Victor Frankenstein, driven by a desire to transcend natural limits, assembles a humanoid creature from dead matter. Horrified by his creation, he abandons it, prompting the being to seek revenge for its isolation. The narrative follows the catastrophic fallout of this broken bond, moving from the icy Arctic to the serene Swiss Alps, as creator and creation are locked in a mutual pursuit of ruin.
He confessed that he had murdered the lovely and helpless and strangled the innocent. He admitted that he had devoted his creator to misery and pursued him to irremediable ruin. He declared that his abhorrence of himself could not be equaled by Walton’s hatred. He longed for the moment when his hands would meet his eyes and his imagination would haunt him no more. He promised that he would be the instrument of no future mischief, for his work was nearly complete and required only his own death. He vowed to quit the vessel, collect his funeral pile, and consume his miserable frame to ashes. He expressed that death would be his only consolation, polluted by crimes and torn by remorse. With sad and solemn enthusiasm, he cried that he would die, and the burning miseries would be extinct. He would ascend his funeral pile triumphantly, and his spirit would sleep in peace.
Farewell, he said, and sprang from the cabin window onto the ice raft. He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance.
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