In this novel, a murderer tells the title character a story he in turn tells a ship captain in the Arctic
The Final Jeopardy clue for Friday, July 3, 2026, appeared in the category “19th Century Literature” and read: “In this novel, a murderer tells the title character a story he in turn tells a ship captain in the Arctic.” The clue points to a landmark Gothic novel built around nested storytelling, in which one character’s confession is passed through another narrator and preserved in letters from the Arctic.
What Is Frankenstein?
The correct response is Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel. The clue refers to the way the story is told through multiple layers of narration. The “murderer” is Victor Frankenstein’s creature, who recounts his life story to Victor after committing acts of violence.
Victor, the title character, then tells his own story to Captain Robert Walton, an explorer whose ship is trapped in Arctic ice. Walton records the account in letters to his sister, making him the outer narrator of the novel.
The Murderer and His Story
The creature is responsible for several deaths in the novel, including the killing of Victor’s younger brother William. He also plays a central role in the events that lead to the deaths of other people close to Victor.
When the creature tells Victor his story, he explains how he came to understand the world, how he learned language, and how rejection shaped his bitterness. His account is one of the most important sections of the novel because it gives the reader direct access to his loneliness, anger, and sense of abandonment.
Victor Frankenstein’s Role
Victor Frankenstein is the scientist who creates the creature and then recoils from what he has made. His decision to abandon the being he brought to life drives the tragedy of the novel.
After hearing the creature’s story, Victor later recounts the entire chain of events to Captain Walton. By the time he meets Walton in the Arctic, Victor is exhausted, obsessed with revenge, and near death after pursuing the creature across the ice.
Captain Walton and the Arctic Frame
Captain Walton is the first narrator readers encounter in Frankenstein. He is leading an expedition toward the North Pole when his crew finds Victor stranded in the Arctic.
The Arctic setting is crucial to the clue because it identifies the frame story. Walton’s letters contain Victor’s account, and Victor’s account contains the creature’s account. This layered structure is one of the novel’s defining features.
Why This Final Jeopardy Clue Works
This clue works because it describes the novel’s narrative structure rather than simply naming its famous monster or author. Contestants needed to recognize the chain of storytelling: the creature tells Victor, Victor tells Walton, and Walton writes from the Arctic.
The correct response, Frankenstein, fits every part of the clue. It is a 19th-century novel, it includes a murderer telling his life story to the title character, and that title character then tells the story to a ship captain in the Arctic.