The wounded deer dragging its fainting limbs to some untrodden brake, there to gaze upon the arrow which had pierced it, and to die, was but a type of me.
Chapter 9 · Narrator
Context
Victor compares himself to a wounded deer retreating to die alone, emphasizing his isolation and self-absorption in suffering.
Analysis
The extended simile casts Victor as prey rather than perpetrator, repositioning him as victim in his own narrative—yet he is both the deer and the archer who shot it, since his own creation caused his wound. The detail that the deer "gazes upon the arrow" suggests a kind of morbid fascination; Victor, too, cannot stop contemplating the source of his pain, trapped in recursive self-pity that prevents action.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Victor consistently uses imagery that absolves him of agency—by casting himself as a dying animal, he erases his role as creator and decision-maker, revealing how his self-narrative is designed to elicit sympathy rather than acknowledge responsibility.