Final answer:
The Walton letters in Frankenstein reflect the Gothic genre with their hostile and desolate setting, which is emblematic of the genre's focus on extreme and menacing landscapes. The correct answer is option: D. It is both hostile and desolate.
Step-by-step explanation:
The setting of the Walton letters in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is reflective of the Gothic genre primarily because it is hostile and desolate. This touches on the Gothic fascination with extreme landscapes and the sublime, which often includes settings that are foreboding, bleak, and remote.
In these letters, Robert Walton is writing to his sister while he is on a dangerous expedition to the North Pole, characterizing the environment as both hostile due to its icy dangers and desolate because of its uninhabited vastness.
This setting creates a backdrop that is typical of the Gothic genre, often filled with a sense of isolation and the overwhelming power of nature, which can reflect the inner turmoil of the characters or foreshadow ominous events.