This noble war in the sky
This seemingly offhand sentimentalism is in actuality an exceedingly
subtle move on Mary Shelley's part, suggestive of how dangerous unexamined
metaphors can be, especially those that stem from our day-to-day existence
and common practices. Victor Frankenstein, deeply aware from his
scientific experiments that electricity achieves its dynamic energy from
the interplay of polarities, here sees in the heavens an example of that
polarity writ large and, as it were, iconically -- as elemental warfare.
He will almost immediately transfer that icon into an earthly counterpart,
a permanent struggle between positive and negative poles, by which he
respectively denominates himself and his Creature as good and evil, as
figures of God and Satan. Thus, almost unconsciously adopting a
quasi-divine sign, Victor reinforces the animosity that allowed him (see
1.4.6 and note) conveniently to categorize,
externalize, and thus alienate as Other the Creature whom he brought to
life and then left to his own devices.
