Frankenstein Essay

Frankenstein the great? 

  In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the two characters Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein share very similar characteristics, in the fact, they both share overly ambitious dreams and similar hopes of success. Frankenstein by creating life surpassed the limits of reality by impersonating God.  Walton wished to push the progression of sea travel by taking a route through the North Pole in slim hopes of finding a Northern passage to the Pacific. The distinct way in which both characterize success displays their unmistakable contrast on the ideas of morality. Frankenstein’s dream was a success, yet his overambitious demeanor lead to his destruction. Yet, in one regard Frankenstein was the greatest character in the story, he helped save a life; Walton was able to utilize Frankenstein’s experience to protect himself from his own demise. 

The unique aspirations that both Walton and Frankenstein have foreshadow an easily distinguishable difference in their end results. Walton’s dreams of being able to find a Northern passage to the Pacific and Frankenstein dreams of being able to bring eternal life to humanity. In both cases, the dreams would benefit mankind in some way; however one is far more unrealistic than the other.  Frankenstein and Walton hope that their “dream [transforms] society and [brings] glory to themselves” (Frankenstein). However, the realms of reality were questioned through Frankenstein’s work, which lead him to become power-hungry, especially when he began to imagine himself as a God and have an unreasonable expectation of bringing life to lifeless matter. Therefore it is easily distinguishable between the dreams that “the morality of Frankenstein's endeavor is more open to question, as is that of Walton's search for a northern passage and of scientific research in general” (Ozolins).

Walton is the epitome of “right” and Frankenstein the epitome of “wrong”. Unlike Walton, Frankenstein’s adventures lead him to his own demise. Frankenstein became enthralled with this idea of immortality and power, to the point where his character became blinded to all other aspects of life. Shelley set Frankenstein’s dream in a very ominous atmosphere, which again illustrated ruin, “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that [he] desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied [him], still [his] inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in it highest sense, the physical secrets of the world." (Frankenstein 23). This idea of secrets and mysteriousness gives the reader a very eerie feeling on the character of Frankenstein. As opposed to Frankenstein Shelley creates Walton, who shared similar aspirations of serving a purpose in life, in a more vibrant light. Shelley describes Walton as a dreamer; she allows his dreams to be possible. In one of the letters to his sister, Walton (Shelley) writes “you may remember that a history of all the voyages made for purposes of discovery composed the whole of our good Uncle Thomas' library,” this is important because it allows the reader to feel comfortable with his idea for a new water passage, but not for the dream of Frankenstein. Shelley compares these two in such distinct ways because she wants the reader to grasp this connection of a double personality and the ideas of right versus wrong. 

Frankenstein is able to help Walton come to his senses with his terrifying story of “adventure.” Walton rescues Frankenstein from the icy water when he was on his way to the North Pole. Frankenstein begins to anxiously tell his adventure and the price he paid to have done that. He talks about the creature and all the problems that he has caused him, especially by killing all those he loves. “Victor implores Walton not to follow his example, warning, "Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow" (Frankenstein 38).  At this point Walton decided to reasonably come to the conclusion that maybe this exploration was too much of a dangerous dream and was not worth losing his life for. The character of Walton was able to determine what was right and what was wrong, as opposed to Frankenstein who acted impulsively throughout the majority of the story. Frankenstein was able to finally make a useful contribution in the story; he was able to help Walton. The dream of Walton may not have been achieved, but at least Walton did not end up “'as nothing, and like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, [he] [is] chained in an eternal hell,” as Frankenstein did. (Frankenstein 194).Walton signified hope for the future, unlike Frankenstein that had died, Walton still had a chance to live and to know better than to waste a life away on a dream.

Throughout the novel, Frankenstein and Walton’s demeanor are very similar; they both share an ambitious way of life and seemingly greedy attitude of success. However, Frankenstein and Walton’s dream are very distinctly illustrated in the story; Shelley discusses the difference between morality and immorality by describing the two dreams in distinct way. Frankenstein is characterized as a very impulsive and manipulative person that does things according to his selfish needs, although Walton could potentially be characterized the same, he is not because his motives on exploration can be considered far more honorable and overall he is far more reasonable. As much as Frankenstein seemed useless throughout the story, on the fact that he got his entire loved ones killed, he was a huge positive impact on the life of Walton. Had it not been for Frankenstein, the sailor would not have been aware of the endless negativity knowledge can really have. “Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries."(Frankenstein 200) 

Works Cited

"Frankenstein." LitCharts. Company LitCharts, 2014. Web. 24 Sept. 2014.

Ozolins, Aija. "Science Fiction Studies." Dreams and Doctrines: Dual Strands in Frankenstein. N.p., 2010. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Bram Stoker, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Frankenstein. New York: Signet Classic, 1994. Print.