Chapter 21
Summary
The body of Henry Clerval has been washed up on the beach, murdered by
strangulation, the monster’s hallmark. At least two witnesses saw a large creature near the body, but as Victor has appeared on the scene around the same time, and being a stranger, he is the prime suspect.
Victor is seriously ill and is near death, and when he can verify his
whereabouts at the time of the murder, he is acquitted of the crime. He could not have killed Henry as he was on the Orkney Islands at the time.
Alphonse arrives in Ireland to bring Victor home once he has been nursed
back to health. His meager existence on the remote island and his time spent in the Irish jail have taken their toll on him.
Interpretation
The journey that Victor and Henry had undertaken has ended in tragedy for
them both.
Henry is dead, and Victor faces continued persecution from the
monster. Victor has the further burden that yet another innocent has been murdered because of his evil experiments in Ingolstadt.
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