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Dashboard
But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy, and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil, I have no friend,
In Letter 2, Walton writes again to his sister, this time touching upon one of the novel’s major themes: The Consequences of Ambition. Though he is excited about the trip and thrilled at the prospect of seeing a part of the world no one else has, he realizes the achievement will be a lonely one because he has no friend to share it with.
I desire the company of a man who could sympathise with me, whose eyes would reply to mine.
In this quote from Letter 2, Walton elaborates to his sister on his feelings of isolation (another important theme in the book and another thing he will have in common with Victor Frankenstein). As the explanation of this quote in Quotes by Theme: The Effects of Isolation explains, Walton’s feelings of isolation stem from status differences with his fellow sailors rather than from being alone.
I bitterly feel the want of a friend.
While the previous quote about Walton’s feelings of isolation from Letter 2 suggested parallels he’ll have in common with Victor Frankenstein, this quote lays the groundwork for how Walton’s feelings of isolation foreshadow similar feelings in the monster. Read more about this in the explanation for Quotes by Character: Robert Walton.
A youth passed in solitude, my best years spent under your gentle and feminine fosterage, has so refined the groundwork of my character that I cannot overcome an intense distaste to the usual brutality exercised on board ship.
Walton continues to explain his feelings of loneliness in Letter 2. Though he is surrounded by men—courageous sailors who are no doubt up to the task of reaching the North Pole—he still feels lonely and yearns for someone with a similar disposition to his own. He feels disconnected from the other men on the ship and attributes this to his youth, in which he was largely raised by his sister, affording him a more sophisticated character than that of his shipmates.
