In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the monster that dr. victor Frankenstein creates is the cause for his death. This is best stated in a passage in the last chapter of the novel. “ That is also my victim.” he exclaimed. “ In his murder my crimes are consummated; … oh, Frankenstein! … I who irretrievably destroyed thee by destroying all thou lovedst. Alas! He is cold, he cannot answer me.” The monster is stating that through his crimes of revenge he caused the death of Dr. Frankenstein.

         The monster’s exertion of decline in Dr. Frankenstein’s mental health is by murdering his brother William, and also by unintentionally framing Justine for the death of William by placing the picture of his mother Caroline in her pocket, this would eventually lead to her execution. Both of these death‘s would grief Victor greatly and also place guilt upon him for the cause of the murder‘s his monster had committed. “ Thus spoke my prophetic soul, as, torn by remorse, horror, and despair, I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts.” Dr. Frankenstein is stating that because of his creation, the monster, he is responsible for the deaths and has to watch his loved ones suffer and weep upon the loss of William and Justine.

        The death of Henry Clerval is another event caused by the monster that adds to the guilt placed upon Dr. Frankenstein, this event also causes Dr. Frankenstein to fall incredibly ill physically. “ the human frame could no longer support the agonies I endured, and I was carried out of the room in strong convulsions. A fever succeeded to this. I lay for two months on the point of death; my ravings as I afterward heard, were frightful; I called my self the murderer of William, of Justine, and of Clerval .” This event was the first time Dr. Frankenstein fell ill physically, it also caused him to have a metal breakdown and ravel on about being the murderer of those tragically lost at the hands of his creation. At this point of the story Dr. Frankenstein has had to endure so much mentally through grief and guilt.

         One of the final causes for the decline of Dr. Frankenstein’s health is the death of his newlywed wife Elizabeth, this event is much more painful than the rest because it of his immense and passionate love for Elizabeth and the fact that she was murdered on their wedding night, the cause of this event was not only grief, it also again inadvertently caused the death of another, Dr. Frankenstein’s father was the victim to the misery that consumed him for the death of Elizabeth. This in all drove Dr. Frankenstein to an immense rage that led him to avenge his family and friends. “ By the sacred earth on which I kneel, by the shades that wander near me, by the deep and eternal grief that I feel, I swear, and by thee, O night, and spirits that preside over thee, to this misery, until he or I shall perish in mortal conflict.” This event forces Dr. Frankenstein to chose the burden of pursuing the monster until he himself or the monster die in a battle. This is the point in the novel in which Dr. Frankenstein is greatly sick and disturbed for the deaths of his loved ones, but is fueled by enough rage to keep him pursing the monster through the artic cold. This pursuit would prove to be too much of a horrific burden for Dr. Frankenstein and would lead to his death in the presence of Robert Walton the captain of a whaling ship stranded in the ice of the Artic sea.

         The authors purpose of the passage is to show that revenge of one placed upon another can lead to the misfortunate death of the other person, even though no physical harm is done to them. This does not effect humanity in thought but in the way the body is affected, in that the mind is the care taker of the body and if the mind has so much grief, guilt, agitation, or even a great burden placed upon it that it compromises the mind’s way to protect the body from disease or illness that surely would lead to a decline in physical health, if not that, it would then lead to a state of immense mental illness.