"Peace, peace! Learn my miseries, and do not seek to increase your own." -pg 156
In the very beginning of the novel, Victor assumes a didactic position over Walton. He claims that he will help Walton avoid mistakes that Victor made long before. He assumes this because they are both passionate about their scientific inquiry and very adventurous and daring. While this perspective is not unkind or unhelpful exactly, I don't understand how it is necessary. Walton is pursuing a very vague concept, the north pole. He is merely setting sale on a boat to see what he can find. His path may be very hazardous, but that is where the similarities between his scientific interests and Victor's scientific interests end. Victor was raising the dead, alone and locked in a creepy lab. Walton is on a ship with good men, just looking around for something, anything. How Victor thinks that Walton will do the same as he did, I don't understand. It seems snooty of Victor to assume that just because they have similar passions, that Walton is as flawed and irresponsible as he is.
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