Frankenstein: “Alas! he is cold, he cannot answer me”
Phivos Samuel
In the last pages of the novel Walton is sending his final letters to his sister. Victors health is
deteriorating, and he only seems alive when he is speaking about the monster.
The ice which had previously trapped the ship has opened a passage for them to return to
England. On his deathbed Victor has agreed to return to England with Walton and confesses
that in these last few hours he was the happiest he has been in a longtime. Its midnight now
and with Victor saying his last breath, Walton tries to recollect his thoughts and feelings while
keeping watch on the ships deck. He is interrupted when he hears a hoarse voice coming from
Victors cabin and he goes to investigate. He sees Frankenstein’s monster peering over Victor’s
lifeless body uttering his grief and pain over his death. Once the monster realizes Walton’s
presence he attempts to flee, however Walton although disgusted by the grotesque figure he is
seeing, pleads for him to stay. The monster initially startled by his appeal returns to Victors side
when he suddenly flares up in uncontrollable passion. He woes over the death of his creator
and the only human that could provide him with the guidance and happiness he so desperately
needs. Walton and the monster altercate over his and Victors life and how past events
destructively affected both. The monster concludes that no one can provide him with the
sympathy and resolution he needs thus he pledges to remain in the Artic until he freezes to
death. To him dying is the only relief of this heavy pain he has build up over the years. The
monster then jumps overboard to an ice sheet and disappears in the haze.
In this final scene all three of the major characters reach their conclusion. Victor lamenting over
his mistakes dies quietly by Walton’s side. The monster is left with no options after his creators’
death and seeks to die alone to relief his pain. Walton gives up on his ambitions and returns to
England. This conclusion is strewn with symbolism and neatly ties up the story. One main
symbolism brought up initially was the time of day. “It is midnight; the breeze blows fairly”.
Most of the key events that happen in this novel occur symbolically depending on the time of
day, with most discoveries and events happening in the day while the monster appears at night
under a full moon. The novel capitalizes on the duality of light/fire and darkness with light being
used to show hope, knowledge and the power of creation while darkness is used to show
ignorance and the unknown. The monster initially discovered the duality of fire with it giving
light and heat but also pain when one approaches it too close. He vows to erase his existence
completely with the destructive force of fire as stated “triumphantly and exult in the agony of
the torturing flames. The light of that conflagration will fade away;”. He states this before
vanishing into eternal darkness never to be seen again. It is also symbolic that the final scene
happens in the artic or as Walton describes it “the eternal light”.
Furthermore, another point to analyze is the initial portrayal of the monster: “Again, there is a
sound as of a human voice, but hoarser”. Although from the beginning of the novel the monster
has only been portrayed as something inhumane in the closing scenes Walton describes its
human-like characteristics and begins to frame the creature as a human. The word monster by
itself is derived by the latin word “monere” and “monstrum”i meaning to warn of unnatural
object of dread. The monster was initially seen only through sight which caused fear and hatred
towards him, however through the course of the novel he has been discovered more and more
through his voice (the most prominent encounter being with the The DeLacey family).
Despite his appearance he has a highly sophisticated grasp of reason and language which is on
par with Victor’s and Walton’s. When he is confronted by Walton, he appeals to his sense of
pity through his constant rhetoric questions “ ‘And do you dream?’ said the daemon; ‘do you
think that I was then dead to agony and remorse?”. In telling his own perspective of the events
the monster seeks an understanding and compassionate affirmation for his actions. He wants
to persuade Walton that he does have a heart which wants to do good, however his
circumstances did not allow him to pursue those ambitions. The monster’s main problem is not
that of his body or speech, is that he cannot be heard “Alas! he is cold, he cannot answer me.’
His voice seemed suffocated;”.
Word count: 792
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