Walton's Ambition

A man named Marcus Aurelius once said that, “A man's worth is no greater than his ambitions” this means a person’s integrity can be seen through what they devote their time and energy on indicating what kind of person they are. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the narrators long for companionship but their ambition causes their own alienation. A narrator who longs for companionship is Robert Walton but his ambition to find magnets in the North Pole isolate him from others. Furthermore, Victor Frankenstein also desires companionship but he is engulfed in finding his Monster and getting revenge. Finally, the Monster likewise craves companionship but his attempts are too ambitious which alienates him from others. The North Pole is the most northern

position on earth.
The narrator Robert Walton desires a sustainable relationship between his sister Margaret Saville through letters, his ship’s captain and with the mysterious stranger Victor Frankenstein; however his ambition to the North Pole to find a magnet alienates him. Robert Walton has a long distance relationship with his sister where he writes her letters of his experience and he does not receive them back, leading to a one way relationship that is not fulfilling.

In the beginning of the novel, Walton is writing letters to his sister Margaret Saville to tell her what he has been doing and asks her to, “Continue for the present to write to me by every opportunity: I may receive your letters on some occasions when I need them most to support my spirits” (Shelley 8). Walton asks for letters but does not receive any throughout the book demonstrating how he is unable to connect with his sister because he would rather go to the North Pole than speak to her in person. Also, the lieutenant appears to be a good friend for Walton but because he is more educated their friendship cannot develop. After Walton has written to his sister the story of his captain he replies to her, “‘What a noble fellow!’ you will exclaim. He is so; but then he is wholly educated: he is as silent as a Turk, and kind of ignorant carelessness attends him…” (7). Walton is an educated man that will not tolerate a friend like his lieutenant who thinks carelessly. This deprives him of making any friends with his crew because they are not as educated therefore causing him to become alienated. Simultaneously, the stranger Victor Frankenstein that was rescued becomes good friends with

Walton but because of his goal to the North Pole he loses him through sickness. Walton tells Victor that he would like to continue to the North Pole but his crew disagree and decide they want to sail back to England; Victor understands the ambition in which he feels and warns him to, “avoid his ambition” and to, “[s]eek happiness in tranquillity” because he has become so depressed (227). The relationship they have is important to Walton but they cannot stay friends because they have separate goals and cannot overcome them which makes then alienated from each other. Robert Walton has longed for companionship while traveling to the North Pole to find a magnet that he has become alienated from his sister Margaret Saville, his ship’s lieutenant and with Victor Frankenstein. Also, the narrator Victor Frankenstein goes insane multiple times because of his ambition.
Victor Frankenstein desires companionship but is engulfed with finding his Monster and getting revenge.

He is separated from his father Alphonse Frankenstein, his wife Elizabeth Lavenza and his long-time friend Henry Clerval. Victor Frankenstein’s obsession with trying to kill his Monster lead’s to the death of his father, leaving him an orphan. With the murder of Victor’s wife Elizabeth, his father Alphonse Frankenstein was so traumatized that, “the spring of existence suddenly gave way” (206) and he died in Victor’s hands which caused him to return back into a state of insanity. A Moral and Intellectual theorist would believe every time Victor experiences trauma he enters a state of insanity which then prevents others from interacting with him. This is just like how his father tried to help him but instead he died not truly knowing who his son is. Furthermore, Victor’s relationship with Elizabeth Lanvenza has become romantic but his desire to kill the Monster ends their relationship. Elizabeth wrote a letter to Victor while he was in Ireland for him to go back to Geneva and for his hand in marriage in which he replies with a letter telling her not to worry and he will marry her but he has a, “secret” that will, “chill [her] frame with horror” that he must tell her after their wedding (196). With him not telling her the whole truth about his creation of the Monster, he has become more distant from her physically and mentally creating a lack of trust in their relationship;

so when they finally get to be with each other, he is still not able to connect with her however, he only thinks of his Monster which in turn isolates him. Moreover, Victor’s friendship with Henry Clerval is very strong but because of his obsession of defeating the Monster he is distant from Henry causing him to be isolated. Victor was accused of a murder in Ireland then the Magistrate, Mr. Kirwin, took him into a room where the murdered body laid and he discovered it was Henry Clerval and thought, “The human frame could no longer support the agonies that [he] endured, and [he] was carried out of the room in strong convulsions. A fever succeeded to this. [He] lay for months on the point of death” (182). The friendship Victor had with Henry was very important to him that when he discovered his death by his Monster he could not remain sane, demonstrating the emotional attachment he had. An archetypal theorist would think the Monster killed Henry right after discovering he will not have a partner because Henry was the closest person to Victor and he knew it would hurt him deeply. This would make the Monster, “The Creature of Nightmare” (Archetype Examples) because he has killed anyone who was close to Victor and tourtured him mentally on what he will do next. Due to the desire for companionship Victor Frankenstein has endured. He is masked by the obsession with finding revenge with the Monster; which makes his father Alphonse Frankenstein, his wife Elizabeth Lavenza and his best friend Henry Clerval die and he becomes alone. In addition, the Monster is the last narrator that has become denied by others.
The Monster craves for companionship but his attempts are too ambitious preventing relationships with others such as the cottagers, his creator Victor Frankenstein, and the new female monster. The Monster is anxious trying to form a relationship with the cottagers and ruins his chance by being too bold and scaring them away making him alone again. In the novel, he decides to confront the cottagers and had a plan to introduce himself to the blind man, De Lacey, first when the others were out for a walk because he could not judge him physically. However when it was time to tell the old man, “[He] struggled vainly for firmness sufficient to answer [De Lacey], but the effort destroyed all [his] remaining strength; [he] sank on the chair and sobbed aloud…” when the others came back he asked the old man to, “[s]ave and protect [him]” but he did not and was thrown out of the house. The failed attempt with De Lacey demonstrated how emotional the Monster was that he is unable to connect with a person , instead he frightened the family by not giving them enough time to understand his situation leaving him to be alone once again. Furthermore, the Monster tries to form a relationship with his creator Victor Frankenstein but unfortunately pushed him past his limits which made his creator deny him again. In the mountains he meets up with Victor and tells him to, “[r]emember that [he is] thy creature; [he] ought to be thy Adam, but [he is] rather the fallen angel whom [Victor] drives from joy for no misdeed…” he then asked Victor to, “[m]ake [him] happy, and [he] shall again be virtuous” (96). This illustrates the Monster’s attempt to form a relationship with Victor but because he has killed his creature’s brother there is still resentment between them that cannot be forgiven. Therefore Victor denies him again which leaves him to be abandoned and alone. Additionally, the Monster wants to create his own compatriot by having Victor make a new creature that is female but he scared Victor making him isolated. Victor is in a laboratory in Orkney Islands creating his new female monster when he sees in the window the Monster he first created looking at him as he worked, “[he] thought with a sensation of madness on [his] promise of creating another like to [the Monster], and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing in which [he] was engaged” the Monster saw this and, “with a howl of devilish despair and revenge, withdrew” (171). The visit that the Monster made caused Victor to be afraid of him by knowing that he has been stalking him since the beginning of his journey. This made Victor think of what the Monster has accomplished so far, and if he had an accomplice they would be almost invincible. In rushed thinking Victor destroyed the body so that the he cannot have a bond between another being which will make him miserable and alone for the rest of his life. The Monster’s attempt on having a companion is compromised because of his aggressive approach to the cottagers, his creator Victor Frankenstein, and towards the thought of a new female monster. The quote from Marcus Aurelius illustrates how all the narrators worth within the novel is what they strive to become and achieve through their ambition.
The narrators in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein are desperate for companionship but their determination to succeed in a goal causes them to create their own isolation. It has been proven that Robert Walton’s ambition to the North Pole alienates him even though he longs for a companion. Moreover, Victor Frankenstein is obsessive about finding revenge against his creation, isolating him from his desired relationships. Finally, the Monster’s attempts on creating companionship with others are eliminated because he is too aggressive truing to make them work. In the end, finding companionship can be easy for short periods of time but when consumed by a goal that is not also the others is difficult to sustain that relationship over time.