Preview

The Character Of Robert Walton In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
281 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Character Of Robert Walton In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
In the beginning of Frankenstein, it begins with four different letters, written by Robert Walton to his sister Margaret Saville. Robert Walton is a captain aboard a ship on a very destructive voyage towards the North Pole. He then on explains to Margaret the undiscovered territory he stumbles upon, as well as uncover a passage in the northern parts of the pacific and that he is Russia. “This is the most favourable period for travelling in Russia. . . The cold is not excessive, if you are wrapped in fur- . . .” (Walton 1) In the second and the third letter, Robert Walton then on explains and recognizes the fact that he has no friends and has a goal of making friends. He starts to feel lonely. “But I have one want which I have never yet been

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    At the beginning of the story, Walton is writing to his beloved sister. He talks about his big adventure to the North Pole. His dream is to see the sun going around and around, the campise spinning in circles, and to find a new passage. Walton explains to his sister of the loneliness he is feeling, but he is also very picky with who could be his friend. One day, Walton see a tall person on a slide pass by before find Victor. Victor, at first, looked like a savage. Though as he spoke to Walton turns out he was a very smart person that was also very romantic. Walton expresses his dreams to Victor, who thinks he is a fool like himself. As a warning, Victor tells Walton his story. His parents meet when his mother’s father died. His father, owed it to her…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Children often grow up wanting to be like their idols and role models. As a young girl, I idolized my mom and wanted to grow up to be just like her. She is strong, independent, and she can hold her own. I saw and still see her as an ideal example of the woman that I want to be. These idolizations are present not only in real life but in fiction as well. In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein is the idealized person Robert Walton wants to become.…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The beginning and ending of the novel Frankenstein are written in epistolary form as a series of letters from Robert Walton, to his sister. The letters are unusual as they contain very little information about Walton’s sister and mostly detail Walton’s exploits in exploring the Arctic in search of the North-West Passage, in this way resembling journal entries instead of letters. While Walton spends many pages explaining his adventures in a “land surpassing in wonders and beauty,” the few questions asked to his sister are either rhetorical such as “do you understand this feeling?” which is also condescending, snidely suggesting his sisters incapacity to comprehend sublime emotions, or refer solely to himself such as “when shall I return?” In fact one of the few pieces of information collected about his sister is revealed in the last series of letters and that she has a “husband and lovely children,” something common to many women and making her remarkably indistinguishable. Because of the total lack of any real detail about his sister the reader effectively takes her place in a listener-speaker dynamic.…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The entirety of Frankenstein is contained within Robert Walton’s letters, which record the narratives of both Frankenstein and the monster, to his sister (even Shelley’s preface to the book can be read as an introductory letter). Walton’s epistolary efforts frame Victor’s narrative, which includes letters from Alphonse and Elizabeth. Like Walton’s, these letters convey important information that serves to advance the plot and offer some sense of authenticity to an implausible story. Additionally, Victor’s inclusion of these personal letters in his narrative allows Alphonse and Elizabeth to express themselves, shedding light on their respective concerns and attitudes, and thus rendering them more human.…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 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
  • Better Essays

    Frankenstein Part 1 Timeline

    • 5205 Words
    • 21 Pages

    In a series of letters, Robert Walton, the captain of a ship bound for the North Pole, tells his sister who is in England about his mission. Victor Frankenstein who was traveling by dog-drawn sledge across ice was very weak. Walton takes him in and nurses him. Frankenstein then tells him his story of how he created a monster. Victor had a great childhood with his parents and his cousin, Elizabeth, and friend Henry Clerval. Later, Victor enters the university of Ingolstadt to study natural philosophy and chemistry. He soon becomes obsessed with creating life. He soon accomplishes that but sees that he created a horrible looking monster and abandons the monster. He finds out that…

    • 5205 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Walton writes to his sister, Margaret Saville, about his voyage to the North Pole, which plans him to leave St. Petersburg, Russia for Archangel. He finds a ship and gathers men to sail with him, but realizing that he is lonely and longs for a friend. When the ship is stuck on ice, his crew sees a giant figure passing by on a dog sled and a man who looks exhausted. They take the man aboard for Walton to nurse him and to communicate with him for he has been longing for a friend. In that matter, the man, Frankenstein, tells the story about his destruction. I understand Walton because I was lonely when I moved to a different state and city. I thought that I wouldn’t make new friends when I went…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Robert Walton, I am imparting you with a full report on the creature whom you pursue. Much of this knowledge is already known to you as you have had a close encounter with this individual. We do have new developments and materials recovered from crime scenes and articles left behind by the monster. One particular article is the photo incriminating Justine under circumstantial evidence, the photo of Caroline, Victor’s mother. The purpose of this official document is to summarize what we all ought to know about the criminal to better aid us in our search for the monster.…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    For many people, seeing someone who is different may be hard to accept. In Frankenstein, a plethora of characters mentioned were unable to accept that the monster was, for want of a better word, a person. There is an innumerable amount of traits that make a us human and the monster appeared to have many of them. The qualities that make us human include the ability to care, intense emotions, the ability to tell right from wrong, and competence. Examples of the monster portraying these traits are spread out through the book.…

    • 174 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory 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

    Readers may surmise that Victor’s tale would be the key to making Walton see Victor in a new and more reasonable light, but they would be wrong. In Walton’s final letters, dated only one more week after Victor began telling his story, he continues to describe Victor in peculiar ways. He calls Victor’s eyes “fine and lovely” (178) and says that “his eloquence is forcible and touching” (179). Although “forcible” could connote something negative, it seems more likely that Walton means it positively as in “powerful” or “convincing” (OED). On the same page he tells Margaret that his mind and “every feeling of [his] soul” were “drunk up” by Victor’s “elevated and gentle” manner and storytelling. Much like his contradictory discussion of his experience…

    • 1107 Words
    • 5 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

    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.…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Letter one in the story of Frankenstein, is mainly about Robert Walton writing to his sister Margaret Saville. Robert has a passion for traveling on sea, turns out that he is sailing to the North Pole. He writes to his sister explaining his preparations for his new journey, and of his desire to accomplish his goals. Robert’s most favorable period is travelling in Russia, he expresses how, “They fly quickly over the snow in their sledges; the motion is pleasant, and, in my opinion, far more agreeable than that of an English stagecoach” (Walton 3). Moreover, letter two is when Robert commits his thoughts and feelings in the letter for Margaret. Robert expressed how he is not completely satisfied, “You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Frankenstein’s monster is most frequently seen as, of course, a monster. He is fearsome naturally, but he has the mind and spirit of a developing human child. The creature’s youthful demeanor exhibits itself through many examples. The most prevalent childish behaviors he has are; the creature’s fear of being alone and seeking attention and love, being completely unbiased and not judgmental at the dawn of his creation, and his lack of knowledge of the world around him.…

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays