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larger, disinterested justice is, however, the stronger ethical position, as Walton
himself understood when his crew presented its case to him earlier (III:Walton:16).
larger, disinterested justice is, however, the stronger ethical position, as Walton
himself understood when his crew presented its case to him earlier (III:Walton:16).
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solemn and reiterated injunction of Victor Frankenstein to exact vengeance upon his
Creature, hesitates before the presence of the other being. In essence, he substitutes
a reality for an abstraction, his own actuality for the vicarious experience provided
by Victor's narrative. Implied in this act is the priority of individual responsibility
for independent judgment. That Walton is preoccupied by his "impulses" in the plural
may indicate how difficult, complex, and responsive to particular circumstances such
a judgment must be.
1186
the next chapter he is not the only one who has traversed the open seas southwest
of the Orkneys to land on the northeast coast of Ireland. Although it has been suggested
that including Ireland in the expansive geographical range of the novel may be Mary
Shelley's means of honoring her mother, who served as a governess there, the strangeness
of this repositioning of setting has never been adequately accounted for.
From Victor's reference to "a line of high land" (III:3:26), we may suppose that Mary
Shelley has in mind geological features like the Giant's Causeway, a line of huge
islets, or the cliffs of Fair Head.
1185
abuses) of writing, the second quickly reminds us of its effects in reinforcing human
sympathy and community. Walton's concern for Victor is, of course, a measure of his
responsiveness as well and therefore of consequence for our estimation of his character.
1184
purchase on reality is tentative at best. The closed circle of logic in which his
mind revolves leads him to conclusions that, on the face of it, would seem ludicrous:
in this case, the supposition that Mr. Kirwin would be opening the door to Victor's
Creature.
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logic to support them. Still, that this characteristic retreat within reasserts itself
even where he should feel most diverted by his novel surroundings indicates a dangerous
state of mental health.
1188
1172
that Victor has all but severed emphasizes the extremity of Victor's withdrawal from
the society of those who have loved him.
1174
carefully kept Walton ignorant of the process by which he created life, and, moreover,
excoriates him when he suspects Walton of wanting to penetrate his secret (III:Walton:3).
He dies clearly wishing that he had himself remained in a state of innocent ignorance.
Although it is likely that, upon reflection, Walton will broaden the range under which
he construes knowledge to embrace a moral education, here he limits its conception
wholly to scientific discovery. In his dejection he seems to have gone out of his
way to miss the point of Victor Frankenstein's narration, which is itself truly a
mark of his ignorance.
1173
"By the utmost self-violence": Victor lacks the modern vocabulary that would term
this act mere repression. He likens it to suicide, an active, even extreme, assertion
of violence against the self. Yet again, the reader may wish to ask, which self is
it that he would destroy, that of the Creator or of his extension who has destroyed
those whom Victor loves? The doubling of selves is insistent even where, as here,
it is merely insinuated.