Dracula was a novel that I see as a traditional vampire novel. This novel seems to lay the foundation of what the vampire novel is and where it developed from. The use of love and traditional vampire taboos in the novel show where novels like the Twilight series came from. In the novel Darcula one taboo struck me and I noticed the for the first time in this class something I already knew about vampire, that garlic, is their kryptonite. Garlic, a pungent, earth grown food additive, I always wondered why garlic? Is it because the garlic stays on the breath and in the sweat of its consumer that it repels not only beings of the human kind, but also being of the not so human beings such as vampires.
Love also rang through in this novel. Not just Mina and Johnathon, but also the relationship between Mina and Lucy. Mina loved her dear friend Lucy, so much so that she was determined to find the cause of her friend's mysterious illness. Not knowing the power of the pungent garlic they remove it from Lucy's room which leads to her death, or actually her transformation. I always wondered how one becomes a vampire, this novel painted that picture through the fangs puncturing Lucy's neck the transformation was started. How long does it take for the full transformation? And on that note does garlic really work or just delay in the inevitable?
The idea of garlic usually appears in many current vampire novels as a myth but where did that myth come from. I don't really know if it originated in Dracula or if it is from something before that. If it does originate from this book then I do find it a little irritating that Stoker never explains that idea. The other ways to repel or hurt a vampire seem somewhat obvious as to why they cause harm (e.g. religious materials).
ReplyDeleteI am also wondering how exactly the vampires are created. Stoker vaguely describes it by showing that the transformation begins when he begins feeding on the victim, but it does not seem to be complete because Van Helsing goes through so much trouble to stop the transformation of both Lucy and Mina. It seems that to change someone to a vampire in the book is yet another classic vampire myth (which is prominent in Interview with a Vampire as well); the vampire must drain the victims blood and then feed them his own blood. Again, I wonder if this idea began with this vampire novel or if it was already a myth.
I like the ideas and questions you brought about in regard to the finishing of the novel. I wish I understood how garlic plays into the death of vampires. Maybe because of the digestion of garlic is difficult, who knows. I almost felt comfort in the old adages of how to kill a vampire. It brings about the "true" sense of a vampire. I liked how you brought up the idea of love that Mina had and quite possibly the love that she has for Lucy and Johnathan make her vulnerable to Draculas bite.
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