The frame narration in Frankenstein makes it apparent that this entire story is being told aboard a ship. Ironically this story does not give much description as to the appearance of the ship or the way the sailors had to navigate the icy waters. Considering "Frankenstein" is a fictional novel, I found an expedition ship that met a tragic end at around the same time in history. The ship “Sir John Franklin” was a part of a British voyage expedition the departed in 1845. This ship was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated portions of the northwest passage and to record magnetic data. This ship met its tragic end when the ship became stuck in ice. These sailors clung to the ship for nearly a year before abandoning the ship. They left the ship only after the death of nearly two dozen sailors, the captain and second in command left the ship to search for the mainland and were sadly never seen again. According to John Rae an expeditionary rescue team member sent to recover the vessel John Rae reported:
“While exploring the Boothia Peninsula in 1854, Rae made contact with local Inuit, from whom he obtained much information about the fate of the Franklin expedition. His report to the Admiralty carried shocking and unwelcome evidence that cannibalism had been a last resort for some of the survivors.”
This story of the “Sir John Franklin” is incredibly similar to the ship in Frankenstein, and this article discussing the fate of this voyage brings into light the very dangerous game that “R. Walton” is playing. This character is playing with life and death just like Victor Frankenstein and it is clearly made to be more apparent after reading about the tragic end of a vessel on a very similar mission.
Do not use the information from this wiki link, this wiki artcile has good sources found within it; scroll to the bottom of the page and explore the various sources listed for this tragic story. Link found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition
Bibliography
Biography – Rae, john (1813-93) – Volume XII (1891-1900) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Home – Dictionary of Canadian Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2021, from http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/rae_john_1813_93_12E.html.