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Simile
Explanation and Analysis—The Light:
In Chapter 4, Victor uses a simile of light to describe his intense love of natural philosophy, an ambition that drives him to distraction but leads him to discover the secret of life:
The information I had obtained was of a nature rather to direct my endeavours so soon as I should point them towards the object of my search, than to exhibit that object already accomplished. I was 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.
The “Arabian” Victor references alludes to the hero Sinbad from The Arabian Nights, who has many miraculous voyages. In one, Sinbad is presented with a wife by a friendly king. He later discovers that it is custom to be buried along with your dead spouse. Soon after, Sinbad’s wife dies and he is buried with her. However, he sees a small spot of light by which he eventually is able to escape from the cave. This light, for Sinbad, represents freedom. In Victor’s case, the light represents the secret to life, a form of knowledge that Victor is desperate to uncover. Yet that light is also blinding. Victor eventually abandons his responsibilities in his search. Blinded by his pursuits, he fails to consider the consequences of his actions and suffers for it.
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