Nathaniel Brown English IV Squance 15 October 2014 Existential Romance “Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself” - Jean-Paul Sartre You don’t have to read the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley to know it the gist of it. Victor Frankenstein creates a monster he regrets deeply and in his efforts to abort his creation he is twisted into a true monster himself. Without reading it though you may be missing out on a few keys parts of the story, most importantly our conduit through which we are actually witnessing this story is a man by the name of Robert Walton. Victor retells his story, and Walton records it in the letters to his sister. Not only does Robert serve as our vessel through truly witnessing this story but he is also the perfect contrast to the main character Victor. …show more content…
At the beginning of the tale we find Walton in the same position, on a quest to reach the north-pole during a time where such a feat has yet to be accomplished. Just like Victor he is searching knowledge that has yet to be possessed. Interestingly enough after meeting Victor he potentially saves him, calming down his men who were near mutiny, factors like meeting VIctor and witnessing his downfall led Walton to make the ultimate decision: Abandon his quest for the north pole and return back home safe and sound, providing a foil to Victors ultimate decision to hunt down the monster even till death. Here’s the thing though, I believe Walton made the wrong decision. Since mankind stepped out of the cave we have been plagued with danger, disease, inequality, and many other negative obstacles. But it’s in overcoming these obstacles we find mans fundamental reaction to the negative, we discovered