Frankenstein - Simile

"Sir Isaac Newton is said to have avowed that he felt like a child picking up shells beside the great and unexplored ocean of truth." - Victor, page 21.

The quote I have found above is a great example of a simile.  What Victor means is that although Isaac Newton was making great discoveries and putting forth new ideas, he often felt like what he was discovering was extremely small in comparison to the many other discoveries that can and will be found.  Victor is using this simile to demonstrate the same feelings he has about the studies he is conducting himself.  Although he intensely studied and made many of his own discoveries, he felt like there was still so much more to be found.  What he was learning and studying was tiny in comparison to the many other things that are out there just waiting to be discovered.  I believe this is a very good quality to have.  Victor has a great thirst for knowledge and is always striving to learn the most possible and be the best intellect he can.  It is unfortunate, however that this characteristic leads him to creating a being that may or may not be the cause of two deaths.