Robert Walton a romantic arctic explorer who learns and records Victor’s story in letters to his sister in England Margaret Saville. Victor Frankenstein the genius mind behind creating the monster that results in his life going downhill until he is found by Walton on an ice burg in the North pole between life and death. Finding that his savior is also running after an obsession, Victor lying on his death bed recounts his wretched life to his rescuer hoping that he would learn from his mistakes.
There are many similarities between these two unique and determined characters. Both men have an obsession they are determined to accomplish no matter what the consequences are. Frankenstein was obsessed with creating the human life and confiscating death, while Robert Walton was obsessed with finding a Northwest Passage through the Arctic Ocean from Russia to the Pacific Ocean. They are both seeking to do something that has not been done before. They took risks and were willing to sacrifice their families and friends even themselves for the sake of their fascination. The two men come from caring loving families that are worried about them.
Also both of them had very good intentions; Walton wanted to discover a passage that can lead to a new land where people can live, and Victor affected by his mother’s death wanted a cure for death. The two characters at the end were lonely, Walton desired a friend to share his happiness during his journey, and Frankenstein’s creation destroyed all of his family draining all the happiness, love and feelings out of his heath and leaving him alone.
The Essay on Death of a family member
In this chapter on Crisis in Family, the death of one’s child, parent, or suicide of a close family member can cause a devastating crisis within a marriage. Mothers and fathers relate to death in different ways, which causes conflict within the marriage. Depending on the circumstances of the death, one spouse may accuse the other of not sharing in the grief, or blaming the other for the death of ...
Just like similarities, there are also many differences. Victor Frankenstein accomplishes his obsession and experiences its consequences unlike Robert who learns from Victors mistakes and abandons his fascination. Victor loses his family one by one until he is left alone to die, but Walton goes back to his family who is waiting for his return. Victor isolated himself when he went to university, especially after he started working on his creation. Walton on the other hand relates every information and every detail to his sister in England. Walton was seeking fame and fortune from his obsession but Victor just wanted a cure for death to heal him from the memories of his mother’s death.
At the end of the novel the two obsessed men ironically meet both in need of each other. Walton needed a friend and someone to guild him in the right way, while Victor needed someone to take over his revenge and to save him from his uncontrollable creation. Victor and Walton are two men with different personalities and different lives but they share two important things, an obsession and a caring family.
