The End of Frankenstein (chapters 20-24)

Summary
*Spoiler warning : if anyone is considering reading Frankenstein, don't read the latter half of this summary, as it describes the end of the book! *
Victor is having second thoughts about his promise to the monster, as the female may be worse than the male, hate the monster, or leave the male. He worries that if they have children, they could take over the world. Suddenly, the monster appeared at his window. In a fit, Victor tore apart the female he had been creating, went back to his apartment, and decided to never create again.
The monster entered his house and asked Victor if he is breaking his promise and destroying his hopes, after he had followed Victor all over Europe. Victor confirms this, and the monster swears he will destroy all of Victor's happiness and have his revenge. The words the creature spoke before he left were "...I shall be with you on your wedding-night."
Victor didn't fear death, but he was concerned that Elizabeth would be sorrowful if he was killed.
Frankenstein received a letter from Clerval asking Victor to join him in London before he left for India. Victor packed up his instruments and cleaned his laboratory in preparation to leave. Victor states that his perspective had changed - he realized he couldn't condemn humankind just to save himself. So he sailed into the ocean to dispose of his utensils in the water. However, he fell asleep in the boat. When he awoke, he was far from shore, and large waves threatened to capsize his boat. Seeing land, Frankenstein sailed towards a town. Upon reaching land, a small crowd gathered around Victor, calling him a villain and telling him he must report to Mr. Kirwin, a magistrate, about a murder. Victor was soon lead to Mr. Kirwin's house. Several men entered with him. One reported that upon returning from a fishing trip, he stumbled over a man's dead body, whom appeared to have been strangled. Another said he had seen a boat like Victor's with one man in it not far from shore. A woman had seen the same thing. The fishermen hypothesized that after leaving land, Victor had made no progress due to the strong wind, so landed again in almost the same spot.
Victor was shown the corpse, and identified it as his friend, Henry Clerval. Frankenstein raved that he had caused his death as well as that of two others, and possibly more in the future. He then began convulsing, and was feverish for two months. He spoke in his delirium, calling himself a murderer.
He awoke in a prison. Mr. Kirwin had provided an uncaring physician and an apathetic nurse to care for him, but had also given him the best prison cell. During one of the times Mr. Kirwin visited Victor, Mr. Kirwin said that evidence could probably be gathered to clear the charges. Frankenstein mentions that through strange unfortune he has become the most wretched of mortals. Mr. Kirwin had found the letters on Victor, so had written his father, who then came to visit. Victor's father reported that the family was safe, and Victor's health improved after this meeting with his father.
Eventually, Frankenstein was proven innocent and was freed. However, Victor despaired and was suicidal. The only thought that brought him out of his mood was that he had to protect his family and kill the monster.
Victor and his father sailed towards Geneva. Frankenstein rambled on about how he was a murderer. His father thought he was delusional, so he stopped making such claims.  They then stopped in Paris, where Victor got a letter from Elizabeth. In it, she asked him whether he loved another, because he had been so unhappy. Victor reasoned that he would be killed, if not on his wedding night, then earlier, and if he killed the monster or if the monster killed him, he would be at peace. Wishing to please Elizabeth before he died, Victor wrote back that he did indeed love her, but had a terrible secret he would tell her on the day of the wedding.
After they arrived in Geneva, Victor was still tortured by memories and anxiety. Only Elizabeth could comfort him. Victor and Elizabeth's honeymoon was to be on the land Elizabeth had inherited, near the beach. Frankenstein tried to appear happy for the wedding, and made himself feel more secure by arming himself with a gun and a knife against the monster.
Elizabeth and Frankenstein were married, then started their voyage. They landed halfway to their destination to stay at an inn. Victor had Elizabeth go to their room while he searched for the monster. Upon hearing a scream from Elizabeth's room, however, he realized the monster's true plan. Rushing into the bedroom, Victor found Elizabeth strangled and thrown across the bed. He fainted, then awoke surrounded by horrified people staying at the inn. The monster showed his face at the window, and Victor fired his pistol at him, but missed. The monster dove into the lake. Frankenstein and several others tried to track down the creature, but were unsuccessful. Victor collapsed from exhaustion.
Later, Victor took a crew on a boat to return to Geneva. Victor's father and Ernest were alive, but his father died in a few days from grief of Elizabeth's death. Victor then became incoherent, and was put in solitary confinement for several months because he was declared insane.
As soon as he was released, Victor began devising ways to get revenge. He told a criminal judge his story and asked for help to capture the murderer, but the magistrate wouldnt' take his request seriously. Victor decided to devote his life to killing the monster. His rage sustained him as he began traversing the globe looking for the monster, saying "But revenge kept me alive; I dared not die and leave my adversary in being." He visited the cemetery and swore to kill the monster or die. The monster, who was in close vicinity, laughed and whispered that he was satisfied.
For months, Victor pursued to monster. He continued to the north, until he reached an icy ocean, until both he and the monster were travelling by dogsled. Once, Victor spotted the creature and followed only a mile behind him, but the ice cracked and he was left drifting until he was picked up by Robert Walton's ship.
The story now switches back to present tense. Frankenstein asks Walton to kill the monster if he appears after Victor dies, and warns Walton not to be charmed by the monster's persuasive eloquence. Victor corrected the notes that Walton had taken on his tale, so the world would know the truth.
Though Walton wants to keep Victor as a friend, Victor says he must have vengeance then die, because no one could replace the ones he lost.
The ship becomes surrounded by mountains of ice, and is danger of capsizing. Victor's eloquence sustains the crew through the hardship. Unfortunately, Frankenstein became ill. The sailors soon mutinied and demanded that if the ship was freed they would go back south. Victor gave an inspiring speech attempting to convince them otherwise, but they were insistent. Thus, after the ice cracked they all began the return journey to England. Frankenstein became increasingly weak. Victor said that rage no longer filled him, and concluded that he had made the right decisions, and asks Walton again to kill the monster. Victor Frankenstein died at last, finally at peace.
That night, Robert Walton heard a voice in the cabin where Victor's body remained. Investigating, he finds the monster beside Frankenstein's body. Though the creature began to flee, Walton told him to stay.
The monster lamented that Victor was another one of his victims, and said he wished he could repent. Intrigued, Robert didn't kill the creature. Trying to ignore the creature's smooth words, Walton told him that his repentance was too late. The monster insisted he had suffered more than Frankenstein, and that he hated himself, but was jealous of Victor's opportunity for happiness, so had killed Elizabeth. Adapting to how the world treated him, the creature said he became evil. Walton argued that if Victor was alive, the monster would still want his revenge. The creature denies this, saying that though he had destroyed Victor's happiness in the past, it didn't satisfy his own desires. He continues to tell Walton that he feels guilty for ruining Victor's life, and abhors himself more than people do. The monster claims that he will build a funeral pyre and burn himself to death, so Walton will be the last person to see him. Frankenstein's monster then leaves, sailing off into the freezing ocean.

Thoughts
Part of the writing style I enjoyed in Frankenstein was how Mary Shelley started off in the present tense, with Robert Walton recording the events in letters, then used Victor Frankenstein's memories to flash back to his past, and finally came back to the present. I also thought it was interesting that the reader is receiving the story as Margaret, the recipient of Walton's letters, would. I also liked how the writing was generally clear and precise.
The theme was interesting. I believe the moral is that having revenge does more harm than it brings pleasure. This is clearly displayed, as it is the reason for almost all of the conflict between Victor and the monster, and revenge is shown to be hurtful through all the deaths and pain it brought about.
I also had a few things I disliked. First of all, Victor tended to ramble on at great lengths about how miserable he was, and though the detail was great, it became repetitive - the same emotions would be stated several different ways in the same section of writing. This slowed down the plot somewhat. Also, I personally found the story rather depressing. This was the point of Frankenstein, however, it left me unsatisfied. Neither the monster nor Frankenstein, nor even Walton got what he wanted. Every happiness seems to end up being denied to all of the characters. This made the conclusion rather depressing and abrupt, with no real resolution, because *spoiler alert* Mary Shelley kills off all the main characters.