Chapter 2, Victor shows us the aspects of his character that will lead him to his downfall. He says that he is possess a “thirst for knowledge”. What he meant to say is that he desires to learn the secrets of heaven and earth, substances of things, the spirits within nature, how to make the dead become alive. Overall, Victor was willing to spend his life finding out what are the physicals secrets of the world. What’s interesting is that Victor is driven by nothing but his curiosity. Mary Shelley thereby indicates that there is a compulsive equality to Victor’s knowledge that is close to madness. Victor also has a only childhood friend, Clerval, that is similar to him. Victor and Clerval, are both passionate and creative characters, Clerval express it with songs and plays; Victor does it privately with books, natural philosophy, and science. Victors reading is directed to the secrets of forbidden knowledge. Surprisingly, they’re both two young boys, who wants to fulfill something in their lives that are not as similar to the children in their school.
Reading this chapter so far had led me to believe that maybe Victor who is a young boy that wants to know the physical secrets of the world, is a real life person who Mary Shelley knew. He might not be an important person in her life, yet he came up in his dream. I did my own research about dreams a few years ago, it was said a few sources that a person or a group of people who comes up in your dreams are either a stranger you seen for a split second or people you know in your life.
