Dracula, until chapter XXI

As we may have tohught before, Lucy has been a vampire, but is now actually dead thanks to Van Helsing's knowlegde of vampires and their weaknesses. This part wasn't the most interesting because Van Helsing spent a large part of the time trying to persuade his companions about vampires' existence.
However, after this passage, the novel began to be quite pleasant again. Dracula is finally in action in London, confronting all characters in the asylum. The climax has been reached i think, everyone is involved, having problems or trying to help. Plus, Renfield's role in the novel and his link with Dracula have been been discovered. (i try not to tell too much about the sotry itself because you may want to read it too).
Finally, the four men are now chasing the vampires and the earth boxes, through london and its country, which brings a nie touch to the story -i mean, some actual actions this time-.
What are Mina and Jonathan going to do after Van Helsing saw them together in their room being bitten by Dracula? Is it too late for them?


Also, i'd like to add something about one theme in this novel, I think there are many sexual meanings in this novel. I hadn't noticed them that much until this point, but all the stuff about Lucy's death and body, and the attraction of the female vampires to men made me think about it. Would Dracula have another purpose? like denoncing some people's behavior at this time? And since vampires are weak against holy objects, i think there is a hidden morale behind that, insinuating that we have to respect the religious rules.

Dracula, the story.

I've read until chapter XVII now (out of XXVII) and i shall admit that the story kind of slowed down. For us, modern readers, who knows a lot about vampires, this part of the novel isn't the best one. It mainly tries to make Lucy's illness a mysterious event that nobody can understand except the famous doctor Van Helsing (but he keeps it for him and don't tell the reader). This part doesn't manage to increase the suspense. Indeed, we already know that this is a vampire's work, and therefore, aren't surprised.

However, it's pleaseant to see how the three connected stories link to to each other.
Fortunately, the story is likely going to be really interesting again, now that Dracula has made his first vampire (Lucy).

Dracula?

I think that the junior class has to choose a choice novel pretty soon too. So I'm gonna explain my choice first, which may give you the desire to read this book too, and then I'm gonna give my point of view abou what i read (until chapter IX).

I went to the Frankenstein Lecture at UMW, and the doctor talking about it said that Frankenstein had been written at the same time "the Vampire" was written. I mean, this two books, came from two different authors but in a special group of friends. She also said that, "the Vampire" was the first novel involving a vampire but that soon after, "Dracula" took the place of "the Vampire" as a symbol for this kind of creature. It interested me to know why it had been so popular that fast. Probably because it was a wonderful book?! Besides, as for Frankestein, I noticed that I kinda knew the character by its legend, but I didn't know much about the story, whereas it's supposed to be a classic, and everyone should be able to argue about a classic. That's why I chose "Dracula".

Concerning the story, it sort of reminds of Frankenstein by the changes in narration. Sometimes a letter, or a diary, and some other times, actual narration. Actually, i was surprised that the narrator wasn't Dracula himself, but a journalist called Jonathan Harker. Some other narrators are involved, but they mainly have a link with him (like Mina, his girlfriend). It seems to have some smaller plots in the big one, which will likely join at one moment in the book.
The beginning of the novel may seem a little slow, especially because we know about which subject the story is. But once it begins, i think it's very easily to get into the book, with its Halloween landscapes and weird events. However, I don't think that we feel surprise reading this book, like it happened when it was written, but we are more spectator of puzzle in which pieces are coming together. I mean that we know what a vampire do and how he is supposed to look but it's interesting to see each characteristic being added by the author. I'm looking forward to know how the story will be like. Because it seems that everything is ready to begin the actual story, that i really don't know. Bram Stocker, surprise me please.

What responsabilities do we have to each other?

As shown by the monster's distress and his need for company, one of our responsabilities is to take care of things/persons we created. If Victor hadn't run away, maybe the monster wouldn't have killed. The monster's actions were a consequence of Victor's lack of responsability. We also have the responsability not to make problems that involve other people that weren't concerned in the problem's creation. I don't think that William, Justine, Henry and Elizabeth wanted to die in this way, and probably for something they even not understood. Maybe it links us to the responsability of telling the truth. If the monster had been publicly "showed", he could have had some people to speak with (at least people would know he exists and isn't bad in his heart).

What does it mean to be animal?

I think that being human means having feelings and thoughts and beyond that, it’s consciousness. We’re considered as superior for our consciousness, other species don’t have it. Also, speaking and communication are a big part of human beings. Finally, humans are linked to a body, with two legs, two arms, a head… and are all destined to die soon or later.

Pride and Prejudices, the End

As known before to have read the book, the ending is really happy. Jane is married with Bingley, Elizabeth with Darcy and both have an excellent quality of life in their new house. Except for Lydia and Wickham who are still begging for money, we couldn't imagine better end. I was interested to know if these happy endings were kind of characteristical of Jane Austen, the author, and found several sources supporting this argument. Some could claim that it's bad and unrealistic but i personnaly oppose this thesis. In fact, as i said before, i really enjoyed how Jane Austen described the society of this time and i think it was enough to display the society's changes since this time. As a reader, we are supposed to use our brain and it should likely conduct us to think that the happy events at the end of Pride and Prejudices were very unlikely to occur. However, we can't blame her to make love triumph as much as comforting readers. I've thought about it and in spite of my certitude of the happy ending, i'm pretty sure i wouldn't have enjoyed any other kind of end.

Pride and Prejudices 2

Now we have read pretty much of the book, i can appreciate Austen's style easilier as much as the themes she brought up. Actually, the adorable ending is famous, but it's interesting to see how the autor manages to put characters together and to make readers' mind change. The first impressions we had about Darcy and Wickham are now totally reversed, Darcy being a gentleman and Wickham a seflish person thinking only of money. Even Mr Benett, who seemed very nice at first, now seems not to take care of his family, his brother Mr Gardiner occupying this role. However, Jane and Elizabeth keep the same way of acting, and remain nice to readers' point of view. I like the fact we can't really expect what is going to happen, particularly because the reactions characters have to events is characteristic of a time period we don't know well and can't totally imagine. I think this novel really accomplish the work of making characters interacting together, as a social network. At first, it was hard to understand well who were the main characters and what they were supposed to do, but now the action is etablished, this book is really easy and pleasant to read.