None but those who have experienced them can conceive of the enticements of science. In other studies you go as far as others have gone before you, and there is nothing more to know; but in a scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder.
Chapter 4 · Victor Frankenstein
Context
Victor is reflecting on his two years of intense scientific study at Ingolstadt, explaining why he became so absorbed in chemistry and natural philosophy that he neglected his family and former life.
Analysis
Victor sets up a binary opposition—other studies have fixed limits; science offers 'continual food.' The word 'food' is revealing: it suggests science feeds an appetite that can never be satisfied, hinting that Victor's pursuit isn't just intellectual curiosity but a kind of hunger. This positions the reader to see his later obsession not as a sudden transformation but as the natural end of a desire that was insatiable from the start.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Victor's downfall begins not with the creation itself but with his initial attraction to science as limitless—the metaphor of 'food' shows he's already framing knowledge as something to consume endlessly, which sets up his inability to stop before it's too late.