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The Unreliability Of Robert Walton

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Unraveling the Truth: The Unreliability of Robert Walton In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein we follow Victor Frankenstein’s life and the life he gave to the Creature. While following the story of these two characters we are also introduced to several different individuals. These characters each share their time as narrators and as the book progresses we begin to see that the unreliability has a high importance in the validity of Victor Frankenstein’s life story. Although the story is told through a variety of first-person narrators, the main narrators are Victor Frankenstein, the Creature, and Robert Walton. Each of these narrators have their own perspective. This makes it tough for the reader to distinguish the truth. Most of the story is told from the perspective of Robert Walton. When we read this novel from the perspective of Robert Walton we see that he is an unreliable narrator. …show more content…

Because Walton is emotionally vulnerable and seeks a friend it can be hard to trust his word since his emotions are affecting his honesty. We also know that because he seeks such a strong friendship in Victor that he is willing to do a lot to keep him close. He is initially fascinated by Victor's story and becomes his confidant, which may lead him to take Victor's account at face value without critically analyzing it. Towards the end of the book we see how Walton’s friendship and emotions get in the way of his reliability when he admits “Frankenstein discovered that I made notes concerning his history: he asked to see them, and then himself corrected and augmented them (Shelley 161). ” When Walton allows Victor to change his notes it puts the whole story in question and leads us as readers to the realization that he is untrustworthy as a

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Foreshadowing allow the readers to anticipate future events. The novel is written in letters and in third person perspective as Walton narrates the story of Victor Frankenstein. Walton is the captain of the ship that victor encounters on his journey back home to Geneva, Italy. As the story begins we are given a set of five letters addresses to Margaret Seville the sister of Walton. In these letters he tells his sister of the new man he has found traveling through the snow.

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He believes that the readers will come to the same conclusion that the Creature is a horrible monster because the narration is logical. Frankenstein shares his personal stories with Walton about his encounter with the Creature and knows how it will make Walton feel. Frankenstein tells Walton that he does have a choice, but Frankenstein will tell

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Frankenstein is a retelling of Victor Frankenstein’s experience of seeking something unbeknownst to him. The story serves as a warning to Robert Walton's longing to know the unknown. Both of these

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This novel consists of various speakers who are writing letters or orally telling stories to another character. Our first speaker is R. Walton, a man writing to his sister. Why do you think Shelley chose to start with this character? How does this character help the audience fully understand Victor Frankenstein?

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“What Victor Did Wrong to His Creation” Frankenstein By: Draven Baker Introduction: The Book Frankenstein has many themes, exhibitions from the bible, and modern debates in the book. The book begins with a man by the name of Robert Walton, a Captain of a ship.

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Moments, when characters have a sudden change in attitude, can be found often throughout Frankenstein, but it is prominent during Walton’s last letter to his sister as he tells of meeting the monster. The monster mentions his past concerning Victor Frankenstein and that his feelings were “forever ardent and craving; still [it] desired love and fellowship, and [it] was spurned…” (Shelley 211). While the monster recognizes his desire for love, he then contradicts that desire by stating that “[Frankenstein’s] abhorrence cannot equal that with which [it regarded itself]” (Shelley 212). The monster’s growing internal conflict through the novel between his desire to be accepted and his knowledge of being different is what causes him to be a dynamic character.

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In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelly, Victor Frankenstein creates a creature. The creature and Victor Frankenstein have conflicts between each other, which is why Robert Walton is necessary to help the reader relate to Frankenstein, by having many of the same attributes are Victor Frankenstein does. Robert Walton has many similar traits to Victor Frankenstein, ultimately helping the reader greater relate to Dr. Frankenstein. Even though Frankenstein is viewed as a monster himself and Walton is considered a normal person.

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The novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley depicts certain ideas that can not be described or written within novels. For example, the telling of the story between three different narrators can teach the reader about putting together “pieces of a puzzle” in order to understand the plot of the story. The three narrators in Frankenstein are Victor, Walton, and the Creature, all with very distinct personalities and character traits. Of these storytellers, Victor could possibly be debated as the most extraordinary. The qualities that make Victor pictured as this unique character, that the fact that he is a dynamic character, and that he is an unreliable narrator.

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Frankenstein wants the glorification and pride in being the first person to create life. Frankenstein sees himself in Walton, and Walton says, “ ...do I not deserve to accomplish some great purpose?...,but I prefer glory to every excitement that wealth place on my path”(10). Walton is a younger extension of Frankenstein and gives perspective to the ideas of the younger version of Frankenstein as he creates the creature. However, Frankenstein’s ambitions cost him dearly. The deaths of those around him make him suffer, but also the creation of the creature makes the creature suffer.

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This foreshadows that once Walton hears Frankenstein’s story, he will change his mind about his expedition. Also, during the thunderstorm that happened in Victor’s childhood, Victor sees a tree get struck by lightning. He becomes interested in the idea of electricity, and he starts to study its

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Walton 's letters begin and end Shelley 's work by introducing the character of Frankenstein and also detailing the last moments of his life. While written in first-person like most of the book, his portion takes the form of letters to his sister, which lends itself to a slightly more personal style. In contrast with Frankenstein 's dramatic retelling of his life, Shelley writes Walton in a much lighter tone. Where Frankenstein 's narrative has a dark and dismal feel, Walton 's letters come across exactly as they ought to--as a man setting out on an adventure. These letters offer Shelley a platform from which to introduce the character of Victor Frankenstein.

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The fictional horror novel of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is driven by the accentuation of humanity’s flaws. Even at the very mention of her work an archetypal monster fills one’s imagination, coupled with visions of a crazed scientist to boot. Opening her novel with Robert Walton, the conduit of the story, he also serves as a character to parallel the protagonist’s in many ways. As the ‘protagonist’ of the story, Victor Frankenstein, takes on the mantle of the deluded scientist, his nameless creation becomes the embodiment of a truly abandoned child – one left to fend for itself against the harsh reality posed by society. On the other hand, Walton also serves as a foil to Victor – he is not compulsive enough to risk what would be almost

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This attitude is clearly naive. Walton possesses the same eagerness that destroyed victor and the monster. Victor says to Walton,

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This quote makes it apparent that Victor regrets his decision to heavily pursue knowledge and create his monster, clearly showing that the path that he embarked on was one that resulted in severe suffering. In conclusion, it is clear that Victor Frankenstein’s intentions are pure, however he is unaware that his pursuit of knowledge directly leads to his personal suffering. Robert Walton, similar to many explorers during his time, is ambitious to discover land beyond the North Pole. However, to reach this goal, he has to walk the dangerous path of acquiring knowledge. Walton’s goal, which is to reach the North Pole, requires him to captain a ship which travels through thick and thin.

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