Suddenly the broad disk of the moon arose
Since the rising of the moon is, like the dawning of the sun, a
phenomenon marked almost wholly by its gradual character, the
reader can attribute this statement either to Mary Shelley's
desire for a gothic
ambience or, more consistent with her art, to Victor's overheated
imagination. Since the previous paragraphs have, through the
foreshortening of time, already hinted at his surrender to mania,
this could be intended as a further example of the slippage of
his sense of reality.
