Sickness, a main theme throughout the novel, rears its ugly head many times, while also giving a character time to assess a situation or deal with emotions. This occurrence tends to develop after the character endures traumatic news or undergoes a stressful situation. The illness also tends to occur at a turning point in the novel, such as when a character enters a new stage of life. Science has also proven that stress increases the risk of contracting a sickness. The role of illness in this novel is one of change and escape from stressful and difficult situations. After acceptance to a university in Germany, Victor prepares to leave when Caroline and Elizabeth contract a mysterious illness. The fever eventually kills his mother and leaves Elizabeth in a fraile state. Once nursed back to full health, Elizabeth’s role…show more content… Victor sees this as a threat on his own life, and attempts to protect those around him. In order to do this, he leaves his soon to be wife, Elizabeth, alone. He however realizes too late that the threat was not directed at him, but Elizabeth. By the time that he can do anything about, the creature has already killed her. When Victor confronts his father about the events that have transpired, he is overcome with grief. Alphonse eventually dies from this “illness”, with the disease claiming another victim. By this time, Victor lost both of his parents to a disease, unable to aid them. The illness acts as a form of a coping mechanism for Victor’s father. He does not know how to handle the death of his adopted daughter, along with his son and wife. The stress becomes too much to handle for him and he eventually succumbs to the illness. During this instance, grief overcomes Victor and he vows to exact his revenge on the monster that he created. Due to his paranoia and desire to protect the remainder of his family, Victor’s actions ended up dooming them