This paper examines the final chapters of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, focusing on how the creator and creature come to mirror one another despite their initial opposition. Through close reading of Walton's frame narrative and the monster's own reflections, the essay traces the parallel trajectories of Victor and his creation—both ruined, ostracized, and capable of evoking pity and horror. The analysis also considers the "death" of Walton's ambitions and the monster's final resolve, arguing that the novel's conclusion emphasizes the transient nature of human ambition and the tragic consequences of unchecked creation.
The novel Frankenstein (subtitled The Modern Prometheus) is structured around a frame tale in which Victor Frankenstein relates the circumstances that brought him to the Arctic to Captain Robert Walton. Frankenstein describes his creation of the monster, which now torments him over the course of the novel. It is not entirely clear who is pursuing whom: Frankenstein wants to kill the monster and take his revenge upon it for the deaths it has caused; the monster is irate at his creator's refusal to make him a female mate. The frame narrative returns at the end, where Walton oversees Victor's death after pursuing the monster across the earth.
Frankenstein and his monster begin to mirror one another at the very end. Although polar opposites when the monster was first created, the two creatures—creator and monster—begin to share similarities in the ways in which they extract pity and horror. Walton's description of Victor in the conclusion could just as easily be applied to the monster: "His eloquence is forcible and touching; nor can I hear him, when he relates a pathetic incident or endeavours to move the passions of pity or love, without tears. What a glorious creature must he have been in the days of his prosperity, when he is thus noble and godlike in ruin!" This passage captures the tragic dignity of both Victor and his creation in their final, broken states.
Both Victor and the monster end their lives ruined and ostracized from society. The monster himself expresses pity and regret at the fate of Frankenstein, whom he says he wished to love but who rejected him. In a moment of profound self-awareness, the monster reflects: "After the murder of Clerval I returned to Switzerland, heart-broken and overcome. I pitied Frankenstein; my pity amounted to horror; I abhorred myself." This statement reveals the monster's capacity for moral feeling and his recognition of the tragedy that binds him to his creator.
The monster wished to be good, but his extreme ugliness and the unearthly quality of his being made him a pariah. Once, he says, he delighted in life; now, after being stained by murder, he simply wishes to die and end his misery. The parallel descent into despair of both Victor and the creature underscores Shelley's argument about the consequences of ambition and rejection. Neither can escape the consequences of their actions or circumstance; neither finds redemption or peace in the living world.
There is also another "death" at the end of the book: the death of Walton's dreams. A failed writer, Walton hoped to capture glory through exploration instead, but his men threaten to mutiny if they continue any longer after the ship meets with adversity. Victor tries to urge them on to glory, but they refuse, and Walton has no choice but to return. This represents yet another example of the fleeting and transient nature of human ambitions, all of which come to naught.
"Walton's exploration dreams collapse"
"Monster chooses self-destruction over life"
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