Frankenstein- Volume 1, Chapter 4

Language, form and structure of Volume 1, Chapter 4, Page 52

This section of the text is full of death and dark, gothic imagery. The first half of it demonstrates just how self-obsessed Victor is, and shows the beginning of his absorption with death and decomposition. The language of this half is very focussed on Victor, 'I became...I must...In my education my father...', showing the reader just who is most important to Victor at this point in his life. Victor is boastful as he states that he 'does not tremble at a tale of superstition' and that 'darkness has no effect on my fancy'. The way he blithely addresses fear and the preternatural hints at an absence of imagination in Victors mind, leaving the reader unable but to wonder, whether this lack is his harmartia. The second half of this section details all the horror of the corruption and decomposition of the corpses Victor is observing. 'I beheld the corruption of death succeed to the blooming cheek of life; I saw how the worm inherited the wonders of the eye and brain...' This quote is the manifestation of Victors mind from now on in the novel. The 'corruption of death' is a symbol for the pollution of his mind his obsession has caused, in what is supposed to be the height of his life ('blooming cheek of life'). The language used in the second part of this section is very distanced. Victor appears to have detached himself from his emotions, and is looking at the corpses with scientific fascination, 'I paused, examining and analysing all the minutia of causation'. This sentence suggests to the reader that Victor is loosing his human link, and is turning his back on life. This is the beginning of Victor creating not one, but two monsters: the monster he has devoted himself to creating, and himself. His selfish ambition, secrecy and obsession has made him into a creature that will not and cannot accept society, even if he does look ''ordinary'' on the outside. Contrast is used in this section. It is first used by Shelley to accent Victors moral descent by contrasting death with life, 'I beheld the corruption of death succeed to the blooming cheek of life...', and corruption with beauty, 'I saw how the fine form of man was degraded and wasted'. These contrasts emphasise the precariousness Victors position; the cusp of life and death. Contrast is used again near the end when Victors epiphany of the 'secrets of nature' comes in the form of 'a light so brilliant and wondrous'. This revelation appears to have an almost religious tonality, as if he has converted to darkness. Shelley uses punctuation interestingly in this section. The frequent use of the semi-colon increases the incrementum of the section, showing Victors excitement, and it also arouses excitement in the reader as it subtly shows that something important is going to happen before it has occurred. During Victors ''discovery'', there is no full-stop. It is one sentence, which not only helps build up to the climax and develop tension, but could also possibly make the reader feel as though they are working through Victors brain process with him.