Robert Walton's Four Letters

Robert Walton writes four letters to his sister Margret. He was just a little boy when he was forced to go work with his uncle at sea. He wished he was educated since he had a passion for reading but his father did not let him. All he had was his uncle’s books to read from. Walton writes to his sister as much as possible. Throughout his four letters, he tells his sister that he is safe. He misses his hometown (which is England), but he tries to keep a positive attitude. He later on describes how he wished he could have a companion where he could tell everything to. On his way to Archangel, he remembers the ice surrounding them which they later got stuck between. Walton recalls seeing what looked like a human floating on ice with dogs guiding them throughout the sea. The next day, he wakes up to his workers lending on one side of the boat trying to convince a man to get on. It looked like the human they saw the day before but now there’s just one dog alive. Walton finally convinces the man to get on the boat. What he first described as a human being, was later described a creature. This man had frozen limbs, was gnashing his teeth and had wildness in his eyes. After several days of recovery, Walton sees this man as his brother and could trust him in any way.

One quote that really stood with me was when Walton first encountered the stranger at sea. At first he recalls that he saw a human being on ice with a dog. He was suffering in the ice so much that his limbs were frozen. Bringing him onto the boat, he nearly fainted as soon as he caught air. Later on Walton describes him in a different way. He states, “I never saw a more interesting creature: his eyes have generally an expression of wildness, and even madness; but there are moments when, if any one performs an act of kindness towards him, or does him any the most trifling service, his whole countenance is lighted up...” (4. 14-15). Seeing this stranger at first he seemed to be just a normal human being. He looked really ill from what Walton describes him at first. But then the stranger is later described as a creature with wildness in his eyes. Also later on in Walton’s letter, he describes this “creature” with madness and is gnashing his teeth. Despite being described so horribly, Walton states that if someone shows an act of kindness the stranger lightens up his mood. Walton continues in his letter how this stranger has impacted him. He seems him as the brother he’s always wanted. Walton seems to earn the strangers trust and the stranger only trusts Walton. Once in a while the stranger might be kind with the other workers, but when Walton walks into the cabinet the stranger changes his attitude. Walton trusts the stranger a lot and loves his championship.