Chapter IX

Victor is consumed by remorse after Justine’s death, unable to sleep and shrinking from all society. He feels responsible for “unalterable evils” and anticipates further crimes by the Creature. His father urges measured grief and usefulness, but Victor’s guilt makes such counsel feel impossible.

The family retires to Belrive, where nightly solitude on the lake tempts Victor toward suicide. He restrains himself by thinking of Elizabeth, his father, and his remaining brother, fearing that his death would leave them exposed to the Creature he unleashed. His hatred of the Creature swells into fantasies of violent retribution.

Elizabeth, overwhelmed by Justine’s fate, laments a world where falsehood mimics truth and the true murderer goes free. Reading Victor’s despair and anger, she pleads for him to banish dark passions and take comfort in their love and homeland. Even her tenderness cannot pierce Victor’s inner “cloud.”

Seeking relief through motion and sublime scenery, Victor leaves for the valley of Chamounix. As he travels in August, the grandeur of the Alps, glaciers, and Mont Blanc intermittently lightens his spirit, though grief repeatedly returns. He reaches Chamounix exhausted, watches storm-light over the peaks, and finally finds temporary oblivion in sleep to the river’s rush.