Frankenstein Book Notes Summary

Know this work well? Help others and get FREE products!

Frankenstein was almost finished with the female monster, but he realized that this second monster, created as a companion for the first, might not be agreeable to all the conditions Frankenstein and the monster had constructed before her creation. She would be as independent as the first monster and might not be held at peace by an agreement made before her creation. She might be violent. She and the monster might procreate and introduce a race of monsters to the earth. There were so many horrific possibilities that Frankenstein didn't want that responsibility.

Topic Tracking: Responsibility 8

While Frankenstein was deciding against finishing the second creature, the monster looked in the window of his laboratory. Seeing the terrifying results of his first creation, Frankenstein defiantly ripped the second creature apart and left the lab. The monster came to Frankenstein's apartment, but Frankenstein wouldn't change his mind no matter what the argument. The monster vowed revenge. "'You can blast my other passions, but revenge remains -- revenge, henceforth dearer than light or food! I may die, but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery.'" Chapter 20, pg. 153 The monster vowed to be with Frankenstein on his wedding night and then disappeared. Frankenstein believed that he would die on his wedding night, but he still couldn't make himself construct the second monster.

Henry sent a letter requesting that Frankenstein join him immediately because Henry was leaving for India soon. Frankenstein took a few days to pack his instruments and then loaded the hideous and shredded remnants of the second monster into a basket weighted down with rocks. He dropped the basket into the ocean at night and was so relieved by getting rid of the thing that he fell asleep in the boat and awoke the next day in rough, unfamiliar waters. He spent the day expecting to die in the boat, but by evening it calmed enough for him to find harbor in a small town. As he pulled onto shore, a rude and suspicious Irish crowd met him. They took him to the local magistrate, M. Kirwin because he was suspected in the murder of a man the previous night.