Frankenstein: The Graphic Novel is a graphic novel published in 2009 that holds true to the original text of Frankenstein (originally written by Mary Shelley and published in 1818). Frankenstein: The Graphic Novel is a great version of the original text, seeing its great visuals and integration of the dialogue and descriptions.
Frankenstein begins with a ship captain, Robert Walton, trying to go to the North Pole for both glory and the pursuit of the expansion of humankind’s knowledge. It is worth noting that Frankenstein is told in letter format, as Walton wrote to his sister about his voyage. While Walton’s expedition initially seemed promising, on the way there, the entire ship was trapped in ice, leaving those on board in peril. Walton and his crew then saw an extremely large man driving a dog sled. Though they couldn’t clearly see him, they could see that he was of large stature and probably possessed enormous physical strength. Sometime later, they spotted an emaciated man of regular size on the ice near his boat. When the crew tried to persuade the strange man to come on board, the first thing he asked them was if the ship was going to the North Pole. Upon hearing that they were going in that direction, the man seemed to be relieved. Relenting, he went to the ship. Walton noted that “His limbs were nearly frozen, and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering. I never saw a man in so wretched a condition. We restored him to animation and by slow degrees he recovered. Two days passed before he was able to speak” (10). When the stranger finally spoke, he told Walton that he was in the North Pole to exact his vengeance on someone who has ruined his life. Walton tells him that he and his crew saw a large man. The stranger, hearing this, is enraged and asks him whether he thinks the ice cracked and brought him to his doom. Walton tells him that he doubts it, seeing how the ice didn't crack until midnight. The stranger, emboldened by sudden vigor, tells Walton his story, but not before acknowledging that his tale is hard to believe.
The stranger reveals that his name is Victor Frankenstein, and belongs to Geneva: his family was aristocrats. His parents were travelers before his birth: they went to Italy, Germany, and Naples. When he was five, they adopted a peasant girl from a poor family who could barely feed their five children. The girl’s name was Elizabeth Lavenza, and she got along perfectly with Victor (they would later become romantically involved). Frankenstein’s parents soon had a second child, and upon seeing the situation, decided to settle down in a single geographic area. Frankenstein’s best friend was Henry Clerval, a lively youth who appreciated chivalry and intensity. Frankenstein was academically gifted, and he became enraptured with natural philosophy: he studied Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus. Full of hope and desire for glory and the future of humankind, Frankenstein became only more enraptured in the potential gifts that science could bring to Homo Sapiens. One night he saw a lightning storm destroy an old oak tree. There was a shining, piercingly bright light that lasted for a moment. After the light subsided, all that was left was the dead tree. This caused Frankenstein to pursue mathematics and more science. When Frankenstein was seventeen, Elizabeth caught scarlet fever. His mother, desperate to make her well, was able to nurse her back to health. While she succeeded in her endeavor, she caught it herself and died. Frankenstein later went to the University of Ingolstadt, where he met Monsieur Krempe, a professor of natural philosophy. While he was loud and rude, he still was knowledgeable of the course. Victor eventually went to hear the lectures of Monsieur Waldman, who was open-minded while being a professional at the same time. Waldman said that the teachers of old had promised the world a vast amount of new things but have delivered nothing. Modern scientists, however, promise very little, yet they have made countless discoveries that were previously unimaginable (astronomy, anatomy, physics, chemistry, biology, pathology). Frankenstein, hearing Waldman’s words, became only more determined to pursue knowledge and fame.
Frankenstein eventually became obsessed with the human body: how was life generated? Furthermore, was there a way to “breathe” life into an inanimate corpse? Full of ambition, he conducted numerous experiments that earned him the respect of many at Ingolstadt. He took things further after that: he went to graveyards and charnel houses to study the process of decay. After weeks of intense studying and observation, he eventually discovered what exactly created life (Shelley never reveals what it is, which has made Frankenstein an even better story: the identity of this strange material is left to the audience to imagine) and decided to create a human from the dismembered parts of corpses to demonstrate what was possible. Victor eventually got his own room to do his experiments, and he worked extremely hard at his project. While he was sometimes disgusted by what he was doing, he pushed aside his reservations by thinking of the long-run benefits. As a whole, he spent two years working on the project. On one night in November, he finished his creation. He hoped for his creature to be beautiful and fine, but found it hideous when it came to life. Horrified at the ugliness of his creation, he ran out of his room (completely ignoring it) and fell asleep in an attempt to seek a brief respite from reality. While he was asleep, he had a dream: he saw Elizabeth, but when he kissed her, she became the decaying corpse of his mother (complete with writing worms). Upon waking up, he saw that his creation was in his room. Refusing to acknowledge his responsibility towards his creation, he went so far to describe it as a “‘wretch’” and “‘miserable monster’” (at that point in time the creature had done nothing wrong: his only “misdeed” was being unpleasant to human eyes). Frankenstein, abandoning all responsibility for his actions, flees his apartment and wanders the streets. He eventually saw Clerval, who reveals that his father gave him permission to go to a university to study subjects which he’s interested in. He remarks to Frankenstein that he appears to be ill and frail, and Frankenstein keeps his secret by telling him that he was utterly focused and absorbed in one occupation (he doesn’t tell Clerval the exact circumstances). He and Clerval eventually go to his apartment. Terrified that the creature may still be there, Victor is relieved to see that it had disappeared upon checking the vicinity. While eating breakfast with Clerval, he has a mental breakdown (probably from stress) and is bedridden for months. For that time interval, Clerval stopped his studies to solely be a caretaker for Victor. He also kept Victor’s illness a secret by not telling his family the extent of his illness: Victor’s father was old, and Elizabeth would be rendered miserable if she was to hear of Victor’s illness.
Victor, after months of intensive care by Clerval, recovered. He felt a strong sense of gratitude towards Clerval, and Clerval tells him that the best way to repay him is to recover as quickly as he can. Clerval hands Victor a letter from Elizabeth: Elizabeth writes to him that she wishes for his good health. She also discusses Ernest, Victor’s younger brother, who wants to enter the department of foreign service. She mentions William, Victor’s youngest brother who was only a child at that point. Elizabeth ends with Justine Moritz, the servant of the household. Moritz became their servant when she was twelve because her mother treated her poorly (she was a widow who had to raise four children by herself). Moritz’s mother died recently, and her siblings were also dead (probably due to disease). Victor then began to study Oriental languages with Clerval. For a while, they were happy and glad. Then disaster struck: he received a letter from his father. The letter described that William was murdered by someone by strangulation. Elizabeth, it was described, upon seeing his corpse, began to weep: she had given him a necklace which contained a picture of his mother before his disappearance and murder. It was missing on the corpse, and she interpreted that the murderer killed William for the valuable necklace. Victor, upon reading this, went to Geneva. He went to the spot where William was murdered and saw the figure of the creature he had created. He remarks hypocritically that the creature was solely to blame for the death of his brother and that “‘Nothing in human shape could have destroyed that fair child’” (which is also quite ironic, seeing that he was indirectly responsible for William’s death by creating the creature, not to mention that there are plenty of vile human beings who are responsible for the tortures and deaths of other people - “man is a wolf to man,” or “homo homini lupus”) (44). Frankenstein didn't pursue the creature, for the creature’s physical strength allowed it to speedily leave. When Victor went to his house, he was told by Ernest that the murderer was found: people thought it was Justine. That is, the necklace containing the picture of Frankenstein’s mother was found on Justine. Justine denied committing the murder, but she had no counter-evidence, so she was apprehended. Victor exclaims that he knows the murderer, but doesn’t tell the people at the trial of his creation out of fear of looking insane: instead, he remains silent. Justine gives a good defense, providing the audience with a detailed alibi: on the night of William’s murder, she was staying at her aunt’s house. When she went home, she tried to search for William for a few hours. Upon trying to go back to the Frankenstein house, the gates were shut, so she slept in a barn. Furthermore, she claims that in the morning she was awoken by some noises, hence her confusion (along with the environment: she wasn’t used to sleeping in a shed). She admits that she doesn’t know how the necklace got on her, and implores the jury to believe her statements. Justine was later condemned unanimously to death by the court, and “confessed” to the murder (her confessor verbally abused and threatened her until she broke down admitting her “guilt”). Justine was executed after the trial (the method of death isn’t specified: the graphic novel shows hanging, while Junji Ito’s adaptation features a guillotine).
Victor, seized with guilt, self-hatred, and bitter remorse, retreated into the mountains for solitude and escape. While he was in the mountains, he was approached by his creation. Upon seeing it, he threatened to kill it for its misdeeds. His creation remarked that he had expected the response long before they had met, seeing that people generally loathe the unhappy out of fear of becoming one of them. The creature says that he is an extremely unhappy organism, and tells Frankenstein to do his duty towards him: if he doesn’t, he will kill his loved ones. Victor becomes so enraged upon hearing it that he tries once again to attack the creature, causing it to entreat him to be calm. The creature tellingly says that “‘I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous’” (55). He continues with his speech, telling Victor that humanity treats him terribly only because of his ugliness, and that inanimate objects (ex. mountains and glaciers) are much better company than people. Taking Victor to his house (which was in the mountains), he told him his entire life up to that point: when he gained sentience, he quickly left Ingolstadt for the surrounding forest, where he was immediately assaulted by hunger and the cold. Unhappy, he cried, but was able to ease his pain by consuming berries and water from a brook. He moved around in the wilderness for a while and was impressed with birds. However, when he tried to imitate their singing, he was horrified at his voice, which was vulgar and coarse. During the winter, he couldn’t find enough food to eat, and eventually stumbled on the house of an old man. The old man, upon seeing him, screamed in horror and escaped. When the creature innocently went into an inhabited town, people thought he was a vile monster: people either ran from him, fainted, or assaulted him. He says that he was “‘grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons,’” causing him to flee to a hovel in another area which was connected to a cottage but was largely unused (59). Upon entering the hovel, he realized that the wind blew through numerous fissures. However, he was still grateful, seeing that it shielded him from human beings: “‘Here then I retreated, and lay down happy to have found a shelter, however miserable, from the season and from the barbarity of man’” (59). In the morning, he saw the inhabitants of the cottage: they were an old man and his children, a young man and woman. Upon seeing them, he was touched by their kindness and cooperation: “‘They showed such kindness and affection that I felt sensations on a peculiar and overpowering nature: they were a mixture of pain and pleasure, such as I had never before experienced, and I withdrew, unable to bear these emotions’” (60). The creature then saw how candles (“tapers” in the original text) worked, and enjoyed watching those in the cottage. He quickly discovered that the old man was blind, and that they had reason to be unhappy: they had little food. That is, “‘If such lovely creatures were miserable, it was less strange that I should be wretched … Their nourishment consisted entirely of vegetables and the milk of one cow. They suffered pangs of hunger, especially the two young cottagers, who placed food before the old man when they reserved none for themselves’” (61). The creature had been taking some food from the fields, but upon realizing that he was causing them pain, completely stopped that behavior, deriving his nourishment from the plants of the woods. Aside from that, the creature tried to help the cottagers by using his powerful physique: during the night, he would use their ax to provide them with lumber. Over time, he learned by mere observation the nature of words, and realized that the old man was called “father,” the woman “Agatha,” and the man “Felix.”
The creature became emotionally attached to the cottagers and wished the best for them. He set a schedule for himself: he would sleep during the day. During the night, he would go into the woods to collect timber, gather the food he would later eat, and clear the area of snow when it was necessary. The cottagers, astounded, didn't know what was going on: they attributed these deeds to a supernatural beneficiary. The creature eventually unwittingly discovered his own hideousness: “‘I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers - their grace, beauty and delicate complexions; but how was I terrified when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At first I was unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with despondence and mortification’” (63). During the spring, a young Arabic woman named “Safie” arrived at the cottage. She didn't know English, but she had a close relationship with Felix: they were previously engaged before (to be explained later on). Therefore, Felix began teaching her English. The creature demonstrated his keen intelligence by utilizing the opportunity to learn how to speak English as well: “‘Safie and I improved rapidly, so that in two months I comprehended most of the words uttered by my protectors … The book from which Felix instructed was Volney’s ‘Ruins of Empires’. It gave me an insight into the manners, governments and religions of the different nations of the Earth’” (64). The creature says that he felt ambivalence towards humans: “‘Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base? To be a great and virtuous man appeared the highest honour, but when I heard details of vice and bloodshed, I turned away with disgust and loathing’” (65). Indeed, the creature was well-informed to think so. While humankind is capable of great feeds (advancements in science, technology, sympathy, empathy, cooperation, insight, generosity, kindness), it also has the potential of nauseating forms of evil and depravity (genocide, massacre, mass rape, slavery, torture, war, greed, envy, selfishness, sadism). As Nietzsche once wrote, “The tree that would grow to heaven must send its roots to hell.” The creature then suffered an existential crisis upon hearing of human biology (reproduction, the development of the body, and familial relations) in words that would best be described in their original text: “‘But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing. What was I?’” (66).
The creature later learned that the cottagers were once nobles: the old man’s name was “De Lacey.” The reason they became cottagers was that Safie’s father, a Turkish merchant, while living in Paris, drew the displeasure of the authorities. He was sent to jail and given the death penalty: prejudice was clearly in the trial, seeing that “‘It was judged that his religion and wealth rather than the crime alleged against him had been the cause of his condemnation’” (67). Felix swore to the Turk to help him escape, and asked for Safie’s hand in marriage in exchange for the favor. He succeeded in rescuing the Turk. While the Turk was glad to live, he didn't want his daughter, a Muslim, to be married to a Christian. Consequently, he tried to keep his daughter with him and to prevent her from meeting with Felix. Not long afterward, the French government discovered Felix’s treachery, and threw De Lacey and Agatha into jail. Upon hearing the news, Felix gave himself up to the authorities in hopes that they would spare his family. Unfortunately, he was completely unsuccessful: they were confined in jail for five months before being sent into exile (losing everything they had in the process). Furthermore, “‘When news reached the merchant that Felix was deprived of his wealth and rank, he commanded his daughter to think no more of her lover. Safie was outraged by his command. A few days after, the Turk left for Constantinople, leaving Safie alone. By some papers of her father, he learnt the name of the spot where her exiled lover resided, and determined to arrive in safety at his cottage in Germany’” (68). The creature then states that one day he found some books in the woods. The titles include Lives by Plutarch, The Sorrows of Werter by Goethe, and Paradise Lost by John Milton. After reading them, he felt even more self-hatred, as he knew that he had done nothing to deserve his hideousness. He then found out that the coat he had taken from the laboratory upon his escape contained the papers detailing his anatomy and creation. Reading them with diligence, he became horrified at the circumstances regarding his creation: he was made from corpses, after all. He screams at Victor, asking him why he would create a lifeform that is basically condemned to a lifetime of loneliness due to its appearance: “‘These were the reflections of my hours of despondency and solitude. I remembered Adam’s supplication to his creator. But where was mine? He had abandoned me, and in the bitterness of my heart I cursed him’” (70).
After some time, the creature tried to approach the cottagers when all but the old man had left: the old man was blind, so he would be incapable of judging him based on his appearance. Upon entering the house, he got along well with the old man. However, before he could finish telling the old man of what he wanted from him and his family (companionship) and of his situation, the three other cottagers came into the house. Agatha immediately fainted, Safie ran, and Felix beat him. The creature remarked that he “‘could have torn him limb from limb. But my heart sunk within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained. Overcome by pain and anguish, I quitted the cottage, and in the general tumult escaped unperceived to my hovel’” (73). The cottagers eventually left out of fear, and the creature, enraged and completely heartbroken, burned the cottage to the ground. He had learned from the papers that Geneva was the home of his creator, and resolved to find him. One day on his way to the Frankenstein house, he saw a young girl fall into the river. Without thinking, he rescued her. When her father saw him, he thought that the creature was trying to drown her. Getting his child back, he then shot the creature in the shoulder. Having had enough of humanity’s stupidity, ignorance, shallowness, baseness, and cruelty, the creature recollected on how “‘I had saved a human being from destruction, and as recompense I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone! The feelings of kindness gave place to hellish rage. Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind!’” (76). After a few weeks of recovery, the creature finally arrived near his destination. He saw William and grabbed him, thinking that a child’s innocence would render it immune from judging the ugly: he was wrong. While he told William that he didn't wish to hurt him, the child responded by calling him an “‘ugly wretch,’” “‘ogre,’” and “‘hideous monster’” (78). He threatens the creature by telling him that he comes from a rich family, and mentions the family name. The creature, hearing “Frankenstein,” is filled with hellish rage and tells William that he will suffer for his family’s misdeeds towards him. He proceeds to strangle him, and is somewhat relieved: although he is miserable, he can make his enemies miserable as well. He then inspected the necklace found on William, and after seeing his mother’s face, was filled with even more self-loathing: “I remembered that I was forever deprived of the delights that such beautiful creatures could bestow” (79). He eventually came across Justine. For a brief moment, enraptured by her beauty, he thought that they could be together. Then he remembered his ugliness, and decided to act out of anger once again, planting the locket in her dress to frame her for the murder.
After committing the murder, the creature retreated to the mountains. He begs Frankenstein to make him happy, seeing that his atrocities occurred due to his being exceedingly miserable. To be specific, he requests for a female mate to be made for him. Victor, hearing his request, immediately refuses it. The creature then gives a fantastic defense, telling him that with force that “‘You are wrong and, instead of threatening, I am content to reason with you. I am malicious because I am miserable. Shall I respect man when he contemns me? I will revenge my injuries: if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my arch-enemy. I intended to reason. What I ask of you is reasonable and moderate. Let me feel gratitude towards you for one benefit! Do not deny me my request!’” (81). He tells Victor that he has a plan for him and his mate: they will live peaceful lives in the wilderness (he plans to be a vegan with his partner): “‘If you consent, neither you, nor any other human being shall ever see us again. I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; my companion and I will be content with the same fare of acorns and berries. The picture I present to you is peaceful and human’” (82). He tells Frankenstein that he won’t cause any more trouble if he is happy, and that once his loneliness is largely alleviated, he’ll have no desire to interact with humankind anymore. Victor believed the request to be reasonable, and consented on the grounds that he would leave with his partner for some uninhabited area and leave humanity alone. The creature is overjoyed, and swears that he will uphold his end of the bargain. He tells Victor to begin his project soon, and that he need not worry of how to deliver the female creature: “‘I shall watch their progress; and fear not but that when you are ready I shall appear!’” (83). The creature ran down the mountain at an extremely quick speed and Victor, after seeing his family, was informed by his father that he should marry Elizabeth, seeing that they are both attached to each other. Victor tells his father that he needs to do something before he gets married to Elizabeth, and his father consents. Victor then leaves with Clerval for a foreign land. Upon arriving in London, Victor notes the difference between him and Clerval: “‘Clerval desired the intercourse of the men of genius and talent who flourished at the time; but this was with me a secondary object; I was principally occupied with the means of obtaining the information necessary for the completion of my promise … and quickly availed myself of the letters of introduction that I had brought with me, addressed to the most distinguished natural philosopher’” (87). Victor notes that Clerval was his previous self: happy, carefree, and free of guilt and fear. Clerval planned to go to India as a trader. Victor also began collecting the materials he needed for the creation of a female creature, and after some months, told Clerval that he was going to leave for a month or two for some degree of solitude. Clerval agreed, though reluctantly. Victor chose a great spot for isolation: an isolated island that was small in size and had few inhabitants. Victor then began constructing the female creature, and was tormented by guilt: while his creation of the first creature was done in a fit of enthusiastic madness and frenzied curiosity and ambition, now he had no illusions about what he was doing. He was afraid that creating the female creature would only make a bad situation worse: what if she hated the male creature for having her brought into existence? What if she despises his appearance and tries to find someone normal? And what if they actually get along and produce a race of organisms which might prove a danger to humans? Victor then caught sight of the creature at the window: he was smiling at him with “‘the utmost extent of malice and treachery’” (95).
Victor, realizing his folly, decided to destroy the female creature. The creature, seeing his potential mate destroyed, withdrew. The next day, the creature appeared to Victor, and asked if he was indeed so hellbent on preventing him from being happy. Victor told him he would not create another creature like him, “‘Equal in deformity and wickedness,’” and the creature threatened him, telling him to obey: even though Victor was his creator, he was no longer the master (97). Victor continues to deny the creature his request, and the creature, full of rage and hatred, screams about how Victor had doomed him to a lifetime of wretchedness and self-loathing: “‘Shall each man find a wife for his bosom, and each beast have his mate, and I be alone? I had feelings of affection, and they were requited by detestation and scorn. Are you to be happy, while I grovel in the intensity of my wretchedness? You can blast my other passions but revenge remains - revenge, henceforth dearer than light or food! Man, you shall repent of the injuries you inflict. I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your wedding-night.’” (98). Victor, hearing the threat, tries to attack the creature but fails. The creature speedily leaves the island in his boat, leaving Victor alone. Victor then thought of the threat: he believed the creature was going to kill him in front of Elizabeth, leaving her alone. He quickly left the island and threw the remnants of the female creature into the ocean. A storm then put his boat in jeopardy, but he survived. He eventually made his way to a town, and was told that he was suspected of murdering someone who had been strangled the previous night. The magistrate, Mr. Kirwin, was an old man who was kind, which would soon be fortunate to Victor. Victor heard of the testimonies of various individuals who attested that he was likely to be the murderer: Mr. Kirwin ordered for Victor to be brought face-to-face with the body of the murder victim to see his reaction. Victor, upon seeing the body of Clerval, fainted and began convulsing. Very ill for two months (he was largely unconscious like before), he eventually awoke. During those two months, he cursed himself as the destroyer of his friends and family. Upon regaining his health, he discovered that Mr. Kirwin had treated him exceptionally well: he had given the best room of the prison for him, and even hired a doctor and nurse. Mr. Kirwin then entered his room and told him that he was probably not the murderer, seeing the evidence. Victor’s father then entered his cell and told him that he ardently desires for him to be free. Mr. Kirwin prepared Victor’s defense, and it was eventually ruled that he was indeed innocent: he was on the Orkney Islands when Clerval’s body was discovered. Victor, upon going home, resolved to marry Elizabeth at once. During his wedding, he carried guns and knives to serve as a defense against the creature. He didn't show up, and when Victor and Elizabeth went to Villa Lavenza (the Austrian government gave Elizabeth the house due to Victor’s father’s efforts), they initially felt happy. Victor sadly noted that “‘Those were the last moments of my life during which I enjoyed the feeling of happiness’” (109). That night there was a storm, and Victor, afraid for Elizabeth’s life, removed his pistol from his coat. He told Elizabeth to go upstairs while he patrolled the perimeter. Elizabeth, upon going upstairs, was quickly strangled by the creature. Victor, upon hearing her screams, rushed upstairs only to find her dead: “‘When I recovered, I rushed towards her; and embraced her with ardour; but the deadly languor of the limbs told me that what I now held in my arms ceased to be the Elizabeth whom I loved and cherished. The murderous mark of the fiend’s grasp was on her neck, and the breath had ceased to issue from her lips’” (112).
Looking out the window, he saw the creature laughing at him while pointing at Elizabeth’s dead body. Victor shot at him, but the creature managed to escape. After Elizabeth’s death, Victor’s father died of heartbreak. Victor went temporarily insane once again: he couldn’t accept what had happened to him. In his own words, “‘I lost sensation, and chains and darkness were the only objects that pressured upon me. I dreamt that I wandered in flowery meadows, but I awoke and found myself in a dungeon. They called me mad, and for many months, a solitary cell was my habitation’” (114). After being released from the insane asylum, he went to a magistrate and confessed the whole story. The magistrate patiently listened, but didn't believe the strange tale. Victor then took matters into his own hands: he had no one left to live for, and took it upon himself to track down and kill the creature. Going to the graves of his family, he swore to find the creature and to either kill him or to die trying. The creature then laughed at him upon hearing his ejaculations, and told him that he was satisfied that he had resolved to live, seeing that he was in a similar state of unhappiness to him. Victor immediately began to chase him, and for months he chased the creature across a variety of places. That is, Victor chased the creature to Russia and eventually the North Pole. Victor remarks that the creature frequently left him clues as to his whereabouts, and when they reached the North Pole, he could see him while chasing him on the dog sled. However, the ice cracked, causing him to be unable to reach him. Victor then tells Walton that he was his savior, and that he himself wasn’t going to rest until he was to kill the creature: “‘If I die, Walton, swear to me that he shall not escape; that you will seek him, and satisfy my vengeance in his death. He is eloquent and persuasive; and once his words had even power over my heart: but trust him not. His soul is as hellish as his form, full of treachery and fiendlike malice’” (117). Sometime after telling Walton his story, Victor tells him that if he is going back to human civilization, he wouldn’t follow him. That is, he had made a solemn vow to follow the creature, and there was no way he could forget those who had died under his hand: “‘Can any man be to me as Clerval was; or any woman another Elizabeth?’” (118). On September 2nd, the crew told Walton that they wanted to return home if the ice was to crack, seeing the peril they were already in. Victor rebuked them, encouraging them to have some bravery, fortitude, and resistance. This effectively shames the crew temporarily, and Walton tells them to reconsider their decision: however, if they continue to insist on going back, he will relent, seeing that he is responsible for their lives. On September 7th, Walton is confronted with their requests to go home once again. Consenting, he informed them that if the ice is to break, they will immediately return home. By September 12th, Frankenstein’s illness had resurfaced and he had died. To be more specific, on September 9th, the ice cracked shortly before Frankenstein perished. Frankenstein, while on his deathbed, tells Walton that while he may go back, he himself will not. He calls for the spirits of the dead to give him the strength to rise up and to chase the creature, but faints afterward. The doctor of the ship, after taking a look at Frankenstein, tells Walton that he won’t be alive for much longer. When Frankenstein awoke, he recounted his mistake: he had power and knowledge without responsibility and foresight. That is, “‘In a fit of enthusiastic madness, I created a rational creature. He destroyed my friends; nor do I know where his thirst for vengeance may end. Miserable himself, that he may render no other wretched, he ought to die’” (121). Before dying, he tells Walton that he could see his family and friends waiting for him. He entreats Walton to “‘Seek happiness in tranquility’” before succumbing to his illness.
After his death, Walton was deeply affected, and recounted with sadness Frankenstein’s demise. He then heard a noise from Frankenstein’s room. Rushing to it, he saw the creature. He orders for the creature to take responsibility for his crimes, and the creature responds by telling him that he didn't enjoy committing the murders he had done, and that his entire life was nothing but painful torture. “‘And do you dream? Do you think that I was dead to agony and remorse? He suffered not in the consummation of the deed - Oh! Not the ten-thousandth portion of the anguish that was mine. Think you that the groans of Clerval were music to my ears? It was torture such as you cannot even imagine. After the murder of Clerval, I pitied Frankenstein. But when I discovered that he dared to hope for happiness, then I was filled with an insatiable thirst for vengeance … Yet when she died! Nay, then I was not miserable. Evil thenceforth became my good. Urged thus far, I had no choice but to adapt my nature to an element which I had wittingly chosen. The completion of my demoniacal design became an insatiable passion. And now it is ended; there is my last victim!’” (124). Walton remonstrates at the creature, telling him that he didn't really feel any remorse: he had come to the ship only to whine of the solitude he had forced upon himself. Furthermore, Walton alleged that the “sadness” the creature felt for Frankenstein was only bitterness that he could no longer harm him, seeing that he had died. The creature refuted Walton’s claims, responding that he had long given up on the hopes of finding companionship. He elaborates, telling Walton that “‘I seek not a fellow-feeling in my misery. No sympathy may I ever find. I am content to suffer alone, while my sufferings shall endure. Once I falsely hoped to meet with beings who, pardoning my outward form, would love me for the excellent qualities which I was capable of unfolding. But now crime has degraded me beneath the meanest animal. No guilt, no malignity, no misery, can be found comparable to mine. When I run over the frightful catalogue of my sins, I cannot believe that I am the same creature whose thoughts were once filled with sublime and transcendent visions of the beauty and the majesty of goodness. But it is even so; the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associations in his desolation; I am alone’” (125). The creature then tells Walton that Frankenstein’s narrative acknowledged only himself, not his point of view: while Frankenstein did indeed suffer, the creature was repeatedly wronged and abused for no rational reason: Felix attacked him for merely being ugly, the peasant shot him for saving his daughter, and the rest of humanity would not hesitate to run from or harm him upon witnessing his outward countenance. The creature then concedes that it is true that he is miserable and wicked: he had indeed committed wanton homicides on the innocent and the good. He tells Walton that even though he hates him, his hatred is insignificant compared to the self-loathing the creature feels towards himself. He informs Walton that he shouldn’t worry about him doing further misdeeds: he will go to an extremely isolated area somewhere in the North Pole and commit suicide by lighting himself on fire on his funeral pyre. He remarks that once he is dead, he would no longer feel the emotions that constantly torment him, and that his death will almost completely erase the memories people have of him and his creator: “‘He is dead who called me into being: and when I shall be no more, the very remembrance of us both will speedily vanish. I shall no longer see the sun or stars, or feel the winds play on my cheeks. Light, feeling, and sense will pass away; and in this condition must I find my happiness’” (127). Leaving the ship, the creature tells Frankenstein that his pain was insignificant to the agony of remorse and guilt. He then leaves on a chunk of ice with his funeral pyre, and Walton sails home, acknowledging in the letter to his sister that no words could express the story he had heard and experienced for himself. However, “But I journey towards England, and I may there find consolation” (130).
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Personal thoughts:
Frankenstein is a truly powerful, thought-provoking, and meaningful classic and Frankenstein: The Graphic Novel is a fantastic illustrated version of the text. Mary Shelley is vastly successful at showing the flaws of both the creator and the creation, making one question which one was the true villain. Frankenstein’s creation is a nuanced character, and is my favorite in the novel, seeing how his wicked actions have many justifications. While many readers are likely to criticize the creature for his heinous murders, they would do well to look at the story from his perspective as well as using the concept of the prima causa: “prima causa,” or “first cause,” clearly demonstrates through causation that Victor was the one who created the creature. While Victor is very intelligent, insightful, and ambitious, he has no sense of personal responsibility: I find his excuse of his abandoning his creature to be somewhat hilarious, seeing that creating the creature itself (Victor basically became a grave-robber and spent many nights in cemeteries) was probably more disgusting than seeing it come to life. As I noted before, one of the main themes of this book is the relationship between knowledge and power with responsibility and decency: if Victor didn't abandon his creation, but instead took it upon himself to educate it and provide it with affection, things probably would’ve been completely different, seeing that the creature wouldn’t have been repeatedly abused and would actually have someone to spend time with (albeit with a flawed individual). Furthermore, the perspective of the creature is extremely interesting: his vile actions are easily explainable when one sees how he was repeatedly shunned and attacked only because of his appearance despite his benevolent actions. Victor as a person also has many flaws: his Achilles’ heel is his self-centeredness. This weakness is seen very well in how he didn't confess everything that had happened to him during Justine’s trial out of fear of being viewed poorly. This is again demonstrated when the creature threatened to be with him during his wedding night: he couldn’t fathom the creature murdering Elizabeth, as everything had to be about him. If there is one lesson Frankenstein teaches the audience, it is that people should apply their power (in this case, knowledge) with foresight, kindness, and responsibility, as becoming blind to ambition could bring unforeseen consequences. I highly recommend Frankenstein and Frankenstein: The Graphic Novel to anyone interested in classics, powerful literary works, fantastic conflicts, and realistic characters.
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