Cold, want, and fatigue were the least pains which I was destined to endure; I was cursed by some devil and carried about with me my eternal hell; yet still a spirit of good followed and directed my steps and when I most murmured would suddenly extricate me from seemingly insurmountable difficulties.
Chapter 24 · Victor Frankenstein
Context
Victor describes the extreme physical hardships of his pursuit across Russia and the Arctic, explaining that bodily suffering was the least of what he endured.
Analysis
Victor uses a tricolon ('Cold, want, and fatigue') to list physical pains, but immediately dismisses them as 'the least,' insisting his inner torment was worse—the structure makes bodily suffering sound trivial by comparison. He then splits himself into two opposing forces: a devil that cursed him and a 'spirit of good' that saved him, as if he were a battleground rather than an agent. This self-division allows him to narrate his survival without crediting his own will or skill; even his rescues are done to him, not by him.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Victor narrates his life as a conflict between external forces (devil vs. guiding spirit) rather than as the result of his own choices—this framing erases his agency and lets him see himself as fate's victim, not as the architect of his own destruction.