The beginning to Frankenstein is a series of letters
from Robert Walter to his sister Margret Saville as he commences his journey to
the North Pole. However neither he nor his sister are main characters in this
book yet they take arguably the most important part of the book. Once you start
reading the letters it appears that Robert’s character is comparable to
Frankenstein’s. Robert is obsessive about getting to the North Pole declaring
his heart “glows with an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven” and that “this
expedition has been the favourite dream of my early years”. He also is arrogant
about the importance of his expedition saying that “you cannot contest the
inestimable benefit which I shall confer on all mankind to the last
generation”. Frankenstein shows his obsessive nature and arrogance later on in
the book once he starts narrating.
I believe that Mary Shelley decided that by
introducing Robert Walton and all of his eccentricities right at the beginning
of the book it would be easier for the reader to suspend their belief and carry
on reading because they would believe the story of Frankenstein. Frankenstein
could be defined as a Science Fiction book because although the story is set in
the past (1700s) in comparison to when Mary Shelley was writing it (1818) no
one has ever stuck parts of bodies together and galvanised it back to life. It
is often stated that good Science Fiction books can be as far-fetched as
possible as long as “the
author can make it seem plausible[1]”
and this is one of the reasons why Mary Shelley put these letters at the
beginning of the book.
As we are introduced to Frankenstein in Letter 4 the
reader already knows that the story will come back to the North Pole, probably near
the end if his “limbs were nearly frozen” and “his body dreadfully emaciated by
fatigue and suffering”. By knowing the result of the hero the reader has to
find out how it has reached this point which encourages them to read on even if
the surprise element is lost at the end.
Another factor to consider with these letters is the setting
because they are set in the place where the book ends so it gives the book a
circular narrative in terms of the location. The set in this part of the book
would have been considered exotic and mysterious as very few people travelled
there without being rich or well prepared. The white and isolated surroundings
gives the setting an ominous feel which increases the tension especially with
the “very thick fog” that came and went leaving the ship “nearly surrounded by
ice”. Frankenstein later states in the book that he “traversed a vast portion
of the Earth” moving through “deserts and barbarous countries”. It shows that
there is nowhere Frankenstein won’t go to try and kill his monster.
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