Frankenstein
Find two passages that include nature imagery in chapters 7-11. Identify the images and explain the purpose of each passage.
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In Chapter 7, Victor's brother os murdered by the monster. Shelly contrasts the pastoral tranquility of a country stroll with the ominous sense of absence,
"Last Thursday (May 7th), I, my niece, and your two brothers, went to walk in Plainpalais. The evening was warm and serene, and we prolonged our walk farther than usual. It was already dusk before we thought of returning; and then we discovered that William and Ernest, who had gone on before, were not to be found. We accordingly rested on a seat until they should return. Presently Ernest came, and inquired if we had seen his brother: he said, that he had been playing with him, that William had run away to hide himself, and that he vainly sought for him, and afterwards waited for him a long time, but that he did not return."
Victor flees to the mountains to find some sort of peace from the ruins inflicted by his creation. Again Shelly uses nature as a balance to violence and chaos. Always, however, the darkness is brought with Victor to wherever he runs to.
"Sometimes I could cope with the sullen despair that overwhelmed me: but sometimes the whirlwind passions of my soul drove me to seek, by bodily exercise and by change of place, some relief from my intolerable sensations. It was during an access of this kind that I suddenly left my home, and bending my steps towards the near Alpine valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such scenes, to forget myself and my ephemeral, because human, sorrows. My wanderings were directed towards the valley of Chamounix. I had visited it frequently during my boyhood. Six years had passed since then: I was a wreck -- but nought had changed in those savage and enduring scenes."