unmingled with disbelief
Victor's self-consciousness as to his effect as narrator shadows
this deposition of his case, both for the magistrate and for Mary
Shelley's readers. We cannot help recognizing here that the end
of a novel is to make fiction appear like truth. That Victor in
the end does not gain the credence of his judge does, of course,
vindicate his earlier reticence; but it also in some sense
impinges on his reliability as a witness. Does it also have a
destabilizing effect on the larger narrative of which it is a microcosm?
- Critical Approaches:
- Themes:
