My life, as it passed thus, was indeed hateful to me, and it was during sleep alone that I could taste joy. O blessed sleep!
Chapter 24 · Victor Frankenstein
Context
Victor reflects on how unbearable his waking life became during the pursuit, and how only in sleep could he experience any relief or happiness.
Analysis
Victor's exclamation 'O blessed sleep!' uses apostrophe to address sleep as if it were a deity, revealing how completely he has inverted normal values—rest, not life, is now sacred to him. The structure isolates the apostrophe as its own sentence, giving it the weight of a prayer or benediction. Sleep is 'blessed' because it offers escape from reality; Victor's only joy now comes from not being himself, which suggests his identity has become a prison he can only exit through unconsciousness.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that by the final chapter, Victor's identity has become unbearable to him—his veneration of sleep shows he can only experience happiness by escaping selfhood, revealing how completely his obsession has hollowed him out.