Lesson Learned

"How all this will terminate, I know not; but I had rather die than return shamefully,-my purpose unfulfilled (page 160)." Here, Walton is explaining to his sister the decision he must make. He must decide whether or not he should give up his life's work to avoid his and the crew's almost certain deaths. While this decision is not a difficult one, he still has a hard time. He set out to discover new things, and he does not want to return ignorant. Contrary to his initial ideas, he comes to see that meeting Victor and hearing his story left him very informed. He left the experience with the knowledge of what happens to a man obsessed. The main lesson I learned from this novel is to always prioritize correctly. Because Victor's priorities were anything but his family during the education portion of his life, both he and everyone he loved suffered dearly. By ending the journey early, he established himself as an intelligent man where it counted. He saved many lives including his own, whereas everyone in Victor's life except the monster died because of his foolishness.