Besides, in drawing the picture of my early days, I also record those events which led, by insensible steps, to my after tale of misery, for when I would account to myself for the birth of that passion which afterwards ruled my destiny I find it arise, 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.Low in rank or worth; not noble (Latin in-, not, and nobilis, noble, a word that first meant well known). Victor gives the passion that “ruled my destiny” humble, obscure beginnings: springs “ignoble and almost forgotten”.
Frankenstein
Chapter 2
Mary Shelley · Mountaineers 10th–12th
Copywork
I feel exquisite pleasure in dwelling on the recollections of childhood, before misfortune had tainted my mind and changed its bright visions of extensive usefulness into gloomy and narrow reflections upon self. Besides, in drawing the picture of my early days, I also record those events which led, by insensible steps, to my after tale of misery, for when I would account to myself for the birth of that passion which afterwards ruled my destiny I find it arise, 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. Natural philosophy is the genius that has regulated my fate; I desire, therefore, in this narration, to state those facts which led to my predilection for that science.
Read your copy aloud, slowly. Which single phrase tells you the most about how Victor sees his passion?
Discussion
Narration Tell the chapter back in a few sentences, from the three companions to Victor’s turn to mathematics. Then choose the one sentence you think matters most, and say what it shows about how Victor explains his own life.
- Elizabeth takes in the world with “a serious and satisfied spirit”. Even the best science of his day left Victor “discontented and unsatisfied”. What keeps him from being satisfied, as she is? Theme
- The boy searched for the elixir of life. Wealth meant little to him; he wanted the glory of making man safe from all but “a violent death”. Was that a noble wish or a proud one? Moral reasoning
- The boy took his masters at their word. When his spells failed, he blamed his own “inexperience and mistake”, not them. Why was he so slow to doubt them? Inference
- The visitor’s theory was “at once new and astonishing” to Victor. Yet it left him feeling that “nothing would or could ever be known”. How can a new discovery leave him sure that nothing can be known? Character
- Victor first calls his sudden turn from his old studies one of “those caprices of the mind” that come with early youth. A few lines later, he calls it the work of “the guardian angel of my life”. Why does he give one change two such different causes? Author's choice
Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time in your own life, when someone traced a great change back to one small event. Why might a person tell the story of a life that way?
Vocabulary
- ignoble
- predilection
Natural philosophy is the genius that has regulated my fate; I desire, therefore, in this narration, to state those facts which led to my predilection for that science.
A liking or leaning already in place; a preference (Latin prae-, before, and diligere, to love or choose). Victor uses it for his love of natural science, and sets out to state the facts that “led to” it.- inclemency
When I was thirteen years of age we all went on a party of pleasure to the baths near Thonon; the inclemency of the weather obliged us to remain a day confined to the inn.
Harshness, especially of the weather (in-, not, and clement, mild or merciful). It is “the inclemency of the weather” that keeps the family shut in at the inn on the day Victor finds Agrippa.- imbued
I have described myself as always having been imbued with a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature.
Filled through and through, as cloth is soaked with dye (Latin imbuere, to wet or stain). With “always having been imbued”, Victor presents his longing as part of him from the start.- caprice
By one of those caprices of the mind which we are perhaps most subject to in early youth, I at once gave up my former occupations, set down natural history and all its progeny as a deformed and abortive creation, and entertained the greatest disdain for a would-be science which could never even step within the threshold of real knowledge.
A sudden change of mind or mood with no clear reason behind it; a whim (from the Italian capriccio). Victor uses the word twice: once to say his mother and father did not rule by caprice like tyrants, and once for the change of mind that turned him from his old studies.- immutable
Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.
Unchangeable; fixed for all time (in-, not, and Latin mutare, to change, as in mutation). Victor gives Destiny “immutable laws”, so in his telling nothing could have turned his destruction aside.
Critical thinking
- Victor says that if his father had explained why Agrippa was out of date, he “should certainly have thrown Agrippa aside”. About two years later, a visitor explains a new theory to him. Does what Victor does next support his claim or weaken it?
- Victor longs to learn “the hidden laws of nature”. He finds “some law” at work in his own nature. In the end he blames Destiny’s “immutable laws”. Why might he tell his own life as if laws ruled it?
- Victor traces the road to his ruin back to a day of bad weather at an inn and a careless word from his father. Was it chance that set him on that road, or something that was in him all along?