When Victor's mother dies of scarlet fever, he says that "her countenance expressed affection even in death. I need not describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by that most irreparable evil, the void that presents itself to the soul, and the despair that is exhibited on the countenance." In other words, to lose one whom you love so dearly leaves a void inside one's heart and soul, and you feel tremendous...
When Victor's mother dies of scarlet fever, he says that "her countenance expressed affection even in death. I need not describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by that most irreparable evil, the void that presents itself to the soul, and the despair that is exhibited on the countenance." In other words, to lose one whom you love so dearly leaves a void inside one's heart and soul, and you feel tremendous despair.
After Justine's execution for the murder of William (which she did not commit), Victor says, "Yet my heart overflowed with kindness, and the love of virtue. I had begun life with benevolent intentions, and thirsted for the moment when I should put them in practice, and make myself useful to my fellow beings." Victor loves humanity, and he loves goodness and virtue, but now he can no longer stand to be around others because of his terrible guilt: he knows he created a monster that killed his brother, but there is nothing he can do. His loving feelings make it that much more painful for him.
Victor is tempted to take his own life by drowning himself in the lake, but he "was restrained, when [he] thought of the heroic and suffering Elizabeth, whom [he] tenderly loved, and whose existence was bound up in [his]." In fact, he says, "There was always a scope for fear, so long as any thing I loved remained behind." Love is what makes Victor so fearful: the creature could do harm to anyone he loved and make him feel so much worse than he would if the creature merely attacked him. Love makes Victor far easier to hurt and far more vulnerable.
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