This blog is for the “Monsters and Marvels through the Ages” course, taught by Dr. Leslie Donovan in the University Honors Program at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM, USA. It provides an easily accessible, electronic space for 100-level Honors students to discuss texts and ideas, develop critical thinking skills, and practice college level writing. While anyone may read our work, only class members may post.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Why Does Walton tell the Story?
What purpose is served by having Robert Walton tell Victor's story? Compare and contrast Robert's and Victor's goals and interests.
Walton seems to be haunted by demons of insanity, whereas Victor seems equally haunted, but his demons are those of obsession, to the point that he becomes blinded to and disconnected from the eventual results and consequences of his "creative" tinkering. I also find an interesting image in the idea that associates life as the product of a "spark", instead of a "juice", or a "breath".
Walton tells Victor's story to serve as kind of a mediator so the audience can connect with the novel more. The reader in a sense is in the same place as Walton as we read a long. So if he is hearing what Victor is telling him, it is natural for Walton and even the reader to believe its all made up but the story surprises us in the end. Walton's goals are to explore new places, see his sister, and to simply make a friend. Victor's goal was to create life but in the end he just wants his friend Walton to hear the mistakes that he has made and hopes that no one else shall repeat them.
I believe that by having Walton tell Victor's story, Shelley is able to add more suspense to the horror story. If you have a story that is notable enough to record through another character then it must be a really important story. And the fact that Walton is recording this story to send to his sister shows just how astounded and possibly horrified Walton finds the story. This effect is similarly achieved in Conrad's novel "Heart of Darkness" where the gruesome story of "civilizing the savages" in Africa is told by the captain of a ship but is being recorded by Marlow, a deckhand aboard the ship. By reading it through Walton's reiteration, the audience also is getting a less vinbrant sense of the story. Usually I find that when retelling a story, the retold version is never as good as the original.
3 comments:
Walton seems to be haunted by demons of insanity, whereas Victor seems equally haunted, but his demons are those of obsession, to the point that he becomes blinded to and disconnected from the eventual results and consequences of his "creative" tinkering.
I also find an interesting image in the idea that associates life as the product of a "spark", instead of a "juice", or a "breath".
Walton tells Victor's story to serve as kind of a mediator so the audience can connect with the novel more. The reader in a sense is in the same place as Walton as we read a long. So if he is hearing what Victor is telling him, it is natural for Walton and even the reader to believe its all made up but the story surprises us in the end. Walton's goals are to explore new places, see his sister, and to simply make a friend. Victor's goal was to create life but in the end he just wants his friend Walton to hear the mistakes that he has made and hopes that no one else shall repeat them.
I believe that by having Walton tell Victor's story, Shelley is able to add more suspense to the horror story. If you have a story that is notable enough to record through another character then it must be a really important story. And the fact that Walton is recording this story to send to his sister shows just how astounded and possibly horrified Walton finds the story. This effect is similarly achieved in Conrad's novel "Heart of Darkness" where the gruesome story of "civilizing the savages" in Africa is told by the captain of a ship but is being recorded by Marlow, a deckhand aboard the ship. By reading it through Walton's reiteration, the audience also is getting a less vinbrant sense of the story. Usually I find that when retelling a story, the retold version is never as good as the original.
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