“ He can transform himself to wolf, as we gather from the ship arrival in Whitby, when he tear open the dog; he can be as bat”
“He can come in mist which he create”
This is another of the forms that Dracula can take and as you progress on with the story you get a better and better image of Dracula and the powers that he has within him.
Another one of the conventions is the weirdness of Dracula and how different he is in relation to the rest of mankind.
“ He eat not as others. Even friend Jonathan, who lived with him for weeks, did never see him to eat, never!”
This is very weird, as we all know because every living thing needs to consume something in order for its body to keep functioning and to stay alive. But it seems as though Dracula is very different compared to humans as Jonathan, who had lived with him, had never seen him eat. This must mean that there is another way in, which Dracula consumes which has not yet been discovered. This part of the story creates suspense and gets the reader thinking about what Dracula exactly is and how he differs humans. It gets the reader thinking about how Dracula survives and what he survives on.
“ He throws no shadow; he make in the mirror no reflect”
This is another phrase, which creates suspense for the reader and shoes just how weird Dracula is and once again it gets the readers thinking just what Dracula is. As we know everything and anything can throw a shadow as long as it is solid. The laws of physics tell us that. But Dracula somehow doesn’t throw a shadow. This means that he is defying the laws of Physics, which once again shows how unusual and how inhuman like Dracula is.
The last quotation which gets the reader wondering about Dracula is “He can see in the dark-no small power this”
It isn’t a small power indeed as no human can do this, which ultimately confirms just how inhuman Dracula is.
The convention of the journal will be looked at next. Mina’s journal has a lot to reveal about Dracula and her encounter with him. The first quotation I will take is “the parted red lips, with the sharp white teeth showing between; and red eyes”
This is a quote which strikes fear into the mind of the readers and it gives a fairly good description of Dracula. The sharp teeth instantly gets you thinking and gives u a sense of fear as u begin to picture what this person may look like. The red eyes also instantly puts fear into the minds of the readers as it describes Dracula in a very fiery/inhuman way. The word “monster” may come into the reader’s minds as they read this phrase.
“Silence! If u make a sound I shall take him and dash his brains out before your very eyes”
Here we are getting pretty gruesome as the writer takes a more graphic approach to the threat that Dracula makes to Mina. The very thought of someone’s brains being dashed before you instantly sends a shiver up your spine and gets you very involved in the passage as your brain instantly gathers an image of what it would look like if you were to be there. This slowly paints a better picture of Dracula and what he is capable of and what he has done before.
Another chilling quote from Dracula is: -
“You may as well be quiet; it is not the first time your veins have appeased my thirst”
This is a very chilling quote, which refers to the blood in Mina’s body. It gets the reader thinking about whether or not Dracula is about to do what they think he is about to do. But straight after there is another quote, which describes just how unusual and powerful Dracula is: - “ strangely enough I did not want to hinder him. I suppose it is a part of the horrible curse that this happens when his touch is on his victim”
This quote gives an image of Dracula to be very inhuman like just like the others. It gets the reader into the story line and makes the reader believe more and more that Dracula is truly supernatural.
“But it seemed that a long time had passed before he took his awful sneering mouth away. I saw it drip with the fresh blood”
This can only be the action of a supernatural, as no human would even think of consuming someone else’s blood. Dracula is a natural vampire as this sentence finally suggests and just shows what lengths the supernatural go to. Once again here a “monster” like image is created of Dracula and the instant feeling of fear kicks in as you read the sentence. The main reason that this sense of fear is created by the writer is because of how graphic the script becomes and how detailed it is and once again this instantly creates a picture in your mind of Dracula commencing with these gruesome acts.
“When my brain says “Come!” to you, you shall cross land or sea to do my bidding”
This describes a sense of power, which comes from Dracula. This is typical as power is one of the Gothic conventions, which is used in this story to good effect as Dracula commands his presence and shows his power.
Straight after this we go from power to the gruesome side of Dracula: -
“ With that he pulled open his shirt and with his sharp nails opened a vein in his breast” This is very gruesome and creates a sense of sickness for the reader but its all in the nature of Dracula as the story shows and Bram Stoker makes this very graphic once again which sends shivers up the readers spine. But even this is not enough. The writer goes one step further here as he goes into more graphic content … “ When the blood began to spurt out, he took my hands in one of his, holding them tight, and with the other seized my neck and pressed my mouth to the wound, so that I must suffocate or swallow”
This once again is very sickening as it goes into great detail of how she is made to press her mouth against the blood spurting breast of Dracula. This creates a sickening image, which causes the reader to react in a way where he/she just wants to put the book down.
As we move on to another extract in the story. We come to the part of the story where the Professor encounters Dracula himself.
“ Suddenly with a single bound he leaped into the room, winning a way past us before any of us could raise a hand to stay him. There was something so panther like in the movement- something so inhuman”
This describes to us how quick Dracula moved. As we already know. Dracula can take many forms and as it says, “there was something so panther like in the movement” this suggests that he had taken another form which had enabled him to move so fast without anyone having a chance to get him. This brings suspense into the story as the readers now begin to realise just how supernatural and amazing Dracula is.
“ A horrible sort of snarl passed over his face, showing his eye- teeth long and pointed”
This particular quote brings in the element of fear to the reader’s mind. It seems as though Bram Stoker uses the facial expressions that Dracula creates to bring in this fear factor into the story. He describes the way that Dracula looks and this instantly brings in the fear element as Dracula’s look is so mean and horror like. This is typical as this story is focused around the Gothic element, which consists of the fear convention.
“The diabolical quickness if the counts leap back saved him. A second less and the trenchant blade had shorn through his heart”
This suggests that the Dracula was very quick in his movement, which once again backs up the suggestion that Dracula is regarded as a supernatural.
Further along with the encounter… Dracula jumps out the window, which creates a massive amount of fear and suspense for the reader as the reader wonders about what may have happened to Dracula.
“ dashed across the room and threw himself at the window”
Only someone stupid or someone very confident in their own abilities would try something as dangerous as that. This could be the work of someone who “has the power of 20 men” as Dracula was once described in the story.
As we move on we get the other side of Dracula. The unusual/inhuman side.
“took my luggage and carried it in before I could forestall him. I protested but he insisted: - “Nay sir you are my guest. It is late and my people are unavailable. Let me see to your comfort myself”
This gets the readers thinking about why Dracula is doing this. It all seems as though he is trying to play the nice guy so he can take his time and pounce at the right moment which suits him.
Count Dracula also makes him supper and provides him with very good accommodation, which seems as though it is coming out of Dracula’s good will but the reader will always have that suspicion which gets you thinking whether or not Dracula is always going to try and get some pleasure (the consuming/sucking of blood) out of the pain (being nice to the guest which isn’t normal).
So finally. The book itself. Bram Stoker has found a unique way of using the gothic conventions to excite the reader with the suspense and fear which is created within the story. The conventions that are used are put to good effect as the reader’s minds are tested as images are created due to the graphic content which is written about in some areas of the story. The writer himself highlights the way Dracula is brought across to the readers which he does effectively using the conventions. The way he describes some of the parts and the buildings he makes it feel as though you are actually part of the story. Bringing everything that I have wrote about together Bram Stoker has come up with a very interesting and gripping tale of Dracula. The Gothic conventions have worked fantastically for him to create this very good book and overall it was very interesting and he certainly knew how to bring the elements of suspense and fear into the story as well as telling a fabulous story at the same time.
Fraze Ali 11-5 Mr Duck
