Frankenstein why letters

Shelley begins her novel with letters from a man named Robert Walton. The purpose of the letters was, at first, unknown to me, as I have not previously read Frankenstein. I assumed that all would reveal itself as I read. I can only speculate that the stranger is an older, subdued Frankenstein and Frankenstein is referring to his doomed experiment. In Chapter V, we are introduced to a new set of letters; this time, correspondence is between Elizabeth and Frankenstein, and Frankenstein and his father.

Letters are also mentioned throughout the fourth chapter. These letters serve as a social connection during a time when Frankenstein isolates himself due to his experimentation with immortality. I understood these letters to be representative of the dream-like state Frankenstein seems to always be in versus the reality Elizabeth and Alphonse exist in. Download this LitChart! Teachers and parents! Struggling with distance learning? Our Teacher Edition on Frankenstein can help.

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LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Frankenstein , which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Frankenstein begins with a series of four letters from Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret Saville. The first letter is written on December 11 from St. Petersburg, Russia, sometime in the eighteenth century. Walton is about to set out on a journey at sea to reach the North Pole, which he considers a region of warmth, "eternal light ," and unparalleled beauty.

Walton's description of the North Pole reads like a Romantic poem full of beautiful images of nature, and establishes that nature and its beauty will play a major role in the novel.

The monster finds that he can gain no sympathy from man, so he pledges to remain in the frozen north until he dies. The monster tells that he has suffered along with Victor and made evil his version of good.

The monster promises no harm to Walton or his crew and leaves the ship to live out his days in the frozen land of ice. To the monster, dying is his only consolation to relieve the pain he has endured since he was given that spark of life in Ingolstadt.

He swears "I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly and exult in the agony of the torturing flames. The letters close the "frame" in the novel.

Walton's version of the story is used to make Victor's story more believable. Walton gives some validity to the story by mentioning that he sees Victor's letters and the monster.

The first letter reinforces the theme that using knowledge for evil leads to disaster. Walton and Victor also talk of literature, probably Romantic books. In the second letter, Walton has deep feelings about failure, sounding a depressed note on his failure to accomplish his goals. He also feels a deep sense of sorrow when he does find companionship, only to lose that companion in death.

In the letter dated September 5, Walton knows the limits of his personal and physical being, but Victor still wants to press on. Victor obviously has lost his mind, as no thinking person would risk their life for something like this unless it was really self-serving.