Title: Frankenstein: Seen in the Ice of Extinction
Author: J.N. Williamson
Date of First Publication: 1993
Place of Publication: Frankenstein: The Monster Wakes
Type: Short story
Characters: The Creature
Themes: SYMPATHETIC MONSTER; POSTHUMAN; BYRONIC HERO
Critical Summary: This novella begins shortly after the ending of Frankenstein; Victor is dead and the Creature wanders off into the icy tundra. The Creature wanders through the snow before finding an Eskimo village on the Bering Strait. Overcome with grief and self-loathing, the Creature lives on the edge of the community, eating the minimum to survive, studying all the intellectual materials he can find, and meditating with stillness and isolation on life after death. The first contact with life he has after Victor’s death is when he catches a falcon and trains it as a hunting pet. As the Creature continues to study, eventually learning the local Eskimo’s language, his thoughts often return to his creator; he ponders if Frankenstein is truly gone forever or if he was able to defy death again. The Creature existence changes one day when he sees a young boy about to be eaten by a starving wolf. The voice of his father, creator, and enemy — Victor Frankenstein — implores him to save the boy. The Creature murders the wolf and, although the villagers are still wary of his appearance, they welcome him into the community. Eventually the Creature learns that the Eskimos believe him to be a reanimated Latin scholar (Hans Egede) who, generations ago, came to the village to study their Eskimo-Aleut language. However, despite being allowed to live among humans, the Creature still isolates himself. Now haunted by ghostly visions as well as voices in his head of Victor. Frankenstein’s voice begins questioning the Creature about his humanity: his desires for autonomy, power, and love contrasting with his bloodlust and inferiority to men. At the climax of the novel, the Creature rushes out to rescue the grandmother of the boy he saved previously when he sees her floating out to sea. Once she is saved, the Creature discovers he has made a mistake: the family shuns him as an outcast for bringing them dishonor before they kill their family member and move to attack the Creature. Overwhelmed, he runs away from the scene, only to be continually haunted by Victor’s words about his own autonomy and capacity for love. Reaching a realization of his differences from humanity and the answers to the questions his creator had been throwing at him, the Creature comes upon a polar bear. The Creature, having nothing to live for, decides to end his life by attacking the mama bear near her cub. The novella ends with the Eskimos killing the Creature’s pet falcon, removing the last bit of the monster from their lives.
The only characters from the original novel in this story are the Creature and (the ghost/voice) Victor Frankenstein and the novella takes place directly after the ending of Frankenstein. It is written to answer what happened to the Creature once Victor had died. Like in Frankenstein, the Creature studies intellectual works and observes humanity to try and find a place in the world where he can belong. With the death of Victor, the Creature feels more loneliness than before and begins to wonder about life after death; if Victor can defeat death once before by building and bringing him to life, why would he be defeated now? However, the Creature realizes that with Victor gone and any hope for a mate gone with him, he no longer has a place in the natural order. His creator’s rejection has left him without love and without purpose, leading to the Creature’s suicide at the end of the novella.
Administrative Notes: Sarah Stucky, CSUF; Kyle Kalmanson (editing)