• That then was the period The "then" reveals Victor distancing himself from the sense that there will be any
    immediate consequences to his act. His susceptibility to dismiss, or just miss, the
    logical point, however, is not so much the result of chronic thick-headedness as it
    is the effect of the egotism through which he filters all experience. His characteristic
    assignment of a "destiny" to himself likewise testifies as much to his sense of self-importance
    as to the determinism by which he attempts to deflect moral responsibility for his
    actions from himself.