- Chapters I-IV
a. Why is Walton so drawn to the stranger he takes on board his ship? He mentions the stranger’s “conciliating and gentle manners:. But is there anything about the stranger’s situation – pursuing someone alone on a dog-sled across desolate sheets of ice – that might attract or fascinate Walton?
b. Why is Walton writing these letters when it is likely, as he notes, his letters will not reach his sister, or, if they do, it is unlikely he will receive her replies? - Chapters V-VII of Volume I
a. Victor flees from his Creation the moment it opens its eyes. What does this reaction suggest about Victor’s character? Or about the nature of what he’s done?
b. After the death of his brother, Victor thinks: “I was firmly convinced in my own mind that Justine, and indeed every human being, was guiltless of this murder”. Close read this statement. Is “every human being….guiltless” of William’s murder? - Chapters VI-IX of Volume II
a. What are the similarities the Creature sees between himself and Adam and himself and Satan? Are there similarities – or differences – the Creature does not notice? Is the Creature right to see himself as an Adam and a Satan and Victor as his God?
b. Why does the Creature’s attempt to introduce himself to the cottagers fail? What does this failure suggest about the cottagers, who appeared so kind? How does this failure affect the Creature? - Chapters V-VII of Volume III
a. Walton questions whether the Creature deserves sympathy, wondering if he has been manipulated by the Creature’s eloquence. Does the Creature deserve sympathy? Might we have been manipulated by his eloquence?
b. After the deaths of Elizabeth and his father, Victor says: “revenge kept me alive”. The Creature has – at the same time – been seeking revenge against Victor, Are Victor and the Creature acting from similar motives? Or are there fundamental differences between the reasons Victor and the Creature are seeking revenge?
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