Like Father, Like Son

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
Pages 149-166

"'Peace, peace! learn from my miseries, and do not seek to increase your own,'" (Shelley, 156).

With the conclusion of Frankenstein's narrative, the audience is reminded of the frame story nature of the novel. It returns to Walton's letters to his sister, and Walton resumes the position of narrator. Walton tells his sister and the audience that Frankenstein's story is to be taken as truth due to his emotional connection to its telling and the factual evidence presented to Walton such as the letters and the sighting of the creature. Also, the second sighting of the creature and his interaction with Walton referring to Victor as his creator confirm this notion.

The end of Frankenstein's story also completes the end of his downward mental spiral. He has degraded to the state which he had earlier detested; he is a monster consumed with the thought of the destruction of his enemy, much like the monster he had created. In his obsession with the elimination of the beast preoccupied with causing his misery, Frankenstein became the same thing that he was trying to destroy. This reversal of roles illustrates the dynamic nature of the characters of both the creation and the creator. Their respective evolutions paralleled each other; one rose in his intellect and understanding while the other degraded in their mental health.

By ending the story through the eyes of Walton, Shelley was able to leave the reader with a secondhand perspective in order to dispel any doubt or suspicion of Frankenstein's story. This deliberate change in the point of view, as with all of the other various viewpoints throughout the story, adds to the depth of the meaning of the work by allowing for a multitude of interpretations of the actions. It allows the reader to freely analyze the actions of the characters and the action of the story in general. Overall, it was very effective and made the story more interesting.