As with other of his comments in this passage, readers may sense that what Walton
signifies is conceptually broader than what he actually realizes he is saying: thus
the value of his comment is more in alerting us to a problematic issue than in giving
us a thumbnail sketch that will define Victor Frankenstein forever in our minds. Where
Walton sees a praiseworthy self-containment in his friend's comportment, indeed, many
critics remark the dangers of Romantic solipsism. In Victor's own account his introversion
and obsessiveness will be stressed as character traits that were factors contributing
to his downfall.