Frankenstein 10

10.   “I said in one of my letters, my dear Margaret, that I should find no friend on the wide ocean; yet I have found a man who, before his spirit had been broken by misery, I should have been happy to have possessed as the brother of my heart.”  (11)

           All people wish for companionship, for someone to relate and share thoughts and feelings with. This is one of Walton’s greatest desires as he sets out on his journey of discovery. And he does find a friend, Victor, although it is painful and short-lived. Victor Frankenstein also ached for companionship, although in a different way. Perhaps he thought that by many a ‘perfect’ human, he could also create a good companion, equal in intelligence to himself. He was overjoyed as a child when Elizabeth was adopted into the family, and still craved her company even after terrible things had happened to him. She was the only one that kept him sane. And Shelley shows that a need for companionship is intrinsic, because Frankenstein’s monster, knowing nothing of accepted human behaviors, wants a friend and ‘protector’ as well. He tries his best, but his physical appearance frightens all people away.