After days and nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter.
Chapter 4 · Victor Frankenstein
Context
Victor announces to Walton the culmination of his research: he has discovered how to create life and can now animate dead matter.
Analysis
The escalation from 'discovering the cause' to 'bestowing animation' happens within a single sentence, compressed by the phrase 'nay, more'—as if the leap from theory to god-like power were a minor addition. This syntactic compression mirrors Victor's own failure to pause between understanding and action. The passive-sounding 'capable of' makes world-altering power sound like a skill he happens to possess.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Victor's syntax reveals his inability to grasp the magnitude of what he's doing—he narrates the acquisition of god-like power in the same breath as ordinary discovery, which shows how his ambition has outpaced his moral imagination.