Robert Walton vs. Victor Frankenstein

[alfprof212]

Walton: “I spoke of my desire of finding a friend, of my thirst for a more intimate sympathy with a fellow mind than had ever fallen into my lot, and expressed my conviction that a man could boast of little happiness who did not enjoy his blessing.”

    Victor: “I agree with you…we are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves – such a friend ought to be – do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures.  I once had a friend, the most noble of human creatures, and am entitled, therefore, to judge respecting friendship.  You have hope, and the world before you, and have no cause for despair…”

What is the importance of each of the above quotes?  What do we learn about each of these men just from these words?

[eagle88]

These two quotes are important because they expose the naure of the two men. Walton and Victor are somewhat parallels of eachother and Walton is supposed to be seen as the naive, adventure-seeking man that Victor was at the beginning of the novel. Walton talks of his great desire for a friend and someone who understands him. Both Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein wanted a friend, and both are very selfish in a way and have an insatiable thirst for the unexplored or unknown and want to be the first.
Victor sees himself in him and therefore warns him slightly of his experience and mistake. He is wiser than Robert Walton because of his tragic experience and what he's learned about himself, unfortunately a little too late, seeing as how his adventure ends on the ship and Walton's is just beginning. By telling him the story of the Monster, Frankenstein hopes to warn and dissuade Walton from being so eager to go on his adventure without recognizing the costs.