Analysis Of Dracula By Bram Stoker - 1618 Words

Bram Stoker s Dracula is highly acclaimed and has received many different interpretations which deal with complex symbolisms and metaphors. These interpretations often require a great deal of knowledge in psychology, political science, anthropology, and other non-literary disciplines. These interpretations may be valid, as they are related to the disciplines on which their arguments are based, but the true power of the novel is due to a very simple theme that lies beneath the other, more convoluted interpretations. This theme is the universal concept of identity: us versus them. This criticism sets aside outside disciplines and focuses on the literary motif of identity. John Allen Stevenson gives an in-depth criticism of this work based†¦show more content†¦Who, then, is the us of the novel? Richard Wasson points out that the group who pursues Dracula represents a cross-section of the English materialist society (26). The fact that the group contains a doctor, an aristocrat, and a lawyer is very significant because it defines the us of the novel. All the journal entries, that make up the bulk of the novel, are written by characters who, as a whole, represent the English society. The only major character in the novel who never has his point of view shown through a journal, or any other means, is Dracula. This structural procedure defines him as an outsider. We know Dracula only through the eyes of English society--wea re not allowed to understand him as an individual. Jules Zanger reinforces the idea of Dracula as an outsider by making a strong case that Dracula represents Jews, who were persecuted because they were moving to England in large numbers in the late nineteenth century. Zanger is correct in seeing Dracula as a persecuted outsider, but the metaphor of Dracula as a Jew goes beyond the theme of the novel. He could be any outsider that the English percieved as a threat; they would drive out anyone they felt uncomfortable with. English society s expulsion of the outsider is due to the anxieties that English people had about themselves. The decay of British global influence...the increasing unrest in British colonies andShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Dracula By Bram Stoker1434 Words   |  6 PagesThe story of vampires throughout the years has been one of horror and fear. Bram Stoker’s, Dracula, takes this legend and uses it to show how this tremendous source of evil reaffirms the promise of Christianity. Once Dracula comes into their lives, the characters must fight to save people, particularly women, from being turned into vampires. Being a vampire means a life of servitude to both death and damnation. 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