"With this resolution I traversed the northern highlands and fixed on one of the remotest of the Orkneys as the scene of my labours. It was a place fitted for such a work, being hardly more than a rock whose high sides were continually beaten upon by the waves. The soil was barren, scarcely affording pasture for a few miserable cows, and oatmeal for its inhabitants, which consisted of five persons, whose gaunt and scraggy limbs gave tokens of their miserable fare. Vegetables and bread, when they indulged in such luxuries, and even fresh water, was to be procured from the mainland, which was about five miles distant." p.157
In this passage, Victor's newest residence is described in detail. Prior, he established his feelings about the making of another creation as a mate for the first. As he describes this desolate island, with little growing and poor inhabitants, a mood of woe is created. I feel that this is to reflect Victor's innermost feelings about the job set ahead of him. Being removed from the mainland, he is so too removed from others because of his work. More description is later given as to the condition of the hut he decides to inhabit. This gives a further mood of isolation, weariness, and decay, all reflective of Victor's own person. I feel like these are emotions seen frequently throughout the novel, but they are never as fully recognized by his surroundings as they are in this setting.
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