There is something at work in my soul which I do not understand. I am practically industrious—painstaking, a workman to execute with perseverance and labour—but besides this there is a love for the marvellous, a belief in the marvellous, intertwined in all my projects, which hurries me out of the common pathways of men, even to the wild sea and unvisited regions I am about to explore.
Letters, Letter 2 · Robert Walton
Context
Walton reflects on the dual nature of his character, attempting to explain to Margaret the irrational drive behind his Arctic ambition.
Analysis
Walton divides himself into two selves—the 'practically industrious' workman and the lover of 'the marvellous'—but the verb 'intertwined' admits they cannot actually be separated. The repetition of 'a love for the marvellous, a belief in the marvellous' uses anaphora to insist on something he himself says he does not understand, as if saying it twice will make it rational. The phrase 'hurries me out of the common pathways' casts ambition as an external force acting on him rather than a choice, deflecting responsibility for where this obsession might lead.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Walton frames his ambition as a mysterious compulsion ('something at work in my soul') to avoid confronting it as a deliberate, potentially reckless choice—this self-deception sets up the novel's critique of unchecked aspiration.