Arveiron

The Arveiron is a river whose sources rise in a glacier that slowly advances down from the summit of the hills to barricade the valley of Chamounix. Victor Frankenstein, journeying through the Alpine valleys in a desperate attempt to escape the weight of his guilt after the deaths of William and Justine, stands beside these sources and finds himself surrounded by the abrupt sides of vast mountains, the icy wall of the glacier overhanging him, and a few shattered pines scattered around. The solemn silence of this "glorious presence-chamber of imperial nature" is broken only by the brawling waves or the fall of some vast fragment, the thunder sound of the avalanche, or the cracking of accumulated ice. These sublime and magnificent scenes afford Victor the greatest consolation he is capable of receiving; they elevate him from all littleness of feeling, and although they do not remove his grief, they subdue and tranquillize it. In some degree, they also divert his mind from the thoughts over which it has brooded for the last month. He retires to rest at night, and his slumbers are ministered to by the assemblance of grand shapes he has contemplated during the day—the unstained snowy mountain-top, the glittering pinnacle, the pine woods, the ragged bare ravine, the eagle soaring amidst the clouds—all gathering round him and bidding him be at peace.

The Setting and Its Sublime Character

The Arveiron's sources are located in a glacier that advances with slow pace down from the summit of the hills, barricading the valley. The scene is one of terrifically desolate grandeur: the abrupt sides of vast mountains rise before the viewer, the icy wall of the glacier overhangs, and a few shattered pines are scattered around. The solemn silence of this "glorious presence-chamber of imperial nature" is broken only by the brawling waves or the fall of some vast fragment, the thunder sound of the avalanche, or the cracking, reverberated along the mountains, of the accumulated ice, which, through the silent working of immutable laws, is ever and anon rent and torn. This landscape, with its immense mountains and precipices, the sound of the river raging among the rocks, and the dashing of the waterfalls, speaks of a power mighty as Omnipotence, causing Victor to cease to fear or to bend before any being less almighty than that which has created and ruled the elements.

Victor's Encounter and Its Narrative Significance

Victor, having performed the first part of his journey on horseback and then hired a mule for the rugged roads, arrives at the village of Chamounix in the middle of August, nearly two months after the death of Justine. Exhausted, he remains at the window watching the pallid lightnings that play above Mont Blanc and listening to the rushing of the Arve, which pursues its noisy way beneath. The lulling sounds act as a lullaby to his too keen sensations, and he sleeps. The following day, he roams through the valley and stands beside the sources of the Arveiron. The sublime and magnificent scenes afford him the greatest consolation he is capable of receiving, elevating him from all littleness of feeling and subduing his grief. However, this consolation is fleeting. The next morning, dark melancholy clouds every thought, and he resolves to ascend to the summit of Montanvert. It is there, after crossing the glacier, that he suddenly beholds the figure of the monster advancing towards him with superhuman speed, an encounter that transforms the landscape of consolation into a stage for confrontation. The Arveiron thus marks a crucial turning point: the place where Victor briefly recovers a sense of peace through nature's sublimity, only to have that peace violently shattered by the appearance of his creation, the very embodiment of the horror from which he sought to escape.