In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (1818), Victor Frankenstein dies from exhaustion and illness after the crew and captain of a ship rescue him from a sheet of ice near the North Pole. Before dying, Frankenstein relates to the captain, Robert Walton, the story of his life and of his scientific experiment in which he created an artificial man from pieces of corpses and brought his creature to life. Wracked with guilt, he also tells Walton of how his creation turned against him and murdered several people close to him.
Although Frankenstein is not directly killed by his creature, the monster feels culpable. After the scientist’s death, the creature confesses his guilt to Walton for the murders he committed in revenge. The monster feels that the death of Frankenstein, his final victim, means his work is complete and decides to flee north and burn himself, so that no person can ever find his remains and create another monster.