Comparison Between the Characters of FrankensteinIn Frankenstein, Mary Shelley combines three separate stories involving three different characters: Walton, Victor, and Frankenstein's monster. Although the reader hears the stories through Walton's perspective, Walton strives to be precise in recounting the details, as he says: "I resolved every night...to record, as much as possible in his [Victor's] own words, what he told during the day” (Shelley 37). Shelley's change in point of view allows for a direct comparison and contrast between the characters, as the reader hears their stories in the first person. As the reader compares the monster's circumstances to those of Victor and Walton, his or her sympathy for the monster increases greatly. First, Victor and Walton made decisions that led to their unhappiness. Victor chose to create the being that would later destroy him and those he loved. He made the decision to give life to this being without considering the possible consequences of creating life. Victor led himself towards his own destruction. He had decisions to make – he didn't have to create the monster in the first place; he could have accepted and educated the monster; he could have kept his promise to the monster about creating a mate. However, Victor chose neither of these options. Therefore, he must pay for the consequences of his decisions and actions (or lack thereof). Just as Victor chose to create the monster, Walton chose to take a trip to the North Pole. Although Walton suffered from extreme loneliness, fatigue, hunger, and extremely cold temperatures, these misfortunes were all the result of his own decision. He also felt that his goal was worth experiencing...... middle of paper ......ss/he compares the being's sufferings and helplessness to Victor's self-inflicted tragedies and Walton. Works cited and consulted Bloom, Harold. Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. New York: Chelsea, 1987. Garber, Frederick. Self-autonomy from Richardson to Huysmans. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982. Marder, Daniel. Exiled at Home: A History of Literature in Nineteenth-Century America. Lanham: University Press of America, Inc., 1984. Patterson, Arthur Paul. A Frankenstein study. http://www.watershed.winnipeg.mb.ca/Frankenstein.htmlSmith, Christopher. Frankenstein as Prometheus. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/class/sf/books/frank/papers/FrankCS.htmlSpark, Muriel. Mary Shelly. New York: Dutton, 1987. Williams, Bill. On Shelley's use of nature imagery. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/class/sf/books/frank/papers/FrankWJW.html