So far, all the narrators in Frankenstein exhibit a profound loneliness. The captain of the ship, Robert Walton, begins the novel by writing that he has "one want which I have never been able to satisfy [...] I have no friend,"(14) further describing his emotional plight with "I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve or amend my plans" (14). As Walton becomes closer to Victor Frankenstein, he finds a kindred spirit - one with a passion for discovery. Describing Frankenstein to his sister, Walton raves that "He has frequently conversed with me on [my projects], which I have communicated to him without disguise. He entered attentively into all my arguments in favour of my eventual success and into every minute detail of the measures I had taken to secure it" (24).
Through Victor's early accounts, he also sought for a mind that also took interest in the works of Cornelius Agrippa and the like, especially since his father showed such contempt for these thinkers. Frankenstein constantly comes across people who "threw greatly into the shade Cornelius Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Paracelsus, the lords of [his] imagination"(40), people who unearth the foundation for his beliefs. I believe his obsession with the creation of life stemmed from a want to prove himself right, to find a sense of self-affirmation. Once he accomplishes his task, however, he sees a darker side to his obsession and views his creation with horror.
Perhaps this is Shelley's way of saying that the search for companionship is selfish - everyone just wants to understand and to be understood, which explains the preference for people with similar backgrounds and intellect. Although we want to fulfill our needs for friendship and security, we all too often forget the effect we have on the other half of the party involved and forget the consequences of our actions.
This also suggests a reason for the human fascination with the supernatural or the extraterrestrial - grasping at straws in the hopes that in this universe, we are not alone.
Perhaps Shelley is trying to show the detrimental effects of leaving society - being around people is what keeps us sane. When people get too far away from society, bad things happen, and people lose sight of what is important and what makes us human. Victor stepped away from society for too long and began to think that he could create an immortal human, when our awareness and acceptance of our own mortality is part of what makes the human experience so amazing.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think about that before; that also reminds me of Beowulf in that Grendel represented the threat of the uncivilized/the loss of culture.
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