Characterization In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Frankenstein fulfilled his destiny and made his creation despite his suffering and misfortunes. However, his influence on Walton is paradoxical. One moment, Frankenstein exhorts Walton’s almost-mutinous men to not stray from their path courageously, regardless of danger. The next, he serves as an abject example of the dangers of heedless scientific ambition. Walton serves as a foil to Victor, either not obsessive enough to risk almost-certain death or not courageous enough to allow his passion to drive him. Walton ultimately draws back from his treacherous mission and returns to England, having learned from Victor’s example how destructive the thirst for knowledge can be.

The feeling of loneliness and longing for a friendship links Walton, Frankenstein and the Creature together. Walton writes in one letter, "I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me, whose eyes would reply to mine . . .I bitterly feel the want of a friend."` Frankenstein hears the same desperate plea for friendship from the Creature when he says "everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy , and I shall again be virtuous." Unfortunately, Frankenstein never offers the same friendship to the creature as he does to Walton. However, Frankenstein did get a taste of the lonely friendless misery felt by Walton and the creature when he was sent to prison for the murder of Clerval.

Frankenstein and the creature’s thirst for knowledge bring them to eventually find what they are looking for but it also takes them to dangerous, and unwanted places. When Frankenstein first encounters Walton, he tells him “You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been”(Shelley14). Significantly, Frankenstein became obsessed with science, which led to the creation of a new life form. He

Walton is isolated in different ways: his boat is stuck in the ice, in the middle of nowhere up north, and he is also isolated because “I have no friend”. The first type of seclusion, “encompassed as I am by frost and snow”, is one that is also found later on in the novel when Frankenstein would lock himself away to create his monster for example, and mirrors Walton’s state of mind, thus being loneliness. Consequently both types of separations are greatly linked. However, the lonely seclusion of having no friends is the most prominent and important in this novel. Shelley stresses this idea by having Walton communicate his constant desire for “the company of a man who could sympathise with me” and how he “bitterly feels the want of a friend”. This theme is also crucial in the play as Walton’s desire at the beginning of the novel, will then be echoed by the monster’s request to his creator for a companion which, by his refusal, ignites the feeling of revenge in the monster. Furthermore, this theme of isolation is key in the story also because, it plays a great part in why Walton welcomes Frankenstein on his ship in the hope of making a friend. Walton even declare that “my affection for the guest increases every day” despite him being miserable and mysterious. This idea that Walton feels deep liking for a guest he knows nothing about yet accentuates his social isolation as his desire for a friend is so strong, that he would be ready to befriend a complete stranger thus clouding his judgement on hearing Frankenstein’s story. This thus influence the reader’s view of the rest of the novel as we begin to doubt the reliability of the narrator thus picturing Frankenstein in an even more negative light throughout the

When Frankenstein is the narrator, the mood and tone shift from Walton’s mood of enthralled and tone of meditative to Frankenstein’s horrified tone and suspenseful mood. Frankenstein first establishes his truly horrified tone through the diction that he uses in Chapter V, when his creation finally comes to life. Frankenstein uses diction like “catastrophe,” “horrid,” and “disgust filled my heart” upon the sight of his beast, and even goes further to call his creation a “miserable monster.” The diction in this section of the book is intense, and it creates a tone of horror towards the monster that Frankenstein has created. The diction also creates a suspenseful mood for the reader, because now that Victor’s creation has gone bad, they have no idea what might happen next. In Chapters 8 and 9, Frankenstein continues to establish his horrified mood when he perceives that it was his creation that killed his brother, William, and this in turn causes the death of Justine. When this happens, Frankenstein uses words and phrases like “tortures of my own heart,” “desolation,” and “accursed hands” to describe his emotions about the suffering he has caused. Frankenstein’s emotions are destroyed so badly by the thought of what he has done that he even refers to himself as a “madman.” This diction proves to the reader that the author’s tone is indeed horrified; the fact that the reader once again

After the death of Frankenstein, the Creature is met face-to-face with Walton, and here the Creature meets his final challenge of communicating and addressing a human who might have compassion for him. Upon seeing and hearing from the Creature, Walton experiences similar reactions as Frankenstein upon first communicating with the Creature. His physical appearance once again stains with utter disgust any attempt at showing benevolence: “Never did I behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome, yet appalling hideousness. I shut my eyes involuntarily” (Shelley 211). Once this reaction takes place, the Creature’s words do cause a small time of wavering of compassion for Walton, although ultimately he does reject the Creature once

This foreshadowing is important because it is what allows us to see the changes that Frankenstein went through as well as to give tension as to what will happen to him latter on as a result of what happened on that fateful day. "Thus ended a day memorable to me; it decided my future destiny." (6)

Throughout the four letters of Robert Walton Mary has presented the theme of foreshadowing and much more through the speech and text of Frankenstein. The Foreshadowing in Frankenstein the letters of Walton also set the scene for the rest of the book. Mary puts hidden and clever innuendos to make the reader interested and to also paint the

The topic of appearance and judgment is greatly exemplified in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as it becomes apparent that

Q: “Examine the effect of the epistolary form of writing throughout the novel Frankenstein. Do you think the epistolary novel form of writing are an effective form of telling the story? How does the epistolary form affect plot development and character development?”

Walton, having rescued Victor in the far North, witnesses the deterioration of Victor’s health as time passes. After Victor’s death, Walton finds the Creature standing over Frankenstein’s body, and listens to his tale. The Creature says, When I discovered that he, the author at once of my existence and of its unspeakable torments, dared to hope for happiness; that while he accumulated wretchedness and despair upon me, he sought his own enjoyment in feelings and passions from the indulgence of which I was forever barred… Evil thenceforth became my good. Urged thus far, I had no choice but to adapt my nature to an element which I had willingly chosen.

This quote is arguably the most potent, powerful, and expressive one in the entire novel. So expressive this quote is that Frankenstein eloquently describes the overwhelming desire to explore the mysteries of knowledge. Frankenstein uses parallelism "...one thought, one perception, one purpose..." to underscore his unwavering goal to discover the secrets of creation. Furthermore, Frankenstein also uses a metaphor to compare his desire to acquire knowledge to the chords being sounded on a piano. This quote emphasizes that Frankenstein had one goal – to seek out the secrets of creation.

The most frightening horror story can only be called such if it is believable. Nothing is so unnerving as lying awake at night with very real fears. No monster can harm you, unless the monster was genetically engineered by a mad scientist. The theme of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - scientific investigation without consideration of morality and responsibility - is a very relevant topic in today's world. This theme, along with the less obvious themes of revenge, prejudice against deviation from the norm, and fate all make Frankenstein one of the most unique and terrifying horror novels ever.

Furthermore, it’s understandable that Frankenstein and Walton want a relationship with someone who is “...Half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves — such a friend ought to be.” Friendships should be based on trust and basically enjoying their company. In friendships, the friends should strive to better each other; this doesn’t mean try to fix every bad trait they exhibit. With this in mind, Walton values such a relationship that he doesn’t understand the true nature of Frankenstein. Though, the influence of Frankenstein’s story is enough for Walton to change his mind about his

Walton sees Frankenstein as a companion equal in ambitions. Walton confides his dream with Frankensteien although he responds in dismay, as it was an ambition and a dream, which drove Frankenstein to near destruction. On the way Walton saw a being of gigantic proportions. A question which comes into the readers mind is 'what was the human-like creature?