Mary Shelly choose Robert Walton’s character because she wants him to be a rebel, which also links him to Victor Frankenstein as victor is a rebel as well. Mary Shelly links Robert Walton to Romantics. Firstly Romantics have interest in nature, rather like Robert Walton who is going on a voyage to the North Pole. Also Romantics rebelled against social rules. Robert Walton is rebelling against what Shelley calls the rules of nature as he goes on an expedition to the undiscovered. There are many Romantic heroes from various books like Odysseus from The Odyssey. But there are also other rebellious heroes many of who are from myths and legends. One of the main rebellious heroes was Prometheus who gave fire to man against Zeus’ will and was punished for it.
Shelly presents Robert Walton as a rebel, rather like Victor Frankenstein. We no that Robert Walton is a rebel firstly because he rebels against the limitations of knowledge, he is going to the North Pole. He says, “I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited.” This means that he wants satisfy his need for knowledge by searching the ‘unknown’ world. We also know he is a rebel as his father forbids him to go on a voyage, which he is doing. Also we see that he doesn’t desire luxuries or an easy life, he says “My life might have been passed in ease and luxury, but I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path.” This also shows that he will go a long way for glory and that he would much prefer glory than luxury and ease.
Victor Frankenstein is seen as an amazing being through Robert Walton’s eyes through their time together. Shelly describes Frankenstein through the eyes of Robert Walton as a “Divine wanderer”. Also Walton Says that he is, “so gentle, yet so wise”. From Shelly’s choice of words we can see that Robert Walton sees Victor Frankenstein as a person with superhuman qualities. Therefore throughout Robert Walton’s letter we can see that Robert Walton looks up to Victor Frankenstein as a rebellious hero and as an amazing being.
Structurally, Shelly’s opening to the novel is quiet strange. At the start of the novel you have Robert Walton’s letters and then Shelly follows the letters with Victors personal story. I believe that the way Shelley has opened the novel may be strange but it is effective trough out the sequence. By using different narratives Shelly encourages the reader to compare and contrast the viewpoints of Victor Frankenstein and Robert Walton. From Chapter one Mary Shelly proceeds to create the character of Victor Frankenstein through his own narrative. Interestingly, she reveals that like the first narrator, Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein has had the desire to reach new depths of scientific research since he was a child.
Mary Shelly shows the reader the parallels between the two narrators, Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein. Firstly the reader can see that Frankenstein and Walton are alike, as they both want to rebel against the limitation of knowledge. The reader knows this as Walton wants to find new undiscovered things by going to the North Pole and Frankenstein wants to create life. Also the reader can see that the two of the narrators are alike as they both rebel against their father. Finally the reader can see the similarities in the characters as they both say that they have had the desire to reach new depths of scientific research since they where children.
