| Who is writing letter 1 (and all the letters)? To whom is he writing? What is their relationship? | Robert Walton is writing the letters to his sister, Margaret Saville. |
| Where is Robert Walton when he writes letter ? Why is he there? What are his plans? | He is in St Petersburg, Russia to try and find a crew for his ship. His plans are to travel to the North Pole and discover the secrets of Earth’s magnetism and possibly new trade routes. |
| How much time has elapsed between Letter 1 and Letter 2? Where is Walton now? What has he managed to do and what does he desire? What does he tell us about himself? | One month has passed. He is on his ship which got trapped in ice. He tells us that he feels lonely because he has no intellectual equal. |
| How does he describe the lieutenant and the master (same person)? What is the master’s story? How does Walton respond to it? | Walton admires the lieutenant even though he isn’t very intelligent. This is because of his generosity and empathetic heart. His story is that he was in love with a Russian woman who he decided to marry so he bought her a house and provided a dowry. After this he discovered that she had always been in love with someone else, but he was poor so her father wouldn’t approve. After he learned this he let her go marry the other man and let her keep the house and the dowry. Walton is amazed by this act. |
| How much time has elapsed between Letter 2 and Letter 3? Where is Walton now? What do you think of Walter’s question: “What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man”? | 4 months have elapsed between letters 2 and 3. He tells us that he is far into his voyage. I think that the quote exemplifies how determined and set in his way Walton is. It also shows how he has become slightly cocky in believing that nothing can stop him. |
| How much time has elapsed between Letter 3 and Letter 4? What “strange accident” has happened to the sailors. | About 27 days have passed between the letters. The strange accident is that when the boat was strapped by ice, they saw a huge figure of a man on a sledge off in the distance even though they were many miles away from the shore. The next morning the crew discovered a different man stranded on a piece of floating ice. |
| Why does the man picked up by the ship say he is there? What shape is he in? What sort of person does he seem to be? How does Walton respond to this man? | The man is in terrible condition. He says that he was seeking one who fled from him (he calls this fleeing thing a demon). The man seems to be extremely nervous. Walton has a lot of interest in the man and thinks he is smart and amiable. |
| How much time has elapsed when Walton begins writing again? What has happened in the meantime? How does the man respond to Walton’s project? How is Walton responding to the man? Why does the man agree to tell his story? | Eight days have passed. Victor tells Walton that his quest will ultimately lead to misery. This intrigues Walton, so he wants to hear what Victor’s story is. |
Frankenstein Letters 1-4
February 19, 2020