Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus
sixth of eight tour screens   [Return to tour]
     For the Savilles, Frankenstein ends at the very point that
the events that concern them most are about to unfold. It is a real
horror. Walton, or Uncle Bob, as he is sometimes called in To a
Candid World, has broken the vow he made five months earlier,
and the dire consequences, to which he alluded then, are certain to
follow.Yet, there are reasons for hope, some of which can be found
in what the Creature has said to Walton.
     Mary Shelley, through her careful design, provides us with the
opportunity to arrive at a better outcome. She invites us to finish
the story. Part of that process is likely to involve finding Victor's
account to be incomplete and, to a degree, a fabrication. The Vitebsk
Story may be such an exercise. In it Victor, who is called the
Frankenthaler, was a student of ancient languages, not a student of
medicine who created a living being. As is to be expected of an
attempt to fill in the gaps and reconcile the inconsistencies or
discrepancies in Victor's story, the Vitebsk Story provides scenes in
which the two men are on good terms with one another, which could
explain the Creature's praise of Victor in the concluding moments of the
novel. The Vitebsk Story also tells of a conflict between the two that,
though, while it certainly includes some unusual events, is more
believeable than the tale Victor tells Walton.    [Next] [Return to tour]

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