Mary Shelley's Frankenstein The book opens with a scene of a ship in the Arctic Ocean. The ship is stuck in the ice and unable to move. Robert Walton, the ship's captain, is writing letters to his sister back home. The letters tell of his explorations and the events that occur on the ship. Walton's crew pulls abord a lifeless body and revive the man back to life. This man is Victor Frankenstein. Walton and Frankenstein talk about why Victor is in the Arctic and Victor explains the horrible and tragic story of the past few years of his life. Victor was born to a very wealthy and popular family. While he was still young hi