• sympathy and compassion

    Doubtless, this will seem only a natural human reaction, but once we have experienced
    Victor's narration of the agon through which he and his Creature have suffered, such
    sympathy will appear to be a rarer attribute, all the more prized for how seldom it
    is actually practiced by the major characters of the novel. Walton's reaching out
    in sympathy stands in marked contrast to the universal reaction elicited by the presence
    of the Creature.