- “Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil, as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave, or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay?” (p. 48-49)
Throughout the story, Victor is forced to keep his work/life a secret. He knows no one could possibly handle the truth of his interests/creation if he ever shared that information. Partly the reason he became mentally destroyed and disturbed is because he couldn’t ask for guidance or support from his family members; he couldn’t share his frustration or dreams. Victor closely followed the works of Magnus, Agrippa, and Paracelsus; all who studied occult beliefs. The Latin word occult means clandestine, hidden, secret - referring to “knowledge of the hidden.” Shelley carries, secrecy, a common theme throughout the entire novel since Victor had to be extremely cautious of what he revealed.
(Works Cited)
"Occult."
Wikipedia. Web. 10 Aug. 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occult.
I like how you bring the idea of theme into this entry -- connecting the choices of allusion to the theme
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