Activity one: The Plot Timeline            Add to the timeline by supplying a piece of evidence to support the event that is being described.

1. Sailed into the Arctic: Robert Walton captains a ship sailing into the arctic. – ” I have read with ardour the accounts of the various voyages which have been made in the process of arriving at the North Pacific Ocean through the seas which surround the pole.
2. Stuck on ice and saw gigantic figure on sled: The ship gets stuck on ice and R. Walton sees Victor Frankenstein –  ” … ,we were nearly surrounded by ice, which closed in the ship on all sides. -” and “only one dog remained alive; but there was a human being within it; whom the sailors were persuading to enter the vessel.”
3.  Picked up ill man: Frankenstein’s life functions aren’t working properly upon discovery and rescue of him. -“Two days passed in this manner before he was able to speak, and I often feared that his sufferings had deprived him of understanding.”
4. Walton and Frankie develop a friendship: Walton is fascinated with Frankenstein’s story and the madness in his eyes. – “My affection for my guest increases every day. He excites at once my admiration and my pity to an astonishing degree.”
5. Frankenstein is a child, Geneva is his home: His ancestors and family also grew up in this republic. -“I am by birth a Genevese, and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic.”
6. We hear about his family, Mum, Dad, adopted sister and younger brother: We learn of how when his mother gave birth to him and the adoption of his sister. ” Elizabeth Lavenza became the inmate of my parents’ house— my more than sister—the beautiful and adored companion of all my occupations and my pleasures.”
7. Liz (sister) gets ill and mum looks after her and dies: Elizabeth catches a severe case of scarlet fever and while her mother lay by her bedside with great care, she caught the fever and died soon after. -“Elizabeth was saved, but the consequences of this imprudence were fatal to her preserver. On the third day my mother sickened;”
8. Frankenstein goes to Ingolstadt to go to university. Initially disappointed as he is told everything he studied is out of date/ fantasy: M. Krempe mocks Victor’s interest in alchemy and disregards any dreams he holds as fantasy -“I had sufficient leisure for these and many other reflections during my journey to Ingolstadt, which was long and fatiguing.” and “Such were the professor’s words—rather let me say such the words of the fate—enounced to destroy me. “
9. Chemistry teacher inspires him and gives him hope that it’s not all wrong: On the same day Victor pays M. Waldman a visit who gives him motivation to continue pursuing his dream -“I have no doubt of your success. Chemistry is that branch of natural philosophy in which the greatest improvements have been” and “Thus ended a day memorable to me; it decided my future destiny.”
10. 2 years study and becomes interested in alchemy: As he develops a close friendship with M. Waldman, Victor becomes more and more ambitious to make a discovery. -“Two years passed in this manner, during which I paid no visit to Geneva, but was engaged, heart and soul, in the pursuit of some discoveries which I hoped to make.”
11. Studies decay and death in funeral homes: Reaching various levels of success as well as failure, Victor comes closer and closer to making a conclusion to his studies. -“In a solitary chamber, or rather cell, at the top of the house, and separated from all the other apartments by a gallery and staircase, I kept my workshop of filthy creation.”
12. Change in narrative voice. He begins to address the reader via Robert Walton: Speaks directly to the reader using authorial intrusion as if the reader is Walton and Frankenstein is telling his story to an intrigued Walton. This is indicated by the fact that the friend he addresses’ eyes enlighten with intrigue as Walton had when he discovered Victor for the first time. – “I see by your eagerness and the wonder and hope which your eyes express, my friend, that you expect to be informed of the secret with which I am acquainted; that cannot be; listen patiently until the end of my story, and you will easily perceive why I am reserved upon that subject.”
13. Tells us he has discovered a secret: Frankenstein keep his project and studies secret, conducting experiments in a solitary chamber. – “One secret which I alone possessed was the hope to which I had dedicated myself; and the moon gazed on my midnight labours, while, with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding-places.”
14. Spends almost a year on “his creation”: Frankenstein has fully committed himself to his studies, not seeing or talking to friends for a long time. – “Winter, spring, and summer passed away during my labours; but I did not watch the blossom or the expanding leaves—sights which before always yielded me supreme delight—so deeply was I engrossed in my occupation.”
15. Monster is created and comes to life, but Victor soon realizes the mistake he has made: Upon first glance Victor sees the beauty, but the horrid contrast hits him and he quickly associates the monster with negative descriptors. – “but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast…  the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. “
16. Monster escapes, as Victor loses his mind: Victor, upon realizing his mistake becoming ill with fear and regret.      -“My heart palpitated in the sickness of fear… the apartment was empty, and my bedroom was also freed from its hideous guest”
17. Henry Clerval visits Victor in Ingolstadt to help him recover from his nervous fever: Clerval acts as the only nurse to help Victor feel better as an act of friendship and pure kindness. -” I perceived Henry Clerval, who, on seeing me, instantly sprung out… ‘Dearest Clerval,’ exclaimed I, ‘how kind, how very good you are to me. This whole winter, instead of being spent in study, as you promised yourself, has been consumed in my sick room.”
18. Some time passes before Elizabeth tells Victor via letter that he needs to recover from being ill, motivating him to get better: Seasons have passed by, with Clerval still nursing Victor back to health. -“I perceived that the fallen leaves had disappeared and that the young buds were shooting forth from the trees… Get well—and return to us. You will find a happy, cheerful home and friends who love you dearly.”
19. For a brief time, Victor is filled with content and positivity, forgetting about the monster’s existence: There is a brief change in tone and mood, which is refreshing and calming after the many chapters of gloominess. -“Clerval called forth the better feelings of my heart; he again taught me to love the aspect of nature and the cheerful faces of children.”
20. Victor’s youngest brother William is murdered, causing deep sadness and grief in him and his family: Victor receives a letter from his father Alphonse, telling him that his youngest brother has tragically been killed and Justine Moritz is accused of the crime. -“William is dead!—that sweet child, whose smiles delighted and warmed my heart, who was so gentle, yet so gay! Victor, he is murdered!”
21. Victor decides to return to Geneva to visit his family, but encounters the monster on the way there and comes to the frightening conclusion that he killed William: While travelling to Geneva despite the incoming storm brewing in the mountains, Victor is shocked to encounter the monster he created 2 years ago. -” A flash of lightning illuminated the object, and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the filthy daemon, to whom I had given life. What did he there? Could he be (I shuddered at the conception) the murderer of my brother?” 
22. Victor arrives to Geneva, only to find that the innocent and unlikely culprit Justine Moritz has been accused of killing William… : There is a trial for the murder of William and Justine has two sets of convincing evidence against her and with an unconvincing defense, the judges decide to lock her in a prison cell. – ” The picture was then produced which the servant had found in her pocket; and when Elizabeth, in a faltering voice, proved that it was the same which, an hour before the child had been missed, she had placed round his neck, a murmur of horror and indignation filled the court. “ 
23. Despite the objections of Elizabeth and Victor, Justine is executed via hanging, for the murder of William Frankenstein… : Victor’s family are deeply saddened by the unfair verdict of the trial… Victor now feeling vengeful against the monster for getting away with the murder of William, as well as Justine. -” And on the morrow Justine died. Elizabeth’s heart-rending eloquence failed to move the judges from their settled conviction in the criminality of the saintly sufferer. “
24. Victor feels guilt and grief for Justine and William’s deaths, feeling responsible, as he had created the monster who conducted these assassinations. He contemplates suicide. : Victor has a deep depression, similar to how he felt right after he created the monster and Clerval had to nurse him to health. He often boats to the middle of the lake and ponders about jumping in and sinking in his sorrows until he lives no longer. -” I was tempted to plunge into the silent lake, that the waters might close over me and my calamities forever. But I was restrained… “
25. To escape the guilt of the murders, Victor decides to seek comfort from nature, venturing into the beautiful valleys while on his way to the village of Chamounix: Nature is a sedative for Victor, allowing him to lull away from the madness and tragedy that has recently occurred -” It was during an access of this kind that I suddenly left my home, and bending my steps towards the near Alpine valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such scenes, to forget myself and my ephemeral, because human, sorrows. “
26. While admiring the natural beauty of the valley, Victor comes across the monster and as the monster proposes that he either cares for him or he will kill more of his friends: Victor expresses immense hatred to the monster’s face, causing the monster, whom is trying to reason with him, to make a threat against him -“Do your duty towards me, and I will do mine towards you and the rest of mankind. If you will comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; but if you refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of your remaining friends.”
27. The monster begins to tell his story by a campfire, sheltered in a hut from the blistering cold. The narrator now switches to the monster: After the argument, Victor reluctantly decides to listen to the monster’s tale. -“I consented to listen, and seating myself by the fire which my odious companion had lighted, he thus began his tale.”
28. The monster takes refuge in a forest near Ingolstadt, surviving on berries and guided by moonlight: The monster’s early life after being reanimated is very similar to that of a baby, knowing little of the world and having senses slowly develop. -“I felt light, and hunger, and thirst, and darkness; innumerable sounds rang in my ears, and on all sides various scents saluted me; the only object that I could distinguish was the bright moon, and I fixed my eyes on that with pleasure.” 
29. Days and nights pass by and noticing the moon’s light lessening each night, the monster finds a fire. Receiving warmth and light from the cold and water from the stream the monster survives but food becomes scarce, berries not being enough, and shelter is needed: The monster is enlightened by the magical curiosities around him, learning of the world around him similar to a child. When discovering the fire, the monster touches the hot flame and is taught about pain, paralleling that of a child, who usually stupidly does something (touches an oven stove or grabs a wasp) and discovers pain as a consequence.   -“When night came again I found, with pleasure, that the fire gave light as well as heat and that the discovery of this element was useful to me in my food, for I found some of the offals that the travellers had left had been roasted, and tasted much more savoury than the berries…”
30. The monster finds shelter but as an expense, meets the villagers’ horrified judgments: Having his first real human encounter, the monster learns of the hatred displayed against him from the world. This experience is similar to that a child may expect at school, from bullies. -“The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped to the open country and fearfully took refuge in a low hovel…”
31. While sheltered in his hovel, the monster notices a poor, lower class family undergoing their daily chores which he has yet to understand. A girl, boy and an old man live in this cottage, whom the monster compares to an asylum, as they are confined here due to their poverty: The monster, while quietly observing the family, feels envy over the companionship between the girl and old blind man, as he has yet to find a faithful companion. -“… the pleasure I had experienced in watching my human neighbors. In the evening the young girl and her companion were employed in various occupations which I did not understand…”
32. The monster continues to observe the family, slowly but surely learning new and exciting things that occur in their day to day routine. After days go by, he learns the names of the family members. he particularly notices the melancholy that burdens them, particularly Felix, the brother or son: By making discoveries through observation, the monster educates himself. he realizes the sister or girl is called Agatha, brother, son or boy Felix and much later learns the old man or father’s name is De Lacey. -“The youth and his companion had each of them several names, but the old man had only one, which was ‘father.’ The girl was called ‘sister’ or ‘Agatha,’ and the youth ‘Felix,’ ‘brother,’ or ‘son.”
33. The monster begins to assist the family though the winter hardships, fetching wood and clearing the snow. Continuing to learn through early Spring, he finds solitude and company in the family’s presence: By listening to the old man read to Agatha, he picks up that the “signs of speech” on the book translates to spoken word. he even calls the family his friends, though feeling close he is actually very faraway, a ghost to them. -“My thoughts now became more active, and I longed to discover the motives and feelings of these lovely creatures; I was inquisitive to know why Felix appeared so miserable and Agatha so sad.”
34. The monster passionately observes as an Arabian lady arrives on horseback, later known to be Safie, she comes for her lover Felix. Felix becomes ravished with delight upon her arrival: While Felix teaches Safie how to speak French, the monster learns also, picking up on the world’s history and the class system of society: As a result of Safie’s arrival, Felix and the rest of the family are much more happier than before, especially Felix who is delighted to see his love. -“Felix came up hastily to the lady, who, when she saw him, threw up her veil, and I beheld a countenance of angelic beauty and expression.”
35. The monster hastily picks up the French language. The monster also learns of the family’s history, the origins of Safie and how they came to be in poverty, how he aided in the jailbreak of Safie’s Turkish father and while on the run with Safie and her father was caught, deprived of fortune and exiled from France causing him to retreat inside a small cottage in Germany with his sister and father: In addition to receiving education, Frankenstein learns that he wasn’t the same nature as man, withstanding extreme heat and cold and able to survive with a coarser diet. The learning of the family’s history explains Felix’s miserable unhappiness, as once being reduce to poverty and ruin, the Turk he had once aided betrayed him, quitting Italy, as unplanned and taking Safie with him. Safie being expostulate against her father decides to detest against his plans, finding the location of Felix and travelling there. “Some time elapsed before I learned the history of my friends. It was one which could not fail to impress itself deeply on my mind, unfolding as it did a number of circumstances, each interesting and wonderful to one so utterly inexperienced as I was.”
36. The monster finds three books on the ground, indulging in the worlds of these books producing new images and feelings of ecstasy, even crying whilst reading “Sorrows of Werter”. He is inspired and able to relate to these characters in these books: The books obtained were “Paradise Lost”, a volume of “Plutarch’s Lives” and “Sorrows of Werter”. Paradise Lost particularly invests him, as it involves Adam and Eve, a commonly reiterated comparison with the monster, with the monster relating to “Adam”, but in search of an “Eve”. -“…consisted of Paradise Lost, a volume of Plutarch’s Lives, and the Sorrows of Werter. The possession of these treasures gave me extreme delight; I now continually studied and exercised my mind upon these histories, whilst my friends were employed in their ordinary occupations.”
37. Now winter, the monster awaits his “trial”, theorizing that since the poor stopping at the door were never driven away, nor will he despite is unnatural form: The winter soon advances, once spring is spent contemplating his approach to this trial, a full year has passed since his awakening or birth. He plans to introduce himself whilst the old man De Lacey was left alone in the cottage, as he is blind. -“The winter advanced, and an entire revolution of the seasons had taken place since I awoke into life. My attention at this time was solely directed towards my plan of introducing myself into the cottage of my protectors.”
38. Nervous and desperate for approval and acceptance from his beloved protectors, he knocks, De Lacey, initially compliant with his plan, questions him briefly on how he came upon the cottage. Disaster strikes his plan when the rest of the family arrives, and in a moment of overwhelming panic, he reveals that he was the invisible hand helping them out. They enter and Agatha faints, Saphie flees in terror and Felix attacks the monster, prying him from the one hope failing to protect him in the hour of trial: After spending a year observing the protectors in hopes of being included in their cottage family, his dreams are shattered as a result of his fiendish horror of appearance. -“Agatha fainted, and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung, in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick.”
39. Pain and anguish succumbs the monster, fueled by vengeance against his creator and the outcome of the trial. After discovering the eviction of the cottage family due to insufficient rent payment, he sets the cottage in flames and flees into the woods at night from the sights of man: The monster planned to return to the cottage and resolve issues between them, and when this plan fails he is in despair, restoring to turning his fury against inanimate objects and eventually sets fire to the cottage. -” The wind fanned the fire, and the cottage was quickly enveloped by the flames, which clung to it and licked it with their forked and destroying tongues. ‘As soon as I was convinced that no assistance could save any part of the habitation, I quitted the scene and sought for refuge in the woods.”
40. The monster decides to look for his creator, and so heads for Geneva. But with no direction and intense suffering, travelling becomes hard. He rescues a girl who was drowning and as a reward of this kindly action is shot by a man who thought he was harming the girl. The wound slowly heals as he hides in the woods and he reaches Geneva, where he stumbles upon William Frankenstein. Knowing he belongs to his enemy, he strangles the boy as an act of vengeance against his creator and frames Justine for the crime. He wanders into the mountains where he comes across Victor: Even when the monster undergoes random acts of kindness he is punished, learning that no matter what he does he will be despised by mankind, he curses his creator for bringing him into this world. While travelling he is momentarily revived by the beauties of nature. He is an advanced being, able to withstand extreme cold temperatures and avoid fatality when wounded. With him confronting Victor, the story has now caught up to the present. -“This was then the reward of my benevolence! I had saved a human being from destruction, and as a recompense I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone” and ‘‘Frankenstein! you belong then to my enemy—to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim.”
41. The monster desperately and persistently tries to persuade Victor into creating a female monster, so he can have a companion and not have to be so alone, miserable and hateful against mankind. He swears they will live far from the neighborhoods of man in the wilds of Africa, however Victor detests against this, arguing that they may grow bitter and resentful against each other and he will have two hateful monsters to worry about. He also debates on whether leaving them in the wild is a positive thing, as they could mate and nurture their own advanced species and bring war against humanity. Ultimately Victor agrees to make this monster, fearful of the repercussions of not obeying the monster’s orders: After going back and forth, both feeling moved by his story and in conflict with his offerings, Victor agrees and the monster quickly leaves, promising to check on his progress. -“What I ask of you is reasonable and moderate; I demand a creature of another sex, but as hideous as myself; the gratification is small, but it is all that I can receive, and it shall content me. It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.”
42. Unable to begin work while in Geneva, he gains his father’s approval to travel to England in order to create his female monster in private, isolating his shameful experiments from society’s eye. He meets Clerval at Strasbourg and they travel to his destination together, stopping at various places on the way during the two year time period. After receiving a letter from a friend in Perth wishing to meet them in Scotland, they prolong their journey but Victor wishes for Henry to carry on to Perth, which he consents, and Victor tours Scotland alone: Victor also plans to marry Elizabeth afterwards, therefore wants to protect his family from the monster’s wrath by removing himself from his family. -“We left Edinburgh in a week, passing through Coupar, St. Andrew’s, and along the banks of the Tay, to Perth, where our friend expected us. But I was in no mood to laugh and talk with strangers or enter into their feelings or plans with the good humour expected from a guest; and accordingly I told Clerval that I wished to make the tour of Scotland alone.”
43. Victor arrives on the remote island of Orkneys, where he sets up his laboratory in one of three miserable huts. Though restless and nervous, he manages to begin experimenting and eventually assembles the female monster until he sees the monster, causing him to follow his morals and destroy his unfinished creation. The monster leaves in despair, in search for vengeance as he is now fearless and therefore more powerful, promising to reappear at Victor’s wedding: As his creation nears completion, Victor stops being selfish and fears the end of mankind and decides that humanity is more valuable than the destruction of his life and loved ones. He is reminded of these morals upon seeing the monster’s wretched face with a ghastly grin, realising the monster had stalked him during his travels, hiding in the shadows to ensure his needs are met.  -“As I looked on him, his countenance expressed the utmost extent of malice and treachery. I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged. The wretch saw me destroy the creature on whose future existence he depended for happiness, and with a howl of devilish despair and revenge, withdrew.” 
44. Clerval urges Victor to join him, this causes Victor to quit Orkneys and sail into the sea with his chemical instruments and destroyed female monster parts. Avoiding encounters with surrounding vessels, he sails out and casts away his basket of broken parts and avoided mistakes, next becomes lost at sea. Certain that the sea would become his grave, he suffers for several hours feeling helpless to the hands of nature. He eventually reaches the shores of civilization and is welcomed with rude gestures and crowds of whispering civilians: Whilst lost at sea, Victor is starving and tormented by the roaring waters, the storm is relentless and savage against his boat. He manages to fix his sail by using his shirt and then steers towards land. He is unsure where he has washed up, but knows that people aren’t happy about his arrival. -“I took advantage of the moment of darkness and cast my basket into the sea; I listened to the gurgling sound as it sank and then sailed away from the spot.”
45. After meeting a magistrate (law officer) called Mr. Kirwin, he discovers that all of the commotion at the shore was because a dead body had washed ashore and he is accused of being the murderer. He soon learns that the body is Clerval, and suspects the monster killed him as revenge for not obeying his orders. Victor now awaits trial. Victor becomes ill, miserable and ashamed with guilt, now wishing for death: Mr Kirwin decides to help defend Victor, knowing there is no evidence that he did such crime. The framing of Victor occurred due to a witness, Daniel Nugert, who whilst wandering the beach with his son and brother in law came across Clerval’s dead body and sighted a boat approaching the shore. Another witness also saw a boat close to the dead body’s location with a single man on board an hour before the body’s discovery. It is possible the monster set Victor up to be framed after killing Clerval. -“The examination, the presence of the magistrate and witnesses, passed like a dream from my memory when I saw the lifeless form of Henry Clerval stretched before me.”
    
46. While mourning in a prison cell, depressed and on the brink of death it was Mr Kirwin who like Clerval previously had become his carer, the only one able to understand his language. Victor wins the trial and due to his father’s arrival, his sickness quitted and together he and his father arrive at Paris. After receiving a letter about the wedding from Elizabeth, after a week Victor and his father have returned to Geneva. Another ten days go by and Victor and Elizabeth have their wedding, the wedding though wonderful, is suspenseful, as Victor continually dreads the arrival of the monster, the storm hits both physically and figuratively, as the monster kills Elizabeth. Soon after his father dies as well, leaving only his brother Ernest, not killed: After the ever so kindly favors of Mr Kirwin, Victor is able to leave his prison cell, alive and well. Alphonse, Victor’s father takes his son to Paris, both for personal business and to alleviate his delicate state of mind. Whilst there Victor informs his father of the monster he has created, telling him he blames himself for the deaths of so many, though his Father dismisses it as mere exhaustion. The wedding when at home initially seems tranquil, with mountains surrounding the beautiful event. A storm slowly rolls through while night arrives and the sun quits the sky and that is when Victor hears a loud scream, afterwards discovering Elizabeth’s dead lifeless body. Soon mobs of people are hunting down the monster in the night… while Alphonse dies after the miserable events due to an apoplectic fit. -“She was there, lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair. Everywhere I turn I see the same figure— her bloodless arms and relaxed form flung by the murderer on its bridal bier.”
47. The magistrate, Mr Kirwin arrives, insisting it will be very difficult to track down and kill the monster, as he hides in caves, dens and traverse the sea of ice without hypothermia.  He also believes that the monster is possibly hiding in the Alps and upon hearing this, a vengeful and enraged Victor sets off to kill the wretched creature he gave birth to, deciding never returning to Geneva again. The monster appears and after chasing him for a great distance through a miserable three weeks, he loses sight of him and close to death discovers Robert Walton’s ship. He makes Walton swear to kill the monster if he fails to do so: Finding the monster becomes troubling with few clues as to his whereabouts. He visits the grave of his loved ones, swearing to seek vengeance, afterwards hearing the laughter and mockery of the monster and chasing him by boarding the same ship he hid on, across the Black Sea. Aided by hope sent from the heavenly spirits which guides him through harsh times and suffering through this journey for revenge, he eventually finds a message from the monster, challenging him to ‘wrestle for our lives’. Across the ice sheets of the North he painfully travels, at a disadvantage due to the monster’s tolerance to extreme colds and near death, fails to confront the monster and is rescued by Walton and his crew, making Walton swear to kill the monster if he fails to do it himself. -“… in a few minutes a tumultuous sea rolled between me and my enemy, and I was left drifting on a scattered piece of ice that was continually lessening and thus preparing for me a hideous death. In this manner many appalling hours passed; several of my dogs died, and I myself was about to sink under the accumulation of distress when I saw your vessel riding at anchor and holding forth to me hopes of succour and life.”
48. The narrative now switches to Walton, as he finishes the story (therefore symmetrical) via letters to Margaret. Victor finishes telling his tale and we are now back to the present. One week has passed while he has been telling his tale and in this time the vessel still remains stuck and Victors health is deteriorating: Victor proves his story is true, showing letters between Felix and Saphie of the De Lacey cottage family and from seeing this as well as the apparition of the monster on a sled from the ship, Walton believes the monster and his tale is real. Walton is also discovered to have been writing notes whilst Victor told his tale. Walton idolizes Victor, inspired by his tale, but Victor disapproves of himself as a heroic figure, explaining his downfall from his days of prosperity, now being “chained in an eternal hell”, and insists that Walton learn not to follow in his footsteps by surrendering to dire ambitions. No one can replace Clerval as a friend and Elizabeth a lover, deciding that a friendship between him and Walton isn’t enough for him to sustain living in this world. -“If I were engaged in any high undertaking or design, fraught with extensive utility to my fellow creatures, then could I live to fulfil it. But such is not my destiny; I must pursue and destroy the being to whom I gave existence; then my lot on earth will be fulfilled and I may die.”
49. Walton fears death, while Victor awaits it, and as the ice walls threaten to crush the vessel hope is slowly drained. The crew are dying, as is Frankenstein, who is slowly declining in health, but still remains hopeful for revenge. He emits powers of eloquence throughout the vessel which inspire the crew to carry on living with hope for returning to England. There is a southward opening due to the ice dissipating and Walton decides to lead the crew back to England, quitting the exhibition. Meanwhile with Victor about to die, his final words is advice, to not follow dire ambition and to seal the deal with Walton about finishing what he started due to his failure to kill the monster: Walton makes a deal with the crew that if ice dissipates and the vessel is free, they will retreat back and voyage southward. Victor detests this deal, convincing the crew and Walton to carry on with the exhibition. After an opening passage to southward appears due to ice cracking and dissipating of the ice, Captain Walton decides to return to England. Victor is slowly but peacefully dying, told he has hours to live. Walton is by his side he passes. -“His voice became fainter as he spoke, and at length, exhausted by his effort, he sank into silence. About half an hour afterwards he attempted again to speak but was unable; he pressed my hand feebly, and his eyes closed forever, while the irradiation of a gentle smile passed away from his lips.”
50. At midnight Walton is startled to discover the monster peering over Victor’s dead lifeless body. About to escape, Walton asks him to stay, curious but mindful of Victor’s dying words. The monster admits he is a wretch, has done wrong in killing innocent lives and leaves to fulfil his wish to die by venturing North in order to find happiness in death: Walton listens to the monsters claims. He is trying to persuade Walton into believing that Victor is the true monster, claiming he endured much more misery than Victor. He is hated and despised by mankind, kicked and trampled even though he isn’t the only criminal in this horrible world (Felix and Victor). He leaves the vessel to fulfil his wish, presumably about to venture into death, darkness and desolation. -“Light, feeling, and sense will pass away; and in this condition must I find my happiness.” and “He sprang from the cabin window as he said this, upon the ice raft which lay close to the vessel. He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance.”