My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy, and when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred, it did not endure the violence of the change without torture such as you cannot even imagine.
Letters, Walton, _in continuation._ · The Creature
Context
The creature explains to Walton that he was originally created capable of love, but suffering twisted him toward hatred, and this transformation caused him immense pain.
Analysis
The metaphor of the heart being 'wrenched' treats emotional transformation as mechanical violence—love and sympathy aren't lost, they're physically torn out and replaced. The passive construction ('when wrenched by misery') again deflects responsibility; misery is the agent, not the creature himself, framing his turn to evil as something done to him rather than chosen, which complicates blame.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that the creature's self-defense relies on determinism—he frames his violence as the inevitable result of suffering ('wrenched by misery'), which raises the novel's central question: can we hold someone accountable for actions shaped by abandonment and abuse?