Jonathan Harker and Van Helsing are arguably the most interesting characters in the story. Jonathan is the first character in the story to encounter Dracula, and Van Helsing is the professional who assembles the band of vampire hunters. Both men are important to Dracula’s inevitable downfall, although Jonathan has more to lose since his wife is also involved in this nasty work. Jonathan Harker starts off the book with his journal of his travels to meet count Dracula, and begins to regret ever leaving home soon after. Jonathan is very observant, noting details throughout his journey; he remembers foreign words to look up, many details of the journey to the castle, and sees “a faint flickering blue flame” many times off in the distance …show more content…
Van Helsing takes great care and delicacy in proving that the vampire threat is real to his companions, taking a group of men to see for themselves that Lucy had turned into evil undead. To prove to the men that vampires are real, Van Helsing forces the men to see Lucy, whose eyes are “unclean and full of hell-fire” causing Dr. Seward to feel “the remnant of [his] love [pass] into pure hate and loathing” (Stoker 181). Van Helsing is truly brilliant, because after seeing Lucy in her state of ‘un-death’, the men are all ready to listen to him and act against the vampire threat. Van Helsing himself even admits that “at the first [he] was the sceptic” but learned to accept and deal with vampires “through long years [of training himself] to keep an open mind” (Stoker 203). Van Helsing is explaining how he is not insane, but rather more experienced and open minded. Both Jonathan Harker and Dr. Van Helsing are intriguing characters who add flavor and common sense to the story. Jonathan is naïve at first but later becomes a brave caring protector when he joins the band of vampire hunters. Van Helsing is the wise veteran that everyone looks to for help. In the end, the two emerge victorious over the evil that had plagued them for so long. Conclusion Abraham Stoker was an interesting writer who stayed loyal to his friends even after achieving
Van Helsing somberly remarks, “What are we to do now? Where are we to turn for help? We must have another transfusion of blood, or that poor girl’s life won’t be worth an hour’s purchase. You are exhausted already; I am exhausted too... What are we to do for someone who will open his veins for her?” (ch.10). Opposed by the ultimatum of life or death, Quincy Morris steps up to attempt to save Lucy from her inevitable demise. As one they ally themselves together to work against the forces of evil. Later, Jonathan managed to locate the boxes of earth that Dracula brought to England. The companions approach the bastion of Dracula’s power in the ordinary world. Having ascertained the knowledge to drive the Count out, both Harkers, along with Lucy’s suitors and Van Helsing prepare to destroy Dracula’s safe haven: “We must trace each of these boxes; and we must either capture or kill this monster in his lair; or we must… sterilize the earth, so that no more he can seek safety in it. Thus we may find him in his form of man between the hours of noon and sunset, and so engage with him when he is at his most weak.”
In the closing chapters, is where the sheer brilliance of both Copola and Stoker come into play, From Myna Harkers journal the final pages are unfolded. At sunset on November 6, they see below them a large cart, driven by gypsies, carrying a box of earth and being driven at a gallop. There are four men converging on the gypsies: Seward and Quincy from the south, and Jonathan and Arthur from the north. The sun is rapidly sinking as they intercept the cart, and the gypsies move to defend their cargo. Jonathan and Quincy force their way through the defenders, and with "strength that seemed incredible," (Stoker 321) This is very ironic for both the movie and the story, because Harker is not really seen as being a courageous strong individual but more weak meable soul. With all his strength Jon flings the box to the ground. Quincy has been wounded, but together the two men fling back the lid just as Seward and Arthur reach them. From her vantagepoint, Mina can see Dracula 's face contorted in hate, and then the sunsets, and the "look of hate . . . turned to triumph." (Stoker 324) This quote is probably the most appealing quote in the book, Because no matter weather you read the book, or watch the movie everyone knows that Dracula is a creature of the night and holds almost all his power then. Dracula jumps out of the box and almost immediately Jonathan slashes through the Count 's
Dracula seems to possess unexplainable supernatural powers. When Jonathan Harker is traveling to castle Dracula, he is unaware that the driver of his coach is the Count himself. During the nocturnal journey, the coach is circled by wolves, not knowing what to do Jonathan calls for the coachman and in return “heard
Where there is evil, there is good in the darkest shadow. Van helsing as the antagonist is the most threating adversary towards Count Dracula in the novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. In many novels, the protagonist is the main character who is usually a hero and the antagonist is the character who opposes them, however in this novel “Dracula,” the protagonist is a demon from the pits of hell while the antagonist is the hero who opposes the evil creature. Vanhelsing’s role as the antagonist is seen through specific events of conflict, characterization of both Dracula and Vanhelsing, and the theme of where there is evil, good arises to fight.
Van Helsing similarly meets the three female vampires in the night, but he steadfastly maintains his righteousness. When he meets the vampires, he says, “The mere beauty and the fascination of the wanton un-dead have hypnotised him…. Then the beautiful eyes
In everyday life, as in literature, there will always be an opposing force to evil. In the novel “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker, Professor Van Helsing acts as Dracula’s main antagonist. An antagonist is the character who acts against the main character, which increases the conflict of the story and intensifies the plot. Through the use of theme, characterization and specific events, the author shows readers how Dr. Van Helsing effectively fits the role of Dracula’s most threatening adversary.
After Lucy’s death, Van Helsing tried to convinced Quincey Morris, Seward and Arthur Holmwood that Lucy has turned into “Un-dead” by bringing them to her tomb. They eventually find a solution by plunging a stake into Lucy’s heart. They chop off her head and stuff her mouth with garlic. After Jonathan and Mina’s returning to England, they joined forces with the others. Mina helps Van Helsing by collecting various journals and dairies to retype them. Their efforts were useless went one of Seward’s patient has let Dracula into the asylum to prey upon Mina. These men divided forces among them tracks Dracula across land and sea. Van Helsing takes Mina with him and he killed three female vampires by using sacred objects. Quincey and Jonathan use knives to destroy Dracula went Dracula is about to reached his castle. In 1992, Francis Ford Coppola has released a Dracula movie based on Bram Stoker’s novel. I would prefer watching a Dracula movie rather than reading a book because Coppola evokes the origins of Dracula before he turn into a vampire, twisted the subplot where Mina is the reincarnation of Dracula’s greatest love and the movie ends with Dracula’s soul
“He speaks in perfect English and welcomes Harker inside, shaking his hand with an ice-cold, vice-like grip” (Dracula, 55). Dracula explains to him that he will no be able to make the trip to London, but one of his trusted servants will be going along with Harker back to London. After supper Jonathan analyzes Dracula and notices one very strange feature, his mouth is thick and white; they cover sharp white teeth, which stick out over his lip. What Jonathan does not know is that those teeth are canine teeth only found in animals. There are exceptions, for instance, vampires have these teeth so they can puncture the human’s carotid vessel in their neck and suck their blood. The first time that Jonathan sees Dracula’s cannibal teeth grow is when Harker starts shaving. He accidentally cuts himself and Dracula leaps for his throat so he can suck his blood. Harker touches his crucifix and Dracula’s “demonic fury” vanishes. The strangest event that Harker notices in Dracula’s castle is “Dracula emerge from his room on the floor below, slither out, head downward, in lizard fashion, with his cloak spread out around him like great wings” (Dracula, 179). This shows that “Dracula is not a person. He is a presence, an absence that requires concealing” (Wolf, 368). This tells Harker that something is very wrong with this man. He recalls how the peasants behaved
John Seward is one of Lucy’s three suitors. He owns and runs a mental hospital where he is the doctor at. Dr. Abraham Van Helsing is Dr. Sward’s friend and mentor. He is a scientist and doctor who is well versed in ancient superstitions and philosophy. He is the one who discovers that there is a vampire in England. Arthur Holmwood is the son of Lord Godalming and another one of Lucy’s three suitors and later becomes her fiancé. He cared for Lucy a lot and he was the one to stab her in the heart. Quincey Morris is an American from Texas and he is another of Lucy’s three suitors. He is the one who stabs Dracula in the heart but he too is stabbed and ends up dying. Renfield is a patient at Dr. Seward’s hospital and he eats flies, spiders, and birds while he is there. He is Dracula’s henchmen and leads Dracula straight to Mina. Dracula kills
Van Helsing: Professor from Holland, smart, very advanced scientist, tries to fix Lucy, helps to fight Dracula, knows about vampires, not just about science, knowledgeable on almost anything, leader of the group, main one trying to destroy Dracula
In the 1993 version, Van Helsing refers to Lucy as "a willing recruit, a whore of darkness, a bitch of the devil."(Bram Stoker's Dracula). Also, Mina chooses whether to be with Dracula or with Jonathan. We wonder at the end whether she will choose to remain with Jonathan after Dracula's death.
All of the characters have something in common and that is they all want to see Dracula destroyed in the end. Another good
The late nineteenth century Irish novelist, Bram Stoker is most famous for creating Dracula, one of the most popular and well-known vampire stories ever written. Dracula is a gothic, “horror novel about a vampire named Count Dracula who is looking to move from his native country of Transylvania to England” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Unbeknownst of Dracula’s plans, Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, traveled to Castle Dracula to help the count with his plans and talk to him about all his options. At first Jonathan was surprised by the Count’s knowledge, politeness, and overall hospitality. However, the longer Jonathan remained in the castle the more uneasy and suspicious he became as he began to realize just how strange and different
The novel had a lot of detail and stoker really knew how to get the audience attention. This was a well written book that I believe that many young upperclassmen would enjoy reading. If you're thinking about reading Dracula you are surly in for a lot of horror and suspense. I understand why Stoker would turn such a great story into a novel. I think that back then people were really into the supernatural. I would even say that many people including stoker himself believed in the supernatural. The novel also wouldn't just of been written for getting a good scare but for those upper class people. My reason for that was because of the high use of vocabulary in the novel. I was also clearly able to see who the good guy was in the story as well as the bad. It was obvious that Dracula was the evil one in the Novel. At first it was hard to tell who was the protagonist because the story starts of with Jonathan Harker which automatically made me think that he would be the good one in the story. Once we were introduced to Van Helsing my opinion completely changed on who the protagonist would be because once we were introduced to Van Helsing he was the one with the most knowledge on vampires. He seemed to have experience with vampires on how to cure wounds from vampires and how to kill them. The whole novel over all was a great novel that I would recommend to many of my friends who enjoy the thrill of
Here, Harker has fallen victim to the vampire’s lustful attraction. This also demonstrates an undertone of eroticism within the story since the three vampires “get much closer to Jonathan Harker than proper Victorian ladies should” (Pikula 291).