Victor's downward spiral continues as his loved ones are consecutively killed; either directly or indirectly by the Monster. One particularly notable murder is that of William, Victor's younger brother, as the Monster plants evidence that convicts Justine, the Frankensteins' housekeeper and family friend, in the murder of William. Victor however, learns the truth about the murder and after the execution of Justine; he becomes consumed by grief and guilt; as it is his creation that caused the deaths of both Justine and William. Thereafter, each of Victor's loved ones dies; Henry Clerval is killed by the Monster and Victor is blamed, Elizabeth is killed after Victor refuses to create a mate for the Monster, and Victor's father dies of grief caused by death of the others. .
After each death, Victor's mental state regresses, until he reaches the point of complete madness and is consumed with killing the Monster. This eventually leads Victor to the North Pole, where he is found by Walton and his crew in a degenerate state. As Victor narrates his story to Walton, he warns Walton of the dangers of pursuing knowledge, saying to him "avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries." Victor asks of Walton to pursue and kill the Monster, but subsequently says "I dare not ask you to do what I think right, for I may still be misled by passion" (162), telling Walton to return to his family and home instead. Victor soon dies and is finally freed from his burden. Victor's obsessive pursuit of creating life leads to his distancing from his loved ones and leads to the creation of the Monster that kills Victor's loved ones and drives him to insanity and eventually death. By the time Victor recognizes the fault in his actions and the enormity of his mistakes; he is already on the brink of destruction and can only warn others to not follow in his steps.
