The Life and Death of Frankenstein

Victor is born into what seems to be a very happy and loving life. His parents, Alphonse Frankenstein and Caroline Beaufort, who met at a cemetery after Caroline's father passed away.

When Victor is 17, his mother dies. This starts off the bad luck that Victor seems to have in the rest of the book. Her death originally serves as a way for Victor to bury himself in his studies.

Victor learns how to create life and immediately regrets it once he creates the monster. The monster, shunned by his creator, runs off to go find comfort and a life of his own.

The monster, feeling hated and betrayed, kills William as an act of revenge towards his creator, Victor Frankenstein. This is the first major issue between the monster and Victor, as it is where their morals and ideas split. The Monster feels he is justified in the murder, as he's dealt with a lot of pain and suffering. Victor, in comparison, feels so much abhorrence for the monster and lost a member of his family, so this leads the conflict of the rest of the story.

Justine, framed for the murder of William, is killed. Victor, who rightfully believes that the monster committed these murders, believes that he is to blame for the deaths. Because he has already dealt with so much trauma from his past, these events only cause him to become more vengeful and unstable.

Victor agrees to create the monster a wife after the monster begs and threatens. This event is important because it draws heavy contrast from when he created the first monster. He described that experience as passionate and exciting, where now it is a chore that he is not confident on at all.

Victor comes to his senses and realizes that what he is doing is dangerous. He thinks about how, if the monster became hateful towards the world and himself, why wouldn't the female monster do the same? As he destroys it, the monster watches. The monster then threatens him about his wedding night.

The best character, Clerval, is killed by the monster in Ireland. This should have been a hint towards Victor about who was going to be killed on his wedding night, but he did not pick up on that. This shows how brutal and bloodthirsty the monster is if it means hurting Victor.

On Victor's wedding night, the monster comes and kills Elizabeth. When Victor goes home to tell his dad the news, his father dies as well. This is the point of the story where I really felt bad for Vicor. He has lost everyone except for his one brother that he obviously does not care about. This is the point that leads us to where the story starts, as Victor vows to get revenge and chase the monster.

After Walton finishes writing Victor's story, Victor dies presumably from poor health. The monster, seeing that his chasee is dead, vows to leave and kill himself. This is important because it wraps the story up and it leaves the reader to wonder about the monster. Did he kill himself because he loved Victor or did he kill himself because he no longer had the joy of torturing someone?