Frankenstein

The narration is layered across several first-person voices. The outermost narrator is Robert Walton, an explorer sailing toward the North Pole, who tells the story through letters to his sister, Margaret Saville. Walton rescues Victor Frankenstein from the ice and records Victor’s life story.

Most of the novel is then narrated by Victor Frankenstein himself as he explains his childhood, his scientific ambitions, the creation of the monster, and the destruction that follows. Victor tells Walton his story as a warning about ambition and the dangerous pursuit of knowledge. At several points, Victor’s narrative also contains the monster’s own first-person account of his life, suffering, and desire for companionship. The monster describes how rejection and isolation transformed him from benevolent to violent after humanity judged him solely by his appearance.

This layered structure lets Mary Shelley compare the perspectives of Walton, Victor, and the monster. Walton and Victor mirror each other in their ambition and desire for glory, while the monster’s narration forces both Victor and the reader to confront the consequences of prejudice and abandonment. Because each narrator tells only part of the story, the novel constantly raises questions about responsibility and how people interpret their own actions.