his retelling of Victor’s story is skewed by prejudice and favoritism of the scientist’s point of view. Yet this could be attributed to the only view points he ever gets to truly hear are from Victor himself and not the monster that he only gets to meet after he comes to mourn his fallen master.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, explores the monstrous and destructive affects of obsession, guilt, fate, and man’s attempt to control nature. Victor Frankenstein, the novel’s protagonist and antihero, attempts to transcend the barriers of scientific knowledge and application in creating a life. His determination in bringing to life a dead body consequently renders him ill, both mentally and physically. His endeavors alone consume all his time and effort until he becomes fixated on his success. The reason for his success is perhaps to be considered the greatest scientist ever known, but in his obsessive toil, he loses sight of the ethical motivation of science. His production would ultimately grieve him throughout his life, and the consequences of his undertaking would prove disastrous and deadly. Frankenstein illustrates the creation of a monster both literally and figuratively, and sheds light on the dangers of man’s desire to play God.
In both cases, the information that corrupts the characters was not meant for them to be discovered. When Frankenstein is discovered in the Arctic by a sailor named Walton, he is taken on board Walton’s boat. Frankenstein then tells Walton about his quest for information, and it changes Walton’s perspective on the pursuit of knowledge. Mary Shelley uses Victor Frankenstein’s and the creature’s pursuit of dangerous knowledge in Frankenstein to question the boundaries of human enlightenment. During Mary Shelley’s life in the early 1800s, galvanism was a popular area of study among some prominent scientists.
Mary Shelley expresses various ethical issues by creating a mythical monster called Frankenstein. There is some controversy on how Mary Shelley defines human nature in the novel, there are many features of the way humans react in situations. Shelley uses a relationship between morality and science, she brings the two subjects together when writing Frankenstein, and she shows the amount of controversy with the advancement of science. There are said to be some limits to the scientific inquiry that could have restrained the quantity of scientific implications that Mary Shelley was able to make, along with the types of scientific restraints. Mary Shelley wrote this classic novel in such a way that it depicted some amounts foreshadowing of the world today. This paper will concentrate on the definition of human nature, the controversy of morality and science, the limits to scientific inquiry and how this novel ties in with today’s world.
Frankenstein has been interested in natural science since childhood and has described himself to “always have been imbued with a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature”(Shelley 25), which foreshadows his future aspiration to create life, and
Ambition is a recurring idea throughout Frankenstein, and it holds a big role in many of Frankenstein’s experiences and his eventual downfall. Ambition is what drives Frankenstein to continue to pursue his scientific studies in bringing the dead to life, and as Frankenstein continues to follow his ambition, the reader is presented with many of the negative effects of his work. He becomes disengaged from his family and becomes addicted to his work. All of the consequences of Frankenstein’s ambition and work can be grouped together as a symbol of the negative potential of ambition. We can see that even Frankenstein knew the toll that it was taking on him through the quote, “"When younger," said he, "I believed myself destined for some great enterprise. My feelings are profound, but I possessed a coolness of judgment that fitted me for illustrious achievements. This sentiment of the worth of my nature supported me when others would have been oppressed, for I deemed it criminal to throw away in useless grief those talents that might be useful to my fellow creatures. When I reflected on the work I had completed, no less a one than the creation of a sensitive and rational animal, I could not rank myself with the herd of common projectors. But this thought, which supported me in the commencement of my career, now serves only to plunge me lower in the dust.” Ambition and determination are normally considered to be terms with positive connotations, but Shelley put a twist on these traits by showing how catastrophic they can be in excess. Robert Walton is a subtle representation of the positive potential of ambition, as he maintains a relatively adventurous, motivated attitude throughout the story and is able to restrain himself and stop his studies when his crew and the people around him don’t want to continue. We see that Walton shows regret for his ambition before tragedy has even struck through the quote, ““I write to