During my absence I should leave my friends unconscious of the existence of their enemy and unprotected from his attacks, exasperated as he might be by my departure.
Chapter 18 · Victor Frankenstein
Context
Victor worries about leaving his family in Geneva while he travels to England, fearing the creature might harm them in his absence.
Analysis
Victor calls his family and friends 'unconscious of the existence of their enemy,' a phrase that indicts his own secrecy—they are unprotected because he has refused to warn them. 'Exasperated as he might be by my departure' subtly shifts blame onto the creature's temper, avoiding the fact that Victor is the one who made and then delayed the promise. The sentence structure makes the danger sound like an unfortunate circumstance rather than a crisis Victor engineered.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Victor's passive syntax consistently obscures his own role in creating danger—his family is 'unconscious' and 'unprotected' because of his choices, yet the grammar makes it sound like an accident of circumstance.