Victor Frankenstein = Owen Meany?

So let's set this up.

Victor Frankenstein has a God complex; Owen Meany has a God complex.

Victor Frankenstein is really intelligent; Owen Meany is really intelligent.

Victor Frankenstein has a dead mother; Owen Meany has a mother who may as well be dead.

Victor Frankenstein's best friend is a Joseph figure; Owen Meany's best friend is a Joseph.

Victor Frankenstein is full of himself; Owen Meany is full of himself.

Victor Frankenstein is impulsive; Owen Meany is impulsive.

Victor Frankenstein loved the same girl since his childhood; Owen Meany loved the same girl since his childhood.

See what I mean? Agree/disagree?

My Deaf Kid is Better Than Your Normal One

Anyone else angry? Having suffered through the discrimination associated with being deaf, how could anyone wish for their child to be deaf? What would possess anyone to be so incredibly dense??

With great gifts...

Does Victor owe anything to his creation? Does anything alleviate this responsibility? Any modern parallels?

Themes and symbols...already???!!!

The stranger tells Walton, “You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been.” Destructive knowledge is a major theme throughout this novel, as the consequences of the stranger's OBSESSIVE search for understanding are reavealed (and tragic, as we can well guess).

Walton is much like "the stranger" aka Dr. Frankenstein, in that he is entranced by the opportunity to find out what secrets no one else knows about that nature has to offer. “What may not be expected in a country of eternal light?” he asks.

Walton asks this question in the very first letter to his sister that we read, which epitomizes (yes! I can use that word!) a developing symbol...light=knowledge (or discovery, I suppose)....(help me out here)......?

Walton’s quest to reach the northernmost part of the earth is similar in spirit to Victor’s quest for the secret of life: both seek ultimate knowledge, and both sacrifice the comfort of the realm of known knowledge in their respective pursuits. Additionally, the beauty and simplicity of the phrasing epitomize the eighteenth-century scientific rationalists’ optimism about, and trust in, knowledge as a pure good.

....Thoughts? Agree or disagree??

Full of Himself or Just Proud?

Is Walton really full of himself, thinking that he can do anything and is the greatest person out there for taking on this quest for the betterment of mankind? Or is he just a hard worker that is proud of his acomplishments and should he be? Did he really work for what he knows and can do now?

A Fine Line

What is the difference between true dedication and obsession? Is Walton dedicated to his cause and that is why he has placed it over his family, friends, and own well-being or is he obsessed with it, wanting to know more than any other person, and willing to sacrifice other people’s lives? What stage is he in right now at this point in the book?

What about Walton

"One man's life or death was but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge I sought..." That particular line is Walton's, but you will see it emerge as a motif throughout the novel. Does knowledge always have a price? Is it worth it?