Essential #9

How do Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein compare and contrast as men, scholars, and scientists?

Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein were both desirous for success and possessed a sense of determination in the advancement of their knowledge. Robert Walton, from a very young age read about sailors and explorers that achieved greatness, and longed to become one of them. Similarly, from when Victor Frankenstein was a toddler, he read about scientists and their great discoveries. This led to Victor’s ardent curiosity to discover the world’s hidden secrets. Both men seemed to value their families. This is depicted from the very beginning when the author commences the reading with Robert’s letters to his sister Margaret. In these letters, Robert searches for encouragement and confides in her, things that are apparently important to him such as his desire for companionship: “I desire the company of a man who could sympathise with me; whose eyes would reply to mine…I bitterly feel the want of a friend” (Shelley 4). The author sheds light on Victor’s familial appreciation when he begins his tale explaining the meeting of his parents. The reader is also introduced to his cousin Elizabeth, a very important part of Victor’s life: “my more than sister—the beautiful and adored companion of all my occupations and my pleasures” (17). Robert and Victor differed when it came to friendship. Robert yearned for a friend whereas Victor tended to “avoid a crowd, and [] attach [himself] fervently to few” (19). The men also differed as scholars. Robert was a self-educated English sailor, poet, and captain of his ship. Victor was born and raised in Geneva and focused his attention on science: “chemistry, in the most comprehensive sense of the term, became nearly my sole occupation” (29). The men certainly had similarities and differences; however, because Victor's puruit resulted in despair and Robert's destiny has yet to be fulfilled, the comparison of the men's final outcome is unknown.