How wonderful to be reminded that evil existed and exists.

 

Odd sentiments I know but Dracula is an odd novel.  Maybe not so much in it's day and maybe not so much today - but really I think so.

 

Bram Stoker has an ability to remind us (intentionally or not) that evil is alive and well and among us  - and that possibly in his day - love manifested itself in battling against such evil.

 

Now, of course I know that this is a work of fiction  - and fiction it remains.  But stand it up against the "reads" of today.  We want, desire, pursue the idea of what our father's deemed evil, as really good - even better than our bigoted ideology.  But in reality what we only seem to accomplish is a watering down of our convictions and procure a twisted desire to assuage our own selfish wants without the conviction of right and wrong.

 

Not so with Dracula.  The Count was portrayed as evil.  He was in it for the power, the revenge, the terror and the lust.  Here Stoker reveals who we are without our convictions.  "The fair girl went on her knees and bent over me, fairly gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal... I could feel the soft, shivering touch of the lips on the supersensitive skin of my throat, and the hard dents of two sharp teeth, just touching and pausing there."  Jonathan Harker later laments his excitement, not as a self deprecation but because he was afraid of the pain it would give his wife.  And such scenes continually seem to underscore that theme in the novel.  Yes great evil is being battled but a battle to succumb to baser instincts within each man is also being fought

 

Even Van Helsing is under siege when he and Mrs. Harker are waiting for the men to arrive - pursuing Dracula as he moves toward is castle.  Van Helsing is in a quandary as he is faced with the destruction of three female vampires.  His conviction falters and he can hardly accomplish the task.  Yet he digs deeper into himself and finds the strength that only faith can give.  That faith is also boosted by the love of a fellow human being.  For her (Mrs Harker) sake he completes the terrorizing task set before him.

 

So we have a novel that really pits good against evil.  And God help us we need to be reminded.  The constant questioning of our convictions have crippled us.

 

Is there no pity?  Certainly there is.  As Mrs. Harker sends her knights errant upon their quest to stop the poison that has invaded her she reminds them to show pity to the man that evil has now consumed.  And just as the deed is done - she is allowed to see the peace upon the countenance of the man Dracula.

 

The novel Dracula reminds us that evil is upon us and shall pursue us.  It reminds us that evil is extraordinarily deceptive.  The novel also drives home the concept that acceptance is not ours to give -  that right belongs to God.  The story portrays that the love four men had for two women and the faith in God of all six human beings can bring about the downfall of a great evil.