I entered the room where the corpse lay and was led up to the coffin. How can I describe my sensations on beholding it? I feel yet parched with horror, nor can I reflect on that terrible moment without shuddering and agony.
Chapter 21 · Victor Frankenstein
Context
Victor is escorted to view a corpse as part of a murder investigation. The magistrate wants to observe Victor's reaction to the body, which has just been found strangled on the shore.
Analysis
Victor's rhetorical question—'How can I describe my sensations?'—performs the impossibility it claims: he goes on to describe them anyway, but only in vague physical terms ('parched with horror'). This gap between what he says he cannot do and what he does do mirrors the inadequacy of language to capture trauma, positioning the reader to feel excluded from the full weight of his experience. The shift to present tense ('I feel yet') breaks the narrative frame, pulling past suffering into the narrator's current moment.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Victor's narration breaks down under emotional pressure—he claims he can't describe something, then immediately does, revealing how trauma disrupts his control over his own story.