my destiny . . . close
The wrenching shift in narrative stance into a present "now"
accentuates the difference subtly in play up to this moment
between Victor's self-accusations and his actual avowal of
culpability. The man talking to his father knows that he is
innocent of the crime for which he is languishing in jail. The
one speaking in Walton's cabin nearly three years later, in
contrast, has locked the key on his own imprisonment.
