At the beginning of chapter 18, the reader feels a sense of de ja vu as Victor claims that "...in Clerval I saw the image of my former self; he was inquisitive, and anxious to gain experience and instruction," (Shelley, 115). This scene mirrors Walton's scene with Victor on the boat in the first few chapters. While this may simply be Shelley's running out of foil characters to use, I think that the importance of this scene matching a previous one is to show the reader that there are many people out there who are like Victor, obsessed with their work and driven by a curiosity that is not satisfied with things merely of this world. Later, in chapter 20, as Victor works on the second creature, he is haunted by the words of the original creature calling him a "slave." In many ways, he has become slave to his own unfulfilled desires. The creature's statements are a possible foreshadowing to things that Walton and Clerval will do if they fall slave to their potential obsession also.
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