Frankenstein

 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Brief overview:

    Robert Walton is searching for a passage through the Arctic Ocean when he finds an emaciated man adrift on an ice floe. This man, Victor Frankenstein, is a brilliant scientist from a wealthy family. Tormented by a past experiment, Victor relates how he came to be hunted by the Creature.

·                   While at university, Victor became obsessed with the idea of bringing the dead back to life. He built the Creature out of body parts scavenged from charnel houses and graves. Victor succeeded in bringing the Creature to life, but upon seeing the hideous Creature Victor ran from the lab, abandoning his creation.

·                     Creature spent two years hiding in the forest, aware of his ugliness. He learned to read in this time, and eventually he came to understand that Victor was the cause of his misery.

·                       The Creature began systematically hunting Victor and his loved ones. He strangled Victor's friend Henry, then killed Victor's wife Elizabeth on their wedding night. Following the murder, he chased Victor all the way to the Arctic, where Victor died on Walton's ship.

·                      Walton ends the tale in additional letters to his sister, telling her that the night Victor died, the creature entered Victor’s room and lamented his death. He then told Walton he planned to build a huge fire and burn himself to death. Before Walton could respond, the creature jumped from the ship and landed on a floating slab of ice. Walton concludes his final letter, telling Margaret that the creature was carried out to sea, where he disappeared into the darkness.