But I am a blasted tree; the bolt has entered my soul; and I felt then that I should survive to exhibit what I shall soon cease to be—a miserable spectacle of wrecked humanity, pitiable to others and intolerable to myself.
Chapter 19 · Victor Frankenstein
Context
While visiting Oxford and reflecting on its beauty, Victor contrasts his earlier capacity for happiness with his current state of ruin.
Analysis
Victor calls himself a 'blasted tree'—struck by lightning and now only a burnt husk. Trees don't choose to be struck; the metaphor makes his destruction feel like an act of God, something that happened to him from outside. Yet the chapter has shown him actively choosing to gather materials and travel toward fulfilling his promise, so the claim that he is passive wreckage contradicts his own actions. The elevated, almost biblical register ('the bolt has entered my soul') also makes his suffering sound grand and fated rather than self-made.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Victor narrates himself as a tragic victim of fate (lightning, bolts, curses) precisely when the text shows him making deliberate choices—his self-image and his actions directly contradict each other.