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fate

Victor uses the term with a wholly different emphasis from that given to it by Walton in the previous paragraph. Walton's wish to "ameliorate his fate" refers to the despondency to which he thinks Victor has been driven by hard, but as yet undiscriminated, circumstances, a despondency that could be alleviated by time and compassion. Victor, on the other hand, as his narrative will begin to underscore, has come to see himself as a destined victim of these circumstances, one who can neither alter them nor their effect on his own condition. The disparity in usage is actually a window into character.