1. Walton’s letters at the beginning of the story serve many purposes. By having a character that introduces the story of Victor Frankenstein and his “monster”, Shelley keeps Frankenstein’s fate a secret. Otherwise, Frankenstein’s narration would be cut off and that would ruin an essence of the novel. In addition, Walton serves as a character that Frankenstein is similar and can relate to. This character parallelism provides a means of connection throughout the novel and pulls the book together.
2. Ultimately, Frankenstein’s main goal was the advancement of science. Additionally, he was desperate for a comrade like him. These intense passions and desires led him to make his mistake of bestowing life upon a monster and later, his downfall.
3. Both Walton and Frankenstein are high-minded and well-educated scientists. They are both reasonable in respect to the monster. They both have strong bonds with the females in their lives (Walton to Margaret and Frankenstein to Elizabeth). Finally, both men are utterly
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Robert Walton served as the sole person that Frankenstein could completely open up to. Walton was also a man that was very similar to Frankenstein in character, providing means of paralleling throughout the story. Henry Clerval was the hopelessly ignored but entirely loyal friend of Frankenstein. Clerval was one that Frankenstein could depend on. He sacrificed his own happiness and responsibilities for that of his friends. Sadly, Frankenstein often took Clerval for granted and, therefore he did not influence Frankenstein decisions very much. It can be hypothesized that if Frankenstein did not leave Geneva and pursued something mundane (and safe) like Clerval’s dad wanted of him, he would not have made the grave error that lead to his tragic downfall. Elizabeth Lavenza served as not only a familial bond but also a female version of Frankenstein, In fact, I Elizabeth proved to be stronger, more clear-minded, and more emotionally stable than Victor had
Robert Walton, an explorer who nourishes Frankenstein back to health and tells the narrative through a series of letters to his sister back in England, also possesses similar traits as Frankenstein, because he is persistent to seek ultimate knowledge at all costs. The monster, who is driven with rage from the betrayal of his creator, is considered the antagonist of the novel, because he kills innocent civilians and takes the lives of Frankenstein’s loved ones as revenge for Frankenstein abandoning him. Apart from these central characters are: Henry Clerval, Elizabeth Lavenza, William Frankenstein, Alphonse Frankenstein, and Justine Moritz. These characters also play a crucial role that alludes to the element of betrayal in the novel, because they either influence Frankenstein and the monster or are killed which drives this element. Shelley’s perspective and opinion about the effects of betrayal are transpired throughout the novel, beginning from Frankenstein’s childhood and transitioning into the monster’s remorse over his
Frankenstein is a horror movie that tells the story of Dr. Henry Frankenstein’s experiment. In search for the fame and glory of playing to be god, he reaches a point where he is able to revive dead people. In this version of Frankenstein’s monster we see a selfish and careless scientist that created a creature with his intelligence. The way the character is shown reflects how ambitious someone can be to reach to be known in the world. This movie makes the people who are watching to feel empathy on the poor creature. This poor creature that did not want to live in a life where everyone is going to hate him for having a horrible aspect and not following rules that he has no idea about.
Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein is a novel narrated by Robert Walton about Victor Frankenstein and the Monster that he creates. Frankenstein grew up surrounding himself with what he loved most, science. He attended Ingolstadt University where he studied chemistry and natural philosophy, but being involved in academics was not enough for him. Frankenstein wanted to discover things, but did not think about the potential outcomes that could come with this decision. Frankenstein was astonished by the human frame and all living creatures, so he built the Monster out of various human and animal parts (Shelley, 52). At the time Frankenstein thought this creation was a great discovery, but as time went on the Monster turned out to be terrifying to anyone he came in contact with. So, taking his anger out on Frankenstein, the Monster causes chaos in a lot of people’s lives and the continuing battle goes on between the Monster and Frankenstein. Throughout this novel, it is hard to perceive who is pursuing whom as well as who ends up worse off until the book comes to a close.
Frankenstein was born in the family of the most eminent citizens of Geneva. His father married the daughter of his friend Carolina Beaufort, and became the father "in his old age." Victor was their favorite and long-awaited first-born, but Carolina would like to have a daughter. One day relaxing on the shores of Lake Como, the woman went to the poor hut and saw a lovely blonde girl, is very different from the other kids, black-eyed and dark-haired. She was a child of the Italian patriot and Germans. Her mother died in childbirth, his father was sent to prison, and she remained in the family nurse. Frankenstein persuaded farmers to give them the girl and adopted her. In the future, Elizabeth was to become the wife of Victor.
The story starts in 1770 when Victor is born and ends in 1799 when he dies on his boat in the north pole. The novel "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, is told almost entirely through flashback. All of the story Frankenstein tells to Walton is told looking back. For instance, towards the beginning of Frankenstein's flash back, he says""I, their oldest child, was born at Naples, and as an infant accompanied them in their rambles" (16). Frankenstein tells his story at the very beginning, his own birth. Frankenstein sometimes goes into a bit too much depth, but he makes up for it in his extreme detail. The way the story is told as a flashback, makes the story a first hand story. Frankenstein is directly relating his experiences with Walton. The way
The two characters introduced during the letters section in the book are Robert Walton and the stranger who came onto his crew. Robert Walton is sending letters to his sister, which indicate he is on a voyage to the North Pole and how ambitious he is to be the first to sail there. During his journey, an unknown man boards his ship. My initial reaction to Walton was that he seemed to be very ambitious, but also a clear example of a romantic character. Additionally, he searches for someone who is in able to share his ambitions and romantic characteristics. My reaction to the stranger who boards the ship was that he seemed helpless at first until he was in a less fragile
...s a European who then comes abroad the ship. It’s soon discovered that the European is in pursuit of the first man that Walton saw. This tells us that somehow the story will end with Frankenstein on the ice hunting for the monster. There are many points of foreshadowing in the story another example is at the end of chapter 2.
Victor Frankenstein is originally a happy character that loves to learn and read a large variety of books. He was a fiery individual who sought to understand all knowledge; regardless of how practical the information was. Evidence of this is when his father tells him not to worry about fictional writers like Cornelius Agrippa. Yet, Frankenstein states, “But here were books, and here were men who had penetrated deeper and knew more. I took their word for all that they averred, and I became their disciple” (21). Frankenstein embodies the movement in science to understand everything, and that is not necessarily a good thing (Storment 2). Frankenstein only understands that this train of thought is bad when he reaches the pinnacle of knowledge and produces the creature. The fruits of Frankenstein’s labor end up costing him the lives of his friends and family, as well as his own sanity. The feeling of guilt thrives in Frankenstein because he knows his work was the direct cause of the chaos in his life. In Frankenstein’s case, his goal of total enlightenment led to his pitiful demise. Frankenstein’s creature was not originally a monster. He is born with good intentions and is a gentle- although atrocious looking- being until he learns of the sins of the human race. The ultimate factor in the creature’s progression from harmless to
“From this day natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry, in the most comprehensive sense of the term, became nearly my sole occupation” (Shelley 36). This shows that he devoted all his time to learning and studying about natural chemistry. After a couple years of intense studying, he starts to develop an interest in the human body, and he wants to create life from death. Just like Walton changed from being a poet to an explorer, Frankenstein changed from being a natural philosopher to being a creator of life. Another way Victor Frankenstein and Robert Walton are similar is how both of them adore their sisters. Frankenstein’s sister is named Elizabeth and she was adopted by Victor’s mother, Caroline after Elizabeth’s family could not afford to take care of her. “… she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as mine—mine to protect, love, and cherish” (Shelly 21). Before Elizabeth was taken into Victor’s home, his mother told him that she was going to give him a present for him to take care of. Then, the next day, Victor’s parents brought
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. Throughout the novel, Shelley investigates the idea of monstrosity. She makes the point that a monster does not have to be genuinely evil in order to be considered monstrous.
... is misrepresentation of the entire story based on whose point of view it is being told from. Despite Frankenstein and his monster being the core of the story, they are tainted by their own emotions as well as their own backstories. Through their animosity towards one another, they skew the story and are not capable of showing the tale in a light that is completely unbiased. Therefore they cannot encompass all of the themes of the novel because they are not able to show the truth of their own narrations. Walton on the other hand, is only there to bring to light the true themes of the novel therefore making him the most reliable of the three. He shows Shelley’s themes of religion, science, and nature all too well by retelling the story which Victor dies telling him and his lack of previous knowledge to the situation at hand makes him the least skewed of all three.
After Frankenstein discovered the source of human life, he became wholly absorbed in his experimental creation of a human being. Victor's unlimited ambition, his desire to succeed in his efforts to create life, led him to find devastation and misery. "...now that I have finished, the beauty of the dream had vanished..." (Shelley 51). Victor's ambition blinded him to see the real dangers of his project. This is because ambition is like a madness, which blinds one self to see the dangers of his actions. The monster after realizing what a horror he was demanded that victor create him a partner. "I now also began to collect the materials necessary for my new creation, and this was like torture..." (Shelley 169). Victor's raw ambition, his search for glory, has left him. His eyes have been opened to see his horrible actions, and what have and could become of his creations. As a result, Victor has realized that he is creating a monster, which could lead to the downfall of mankind. His choice is simple, save his own life or save man.
Victor Frankenstein was the creator of the monster in the book. He was an ambitious man who had high hopes and dreams for himself, but this characteristic was the cause of his downfall. He had a ruthless desire to obtain forbidden knowledge- a knowledge that only God was worthy of having. This lead him to lock himself in his laboratory, disregarding his family, friends, and health. His one purpose was to create life. In his quest to create a human being and bestow the power of life, Victor eventually did create a creature, but this lead to a situation
...ry. The loneliness of Frankenstein and the monster drove them miserable for most their lives, and in the end, to death. Walton on the other had, turns back to civilization, perhaps learning something from the story of Victor Frankenstein. In the book Frankenstein, there were many moments of glory for Victor Frankenstein, but in the end he only ending up destroying many of his family, himself, and the monster after suffering through loneliness and grief for a big part of his life.
Mrs. Margaret Saville is the woman to whom the narrator tells the story. Elizabeth Lavenza is the beloved of Victor Frankenstein. Justine Moritz is the heroine who is accused by mistake of murdering William and executed instead of the fiend. There is close connection between the female and male characters, and if we break it, Frankenstein will have no sense. The author of the novel, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, characterizes the women in the same way as the men, and shows that they are independent players.