I was answered through the stillness of night by a loud and fiendish laugh. It rang on my ears long and heavily; the mountains re-echoed it, and I felt as if all hell surrounded me with mockery and laughter.
Chapter 24 · Narrator
Context
Immediately after Victor finishes his oath at the cemetery, the Creature responds with mocking laughter that echoes off the surrounding mountains.
Analysis
The Creature's laughter is described through its acoustic properties—'rang,' 'heavily,' 're-echoed'—which makes the sound feel physical and inescapable, as if the landscape itself is complicit in the mockery. Victor's simile 'as if all hell surrounded me' interprets the echo as supernatural torment, but the reader recognizes it as just sound bouncing off rock; his perception is warped by his mental state. This gap between what is happening (an echo) and what Victor experiences (encircling hell) marks him as an unreliable interpreter of events.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Victor's narration in Chapter 24 is shaped by paranoia and exhaustion—he reads natural phenomena (an echo) as demonic persecution, which should make readers question how accurately he is reporting the rest of his pursuit.