When Harker is leaving, the landlords wife, gets hysterical and strikes up even more fear and suspicion, she says to Harker ” Must you go, young Herr must you go?” She is even said to be so hysterical she confuses her languages. This points out just how desperate she was to try and explain something to Harker, that must have been important. This adds anticipation and fear to the reader as they don’t know what the lady is trying to warn him about and that she knows something vital.
The conversation between Harker and the lady is one of desperation, the lady really wanted to get a message to Harker. When the lady asked Harker “do you know what day it is” when he replied “the fourth of May” , she gets frustrated and is rushing to try and stop him from leaving, this is shown when she replies “ oh, yes! I know that, I know that! But do you know what day it is?” this shows that she is concerned about Harker’s lack of knowledge and wants to warn him or inform him about something quite important. The writer uses short, quick sentences to create a sense of urgency. The lady then tells Harker about how “when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world have full sway” this creates a sense of fear to the reader as it sounds like typical gothic horror, the clock striking midnight. The lady is then said to “ get down on her knees and implored me not to go”. The writer makes it sound as though the lady is making a last, desperate attempt to persuade Harker not to leave. Her reaction shows what danger he is about to get into. The lady gives Harker a crucifix, which is associated with religion and warding way evil; this alludes to the reader that what Jonathon will encounter will not be good. Even though he comments on how “he has been taught to regard such things as in some measure idolatrous” his reactions to keeping the crucifix around his neck show that deep down the lady’s words had effected him, the writer shows this when he writes “Whether it was the old lady’s fear, I do not know, but I am not feeling nearly as easy in my mind as usual”. This shows that Jonathon is beginning to sense that he is not entirely safe.
The writer makes out Harker to seem paranoid. This is shown in the book when Harker is waiting for his coach driver and he writes “ They were evidently talking of me” yet again this gives the reader a feeling of anxiety as there seems to be some kind of secret, and the feeling of not knowing is creating an atmosphere or fear for the reader.
When Harker overhears parts of the conversation the coach driver and a landlady are having, he hears most unusual words such as “Satan”, “hell”, “witch” and “werewolf or vampire”. These words seem to carry on from the old lady’s comments making the reader think about the evil things that were supposed to be happening at midnight, when it was dark and scary, creating even more fear to the reader.
On the journey to the castle, Harker describes the place as a beautiful place, and he “soon lost sight and recollection of ghostly fears”. This arouses suspicion with the reader and makes them wonder why if this place seemed so lovely and nice why he was having these strange experiences with local people.
However, as they travel, Harker is beginning to describe the scenery differently and the writer is obviously beginning to describe some gothic horror landscapes. Examples of this are “great masses of greyness”, “gloom of the trees”. Words such as “gloom” and “great masses” emphasize the murkiness of the place. The writer uses simile’s such as “ghost-like clouds” which gives the reader an image of a spooky looking skyline behind the hills, and as they are heading towards a castle, the whole book is increasingly becoming a typical gothic horror story; which keeps the reader in suspense. Stoker uses the image of Harker driving through forestry as it is a stereotypically scary and mysterious place where anything could happen. By setting the novel around an old castle images of horror can be created in a readers mind before he even reaches it, as it is generally a terrifying place to be, whether it be occupied or unoccupied. The mystery of a castle is a definite factor in this novel as we later find out that it has several secret passages and hidden staircases.
As they are travelling steadily closer to the castle, the writer describes how the mountain range had “separated into two atmospheres, and that now we had got into the thunderous one” this creates terror for the reader as it seems as though they are heading towards danger.
When the writer describes the driver, the writer paints a creepy picture of him. He describes him as a hidden face, and how he could only see a pair of very bright eyes which ”seemed red in the lamplight”. This creates a very spooky image, and the coach driver seems a very mysterious and unusual character, quite an intimidating person. To the reader, Stoker has alluded that the character is not to be trusted as he is extremely unnerving, due to his appearance; by using the description “red” eyes, Stoker has used a stereotypical colour associated with blood and death to highlight the wickedness of his appearance.
The writer continues to describe the driver even further, “very red lips” and “sharp looking teeth” the words “very” and “sharp” emphasizes that they were not standard looking teeth or lips, and the character develops an even more terrifying figure in the readers mind.
He goes on to comment about how the drivers strength is “prodigious” which arouses suspicion with the reader as he is described to be un-naturally strong. More suspicion is aroused with the reader when Harker writes “it seemed to me that we were simply going over and over the same ground again; and so I took note of some salient point and found that this was so” this seems to be some abnormal behaviour coming from the driver; as he seems to be driving them around in circles, making him seem an ever increasing peculiar, mysterious and terrifying character.
Harker was obviously being affected by all this behaviour, his reactions are terrified ones, his superstition is “increased by recent experiences” and he is said to have a “sick feeling of suspense”. This builds up the tension for the reader as Harker’s reactions cause the reader to feel scared for him.
To create an atmosphere of fear, Stoker uses descriptions of noise; “a dog began to howl” and “a long agonized wail, as if from fear”. The howling emphasizes the general tone of a typical horror story; it is a conventional noise which would evoke fear within a reader. The wind was “sighing” and “wild howling” began. The fact that the wind was physically making sounds and the howling was described as “wild” shows that the circumstances Harker was in were very unpleasant and chilling.
The horses reactions to the howling were to “strain and rear” this shows that the howling was not only affecting Harker but also the horses, showing that none of this was his imagination creating an even more apprehensive atmosphere.
As the howling continued and increased in level of volume both Harker and the horses were being affected by the sounds, this is depicted in the chapter when Harker writes “a louder and sharper howling – that of wolves – which affected both the horses and myself in the same way”. Harker’s reactions were to “Jump from the caleche and run” this creates terror for the reader as Harker who has been relatively calm throughout the chapter was debating whether to get up and run away, and this shows the circumstances he was in were truly terrifying. The horses reactions were that they “reared again and plunged madly, so that the driver had to use all his strength to stop them from “bolting” the word bolting suggests that the horses were desperate to get away, and that they were terrified of what was ahead of them, just like Harker. This depicts that the surroundings they were in were terrifying. This causes the reader to become anxious themselves, as it was obvious that Harker was not alone in being terrified, and there was no way out for him.
As they began their journey, the coach driver was behaving suspiciously, he kept “turning his head to left and right” even though Harker could see nothing in the darkness. The reader becomes frightened here because as the old lady and other characters in the book, he seemed to know something that neither the reader or Harker knew about, causing more suspense and build up.
While the driver is away for some duration in the chapter, the horses began to “tremble worse than ever” and “snort and scream with fright” this is another suspicious happening as the horses only seem to become fearful while the driver is away, making the driver and even more mysterious individual, as he seems to have some unnatural power over the horses.
When Harker saw the ring of wolves, the writer describes them with “white teeth” and “lolling red tongues” which causes much fear for the reader as wolves are very frightening animals and have such influence over the horses reactions. The fact that horses, which are usually such calm and docile creatures, were affected in such a dramatic way, highlights the terror the wolves inflicted on them.
Harker’s reactions to the wolves was that he felt “paralysis of fear” The word paralysis is such a strong word that it describes Harkers terror well, and yet again the reader starts to feel terror and fear for Harker for being in such a terrible situation. The word paralysis has links to the word paralysed, suggesting that has become completely taken over by fright. He continues to describe his reactions as “afraid to speak or move” which causes the reader to feel an atmosphere of fear as Harker feels unable to physically move or make a sound due to his apprehension. Here Stoker has exaggerated Harker’s terror as his fear as grown throughout the chapter and now he has now become irrational; he has now lost his sensible manner which he had previously had in the chapter.
When Harker finally reaches the castle the chapter has reached its highest point of suspense as they reach their destination. Its gothic horror as the castle turns out to be a “vast ruined castle” with “tall black windows came no ray of light, and whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the moonlit sky”. Stoker describes the vast ruined castle as rundown, and gives the reader anticipation as it obviously has a history, as it is battered and run down. By describing the windows as “tall black windows with no ray of light” Stoker has created an atmosphere of darkness, this is mirrored with Jonathon’s darkening outlook as he realises what he has gotten himself into.
This ends the chapter with a creepy picture in the readers mind. It creates an atmosphere of suspense and scariness, and the reader is urged to keep on. The build up of tension throughout the chapter gives the reader feelings of terror and horror. A typical gothic setting with good description of reactions, thoughts and feelings are well written and believable, and Bram Stoker successfully achieves to create an atmosphere of fear and horror.
