Chapter 24 brings us full circle, back to Walton's ship and his letters to his sister. What symbolic and practical purpose did Walton play in this story? What was the symbolic purpose of others to the meanings/themes of the story? Consider:
- Clerval?
- Elizabeth?
- Victor?
- Monster?
- The DeLacey Family?
- Anyone else?
Think of what you know of the Romantic Era as you respond. Comment on two characters other than Walton. Of course use quotations to support your analysis, and don't use a quotation used by anyone else.
Due Monday, December 7
9 comments:
In my opinion Walton serves as the only one person in the whole novel that knows the story completely from direct contact with the protagonists. He has the chance to speak to both the monster and Victor and to know both sides of the story. He is like the one who recollects the whole story because he writes it all; he has the power to keep the story alive forever in his letters. “I hardly know if I shall have the power to detail it; yet the tale which I recorded would be incomplete without this final and wonderful catastrophe.” (Shelley 228)
Elizabeth symbolizes the monster’s final defeat for Victor, because it was the person who Victor adored most and it destroyed him fully. The monster had even told him that he would meet him on his wedding day because he knew that it would torture him to loose Elizabeth. “I knew that I was preparing myself for a deadly torture, but I was the slave, not the master, of an impulse which I detested yet could not disobey.” (Shelley 229)
The monster symbolizes the effect of two things: of Victor’s passion for science and irresponsibility, and of human’s prejudices and stereotypes. Basically he is the outcome of humanity’s errors. First of all Victor made an error in creating him and even worse in leaving him alone. The other error of Humanity was to judge the monster as an evil wretch when they were not absolutely sure for he had not done any wrong before. They could have tried to listen to him, and you can prove this with the old DeLacey; because he was blind he did not react like the rest of the humans who saw him and he was actually being persuaded by the monster. The monster’s evil was humanity’s fault; he was looking for love and found hatred so he reacted in a violent way. “Was there no injustice in this? Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all humankind sinned against me?” (Shelly 231)
I believe that Walton is the connection to the end of the story. Through him we are able to discover what happened to both Frankenstein and the monster after death. Walton symbolizes Frankenstein. Walton's journey to the north represents Frankenstein's journey to defeat the monster. Like Frankenstein, Walton is unable to succeed in his journey, but through Walton Frankenstein is able to reach closure after death. This is accomplished through Walton's first and final meeting with the monster.
Elizabeth symbolizes beauty and perfection, something romanticists strived for and cherished. Her death represents how our ambitions can destroy everything that is pure and good. She represented happiness and from her death all chances of happiness was lost, everything worth living for was gone. "When I discovered that he, the author at once of my existence...dared to hope for happiness..." (Shelley229)
Victor starts out as an ideal romanticist. He holds great love for nature and is mesmerized by its power. He lives a happy and care free life. He holds great opportunities and happiness in his future. “I believed myself destined for great enterprise. My feelings are profound, but I possessed a coolness of judgment that fitted me for illustrious achievements.” (Shelley 220) As Victor begins to take on the role of nature and create life himself, he slowly loses all he that he had hopes for and all that he was promised. Victor’s life symbolizes the respect one must hold in regards to the mysteries of nature. Victor represents the downfall of man as we begin to discover the mysteries of nature and take matters into our own hands.
I think Walton's letters to Margaret symbolized the beginning of the end of the story. He basically recounted everything that had happened to Frankenstein and showed it to the readers from an outsider's perspective. I think the main lesson Frankenstein learned from his mistakes, is what he told Walton- "... avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries" (Shelley 227).
Elizabeth symbolized the only good there was in the novel. She was fun, caring, and represented happiness. Her death was a great loss to the story, I think it was part of the climax and everything after it was the falling action. After she died, the book became even more gloomy and sad. However, when she died, the creature did not feel bad for killing her. He even said "Nay, then I was not miserable" (Shelley 229)
The monster represents how things go terrible wrong when humans rush into thing without thinking of the consequences. If one does not carefully of the possible results off a dangerous experiment, there are usually very harsh consequences, and this is what the monster is. Not only should Victor have not created him in the first place, but he should have also taken proper care of him once he was alive. The creature had no guidance as to how to live his life, all he did was observe the De Laceys and follow his instincts, and no one can expect him to become a sensible, caring being for the rest of his life if he receives no love or affection.
I believe that the role that Walton plays in this specific part of the novel is that of a symbol of continuity. In these chapters it appears as if Victor is unable to fulfill his fervent desire to revenge the demise of his family and friends. And it is for this reason that Walton appears to be the individual that Victor chooses to fulfill the legacy of his revenge on the fiend. Victor’s desire to avenge his family with the same inhumanity that Frankenstein utilized on them, can be seen when he tries to convince Walton’s crew members to place their lives in peril in order to be conceived as future heroes, "Oh! Be men, or be more than men. Be steady to your purposes and firm as a rock... Return as heroes who have fought and conquered and who know not what it is to turn their backs on the foe” (Shelley, 224). This shows that Victor does not only intend to use Walton as an instrument to do his bidding but also tries to use those individuals close to Walton, such as his crew, to motivate Walton and maintain the cold and frivolous posture that Victor has focused on revenge.
Elizabeth’s death on the other hand symbolizes Victor’s abolition for his will to live. Elizabeth’s decease was the last straw and effective his death, Victor’s becomes detached from reality. This was the last person to whom Victor held of any true significance in his life, and when she was murdered by the minion, Victor lost any volition that still remained in his vein to subsist. This can be seen after Elizabeth’s death on Victor’s wedding night, when he states “Great God! Why did I not expire! Why am I here to relate to the destruction f the best hope and the purest creature of earth” (Shelley, 203). This not only demonstrates the guilt that Victor feels regarding his true love’s death but the poignant pain that now permeates his body. Her death symbolized Victor’s departure from his sanity.
The monster at the end of the novel symbolizes the consequences of the endless thirst of the ambition of men. This creature was created by Victor without considering the effect that it might have brought to society. And as a result, Victor’s whole family suffered a terrible fate. He was not cautious with his actions and suffered immensely for it as can be seen when he states that "'All [his] speculations and hopes are as nothing, and like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, [he is] chained in an eternal hell." (Shelley, 220) It is somehow ironic that his aspiration to prove that he was destined for greatness is that which destroyed him
In the story Walton symbolizes the impartial person that gets to hear both sides of the story. He is basically plays the objective side because as he hears Victor's story he hates the monster, but after he encounters he monster his feelings toward him change. However I don't think his part was as important as the other characters parts. Clerval and Elizabeth symbolize eternal friendship. "Can any man be to me as Clerval was; or any woman another Elizabeth? Even, where the affections are not strongly moved by any superior excellence, the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain (Shelley)." Their friendship was unique because it remained alive since they were little until they were separated by the monster. Elizabeth also symbolizes love and perdition. Love because Victor loves her above everything, but she was his perdition because it wasn't until she got killed that he reacted. Victor is in the story mainly to let us know that we are all naive. He symbolizes innocence of mind. What I mean by this is that his mind was naive and innocent because he never, throughout the whole story, thought of consequences.
Walton and Frankenstein are much alike in this story. While Walton represents the denouement of Shelley's novel, Frankenstein represents the ending of his own creation. However, Walton is the truth behind the lies. He is the only one to know what really causes the whole plot to expand. He is the one to begin the life of this creature, and at the end, he is the one to finish it all: "His voice seemed suffocated, and my first impulses, which had suggested to me the duty of obeying the dying request of my friend in destroying his enemy, were now suspended by a mixture of curiosity and compassion." (Shelley 228)
Throughout the novel, Elizabeth symbolized the final connection in between Victor and his creation. When the monster attacked her, Victor lost his last hope, his last desire to live. "But when I discovered that he 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, then impotent envy and bitter indignation filled me with an insatiable thirst for vengeance." (Shelley 229) Elizabeth also symbolizes the creature's revenge over his creator. He knew that by killing Elizabeth, Victor would lose all care and joy, and therefore, she was the perfect victim for the perfect revenge.
The monster represents the destruction of creation caused by ambition. Victor's urge for creating this unnatural being caused him to destroy his own mind. The feign also symbolizes fear of consequences. As Victor started to realize that he has created a criminal, he did not take the initiative to stop or at least repair the damage he had done. Instead, he let the fear of such consequences over come his conscious and hid himself behind the vandalism of his own creation.
Walton is the means for the public (us) to hear the story. If it wasn't for his letters to his sister, we could not listen to Frankenstein's story, because no one would have recorded them. That is the practical purpose of Walton. His symbolic purpose is to serve as a parallel and foil to Frankenstein. He is a parallel because he is as intrigued and in some sorts as obsessed by the natural world as was Victor. He is fascinated by Victor and in some instances resembles him, like when he says that "if [they] are lost, [his] mad schemes are the cause". this is the same kind of guilt Victor shows. However, at the end, Walton deserts his "passion" and decides to quit his navigations to discover the "country of light"- opposite to what Victor did. It is here that he is a foil to Victor's unmeasured ambition, because Walton ultimately thought about the consequences his actions could bring, and Victor was blinded by his illusions.
The women (Elizabeth, Agatha, and Caroline) serve as examples of the perfect female- submissive, beautiful, and gentle. They are the "princesses in the tower" of the book, except they ultimately die. This is actually wierd, given Shelley's ackground. Her mother was a feminist, and heeer female characters are weak.
Victor represents monstrosity (in my view) less obviously than does the creature. Obviously the creautre IS a monster, but the real monster is actually Victor because he is the one dealing with the super- and unnatural, separating himself from human society. He also represents unmeasured ambition and dangerous knowledge. This, I believe, shows how science was still feared during the romantic era. I know hat nature awed the Romantics, but this awe inspired a sort of fear, I think, and Shelley wanted to warn others that this fear is good, and safe... if one disregarded this fear, one might end up like Victor.
Walton plays a pivotal role in the conclusion of the story tying in together victor’s perspective with the creature’s monstrosity and. humanity. His practical role is that of a witness hearing and seeing the results of victor’s actions, both the creature and his sickness (due to his guilt and anger). He gets to hear and experience victor side of the story learning about the monsters actions, and his sorrow as well as actually getting to see and hear what the creature felt and the why of his action which victor didn’t show in his story. Another practical role Walton can be considered of that of a priest since he hears the creatures and Victors confessions and repentance. Symbolically Walton acts as the invisible link between the creature and Victor since through him we learned the true cause and effect of both Victors and the monsters actions and how their actions had repercussions on both sides, and that is what we learn through Walton’s letters.
Victor symbolic meaning is that of the greatness of the human mind, through the prowess of creating a man from dead parts, although he had great mental skills, but nevertheless reflects the duality of the human being, that it can be strong and yet weak in some aspects in this case victors emotional breakdowns, which were used to reflect the pursuit of a refuge in nature typical of the romantic era.
The creature apart form reflecting monstrosity and cause and effect, is a vivid representations of the need for humans of certain emotions, the need to feel accepted and the feeling of belonging to a community or a group, in an era were strong emotions were highly regarded.” When I first sought ut, it was the love of virtue, the feelings of happiness and affection with which my whole being overflowed, that I wish to be participated”(shelley 230)
Walton plays as a mediator as well as the one to narrate what happens at the end of Victor and the creature's lives. Walton also represents Victor in a sense that he too was pursuing his ambition to reach the north pole, beyond human exploration. For example, Victor states that he "had no conception that vessels ever came so far north and was astounded at the sight" (shelly 217). This shows how far Walton's ambition and search for unknown knowledge had reached. But later as Walton and crew members get trapped between ice sheets,Victor advices Walton to "seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition" (Shelly227). Having learned the result of ambition from Victor, Walton decides to forget about his search and decides to return to England.
Elizabeth, Justine, and Caroline represent passive typical women in romantic era. For example, Elizabeth is represented as caring, sweet, and lovely and also passive woman because she waits long periods of time for Victor's return. Justine is an innocent child. She is also caring and nice towards the Frankenstein family. She was also passive since she was executed for murder even though she was innocent and guiltless and accepted death. Caroline is another typical woman in romantic era since she is loving and caring mother figure as well as self sacrificing mother since she took care of sick adopted Elizabeth until her death. Victor represents secrecy since he persued a secret knowledge and made the monster secretly in a remote area away from his friends,family, and proffesors. In addition, he pursued to destroy the monster in secret since in Justine's "murder case" he could not confess about his monster. Later on, Victor tells Walton his secrets.
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