Reading the Classics discussion

Discuss Dracula part 5.

Ah-ha. So is this where all the later 'I love you so much I'll be a vampire with you' stuff starts?

Chapter 22, Harker's diary:

"To one thing I have made up my mind; if we find out that Mina must be a vampire in the end, then she shall not go into that unknown and terrible land alone. I suppose it is thus that in old times one vampire meant many; just as their hideous bodies could only rest in sacred earth, so the holiest love was the recruiting sergeant for their ghastly ranks."

But Harker should know by now that love is unlikely for the Un-dead. Can he really hope to retain his holy love of his wife while feeding her bags of babies?

I think this also reflects on a larger trend in the book: the continued conflict of Mina's identity. Harker and the other men continually 'put her on a pedestal' but her own actions and sometimes Van Helsing's narration make her a whole person. She isn't just Lucy, drained of life; she has had the "vampire baptism," becoming more equal to Count D. than anyone else.

Okay - while there's still plenty in the story to keep me engaged, the style of the novel is now starting to plod. A few plot holes have appeared: I don't believe for a moment after Lucy's death that the group would have looked at Mina waking up pale and listless and thought "oh she's a bit pale, she's probably just a bit tired" - let's leave her alone for the night.

Also the reported speech is starting to grate. One person might report what everyone said word for word, but not everybody who kept a diary - I'm sure that most would have paraphrased.

However, the story's plodding along nicely. I just don't think that it's kept enough steam going. Let's see what the last few chapters bring though.

I agree that the doctors should have been more concerned about Mina's pale appearance. Also they should never have left her alone while invading Count Dracula's home. It was obvious that when they decided to leave her alone, there would be trouble.

I agree, they should have notice immediately that something was wrong. Maybe more willful ignorance? Plus, all this not noticing things makes me think of the plot device, such as "No, don't go investigate the scary noise upstairs!" that always happens in cheesy horror flicks.

Was anyone else reminded of Harry Potter (if you haven't read it and intend to, consider this your SPOILER warning) where in the last two books, they are hunting horcruxes in much the same manner that they are now hunting the boxes of dirt so that Dracula will have no place safe to which to return? Come to think of it, Voldemort drained the life out of his followers, albeit in a less outwardly graphic way, in much the same manner as Dracula, minus the whole lifeblood thing. And his soul is tied to the earth because he has split it into parts, every one of which must be destroyed before he can be eradicated forever. Did Rowling use this as some inspiration? Certainly an interesting thought.

Alana wrote: "I agree, they should have notice immediately that something was wrong. Maybe more willful ignorance? Plus, all this not noticing things makes me think of the plot device, such as "No, don't go inve..."

That's a really interesting observation Alana. And I certainly see the parallels between Dracula and horcruxes.

This portion of the book was really slow for me. A few of you have mentioned that the relating of information was difficult to get through and created plot discrepancies. I second what Danielle said in that the whole Harker/Mina love after being un-Dead concept annoyed me, because Lucy was by no means friendly to humanity. I thought that some of the characters were naive and unwilling to compromise hope for the truth.

I still don't know what I think of the whole Renfield storyline. It just wasn't really there for me to begin with and I feel like Stoker is kind of reaching with this aspect of the novel. Did anyone else feel this way?