The Sweet Similes of Frankenstein
While watching Felix and his family in the cottage The Being states he is "like the Arabian who had been buried with the dead and found a passage to life, aided only by one glimmering and seemingly ineffectual light," meaning he has discovered how humankind behave with one another but like the dead Arabian he cannot act upon his knowledge or "light" because he now knows his appearances are everything humanity disgusts (61). The Being now classifies himself as a total outsider of society, which clarifies his part in the novel as an archetype and his need for companionship like that of Felix and Safie will grow to the point where he demands Victor create another creature for Elizabeth's life.
As The Being tells his journey to Victor in a cave of the Alps, the creature states he is "Like Adam, [he] was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence" (191). Although their circumstances are very different, Adam in Genesis and The Being have undeniable similarities, they are cast out from their creator, both were shaped in their creators image, they are both the only males of their kind, they seek companionship, which leads to a downfall. This also puts Victor on the same level as God, and being such he is physically absent from The Beings life until he takes control of the situation by confronting his creator thus taking away Victor's Godliness resulting in a hidden sacrilegious statement of Frankenstein.
When Victor begins creating The Being he states"No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success" (63). Here Victor is comparing his determination and obsession with creating life to the unstoppable power of mother nature's hurricanes, therefore putting himself higher than the rest of humanity.
Victor claims that his curiosity for science as a child and into adulthood is "like a mountain river, from ignoble and almost forgotten sources; but, swelling as it proceeded, it became the torrent which, in its course, has swept away all my hopes and joys" (39). Ultimately Victor blames his downfall on his need at a very young age for the knowledge of life, which he compares to a river that continuously flows from unseen sources such as the mind. Further, when he discovered the answer to creating life his curiosity flooded like a "torrent" that will cause most of the tragedies in Victor's life and most painful to him the death of Elizabeth.
Upon realizing The Being escaped from him via dog sledge Victor states "Yet at the idea that the fiend should live and be triumphant, my rage and vengeance returned, and like amighty tide, overwhelmed every other feeling" (318). Another comparison to Victor's feeling and water causes the reader to understand the power and purity of Victor's emotions, similar to the obsession he had in the beginning of the novel when creating The Being.
Victor is described in Walton's letter to his sister as an anomaly "Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery and be overwhelmed by disappointments, yet when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures" (23). Frankenstein revolves around the frame story of Victor's journey told to Walton, this means that Victor has been through his entire journey when he meets Walton at the beginning of the novel. This is important because Victor is a shell of himself before his journey, the pain The Being caused him yet when he isn't telling his story he retains no guilt from his actions because he is the only person left to die by his creations hands then he will be free to join Elizabeth and his family in death. In addition, Victor's impending death is a comfort to him because he knows its what he deserves and what will end the suffering he brought unto the world.
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Walton details to his sister Margaret that Victor "commanded his countenance and tones and related the most horrible incidents with a tranquil voice, suppressing...agitation; then, like a volcano bursting forth, his face would suddenly change to an expression of the wildest rage as he shrieked out imprecations on his persecutor" (323). This observation of Victor's character after all the events conveys to the audience a sense of Victor gone mad from his obsession whether good or vengeful with The Being, his emotions seems to be spontaneous and potent which Walton compares to a volcanic eruption. However, if Victor is in fact mad when he speaks to Walton the audience questions whether his story is completely true because the story is told from first person then through Walton's letters, it is possible that Victor kept/changed some of the story to himself or that Walton didn't share some of Victor's story for an all together unknowable reason.