Sunday, 14 November 2010

HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE HE'S A VAMPIRE!?!?!?

Evidently, Dracula oozes strange and disturbing qualities, seen from the moment Harker lays eyes on him. He is "without a single speck of colour about him anywhere", an indicator of his deathly nature. His clothing, entirely in black, symbolises death and mourning.
Dracula's striking strength for a man of his age is repeatedly referred to; his "strong" face, "astonishingly vitality", his "broad and strong" chin, "firm cheeks" and "protuberant teeth" all create this image of supernatural power in such an old man.

An animalistic element is also illustrated through Harker's description. His "peculiarly sharp white teeth" connote canine qualities, and nails "cut to a sharp point", unmistakably resemble claws. Animals with sharp teeth and claws usually represent power and threat, an attribute reinforcing the strength of his appearance previously.

So along with, safe to say, surprising strength and animalistic qualities, the supernatural is thrown into the mix of his appearance, which would make any normal person scream VAMPIRE and scram. His hand was "more like the hand of a dead than living man", obviously showing something is a bit suspicious. The teeth again, are the attributes which suggest vampire. Teeth which protrude over the lips foreshadow Dracula's tendency to use them to suck the blood of others with. This idea is revisited when Dracula's "rank" breath make Harker shudder and feel nauseous. The concept that something is making Dracula's breath rank suggests it is something inside of him that is foul. Not only could it be what he has been eating, or "drinking", but it could suggest the dark, horrible power within Dracula.

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