Robert Walton, the Essential Figure for the Success of “Frankenstein”

There are not many horror works can withstand a long period of time. However, one of these fictions, the gothic story "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, has existed for nearly two hundred years and is still popular among the modern society. In the book, there is an interesting character that can be easily ignored by readers but actually establishes the success for the Frankenstein. Robert Walton, as in this long lasting story, plays a role not only as a narrator, but also a parallel, or reflecting, character to Frankenstein and the creature, as well as a trait for romanticism.

As in many other stories, Robert Walton performs a primary role, the narrator. As a polar exploring narrator, first of all, Robert Walton holds a third person view when recounting Frankenstein’s tale, which gives a more objective and reliable feeling to the readers. Secondly, Walton’s narration not only gives a just account for the narrative of Frankenstein, but also sets the scene for Victor’s own story and life to begin, to break, and to end. The novel starts right with the letter from Robert to his sister, so readers are brought right into the plot. At the same time, because it introduces the background of meeting Frankenstein, the story has a sense of reality. Then within the time Victor explains his adventure, Robert functions as a joint for different events and breaks of Victor. When approaching the experience of learning about the death of Henry, Victor once said, “I must pause here, for it requires all my fortitude to recall the memory of the frightful events which I am about to relate, in proper detail, to my recollection” (158). Even though Walton is not directly introduced into the conversation, audience can feel that the reference to Walton pulls th...

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...esires to bring radical change in human history, for that he once told his sister in his letter that he would bring “inestimable benefit which [he] shall confer on all mankind to the last generation, by discovering a passage near the pole to those countries” (2).

In a word, Robert Walton is an essential presence for the success of the scientific fiction "Frankenstein", as a narrator, as a reflection of the two main characters in the book, and as a figure demonstrating the characteristics of romanticism. There is never only one reason for the successful of a popular classical book, but Robert Walton is, after all, an incredible and appealing work of Mary Shelley in this famous novel. This crafty use of character and narrator sets the model for the later writers and attracts readers for centuries. Without Walton, Frankenstein cannot be as attractive as we can see now.