Passage 1
”No youth could have passed more happily than mine. My parents were indulgent, and
my companions amiable.”
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Youth- generation, young people.
Indulgent- easygoing, broadminded, tolerant, lenient.
Companions- friends, classmates, colleagues, with whom we spend a lot of time.
Amiable- friendly, corridial, pleasant.
After the analysis of language and specific words, I came to the interpretation of this
particular passage that Victor portrayed his childhood and talked about how he grew up
in this passage. From his recollection of childhood memories, we can see that he was
loved by his family and friends. He never faced any force to study and learn something
new. He loved the way he was nurtured in his early life. When he compared his family
and mates with others, he saw he was living probably the best life. And this made him
love his own family. Thus, it can be said that he grew up with a healthy childhood. This
passage plays the role to interpret how a character was built in this novel and how his
young age made an impact on the view of his life. It made him deeply attached to his
family. We can see this after his family member's death when he was devastated. But
his lavish upbringing also triggered the irrational ego in his character, which made him
desire to create a new species of man from death. Ultimately, his excesses lead to his
demise. Although Victor knows how wonderful it is to have the support of his family, who
gave birth to him, he did not care to show the same care to the creature he has given
life to.
Passage 2
“Thus are my hopes blasted by cowardice and indecision; I come back ignorant and
disappointed. It requires more philosophy than I possess to bear this injustice with
patience.” (page 130)
● Indecision- uncertainty, doubt, hesitation.
● Cowardice- lack of courage or bravery, weakness.
● Ignorant- uneducated, unknowledgeable, unaware.
In this particular conclusion passage of the book, Captain Walton writes these lines in a
letter to his sister. He chooses to end his journey after hearing Frankenstein's story and
encountering an endless storm. This ending shows that Walton has taken something
away from the tale of Frankenstein. Walton was once an ambitious man who, like
Frankenstein, was seeking fame. Walton, however, learns via the story of Frankenstein
about the costs associated with discovery and makes the decision to put his own life
and the lives of his crewmates before his objective. Although he claims himself to be
"cowardly" and to return disappointed and ignorant, it is this ignorance that saves his
life. This passage recreates the idea of enlightenment and reiterates the idea that living
a happy life is impossible while pursuing enlightenment only. This passage plays the
role to demonstrate the idea of how a story of one character affected another character
of the story.