Should Dracula Be Banned?
III: Your Opinion Part 1
I think Dracula should not be banned because this book supports the fighting of evil.
Textual Support:
Quote 1: “a man, tall and thin, and ghastly pale... I crept behind It, and gave It my knife; but the knife went through It, empty as the air.” (Stoker Ch. 7).
Explanation: We see here the main character John Harker in the midst of an attempt to kill Dracula. He embodies the good in this story, and to see him deliberately try to kill someone is quite unsettling. The object of his despise must surely be something terrible, and it is.
Quote 2: “What manner of man is this, or what manner of creature is it in the semblance of man?” (Stoker Ch. 3).
Explanation: Harker says this while trying to figure who Dracula really is. He is appalled at the monster he sees in him. Though Dracula tries to hide it, Harker seems to be able to see through the glamour Dracula has cast about himself to the wicked beast beneath.
Quote 3: “I am only too happy to have been of any service!... It was worth for this to die!... Now God be thanked that all has not been in vain! See! The snow is not more stainless than her forehead! The curse has passed away!” (Stoker Ch. 27).
Explanation: Morris was dying when he said this, expressing his joy that his death would not be in vain. His statement here is very compelling, and it encourages those who read it to be, like Quincy Morris, so dedicated to good to be willing to give your life for its cause.
IV: Your Opinion Part 2
I think Dracula should not be banned because this book teaches people about cultures other than their own.
Textual Support:
Quote 1: “I read that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians, as if it were the centre of some sort of imaginative whirlpool; if so my stay may be very interesting.” (Stoker Ch. 1).
Explanation: Jonathan Harker, when contemplating his visit to Transylvania. He is musing the fact that the area is steeped in superstition, quite drenched, really.
Quote 2: “We are in Transylvania, and Transylvania is not England. Our ways are not your ways, and there shall be to you many strange things.” (Stoker Ch. 2).
Explanation: Count Dracula to Jonathan Harker when Jonathan questioned one of his actions. Many things in Transylvania seemed quite unorthodox to him, and he isn’t able to understand much of what happens. He is, at this point, oblivious to the fact that the reason Dracula does heaps of weird things is because he is a vampire.
Quote 3: “He was very pale, and his eyes seemed bulging out as, half in terror and half in amazement, he gazed at a tall, thin man, with a beaky nose and black moustache and pointed beard...” (Stoker Ch. 13).
Explanation: The very appearance of Dracula seems to have a terribly adverse effect on our wayward Londoner in this passage. He was only used to the not-to-diverse-because-poms-inbreed look of English people, and the look of someone outside of that small sphere of familiarity caused a bit of panic.
V: Your Opinion Part 3
I think Dracula should not be banned because this book portrays two people in a healthy relationship.
Textual Support:
Quote 1: “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.” (Stoker Ch. 3).
Explanation: This is happening to Jonathan, and no, it isn’t his fiancée Mina who is biting him. One might say, “Oi! How does this show a healthy relationship, then?” To which the answer would be, it really doesn’t. The fact that Jonathan is repulsed by this display is the reason it vaguely represents a healthy relationship, as even when in a drug-induced trance, he remains true to Mina.
Quote 2: “But, oh, Mina, I love him; I love him; I love him!” (Stoker Ch. 5).
Explanation: Lucy Westenra to Mina Murray of her love for Arthur Holmwood. She loves him, but can’t seem to decide on which lovely man to marry.
Quote 3: “No man knows till he experiences it, what it is like to feel his own life-blood drawn away into the woman he loves.” (Stoker Ch. 10).
Explanation: Arthur Holmwood on his blood transfusions to Lucy Westenra. He is very willing to provide the blood for her, as he feels it brings him closer to her.
I think Dracula should not be banned because this book supports the fighting of evil.
Textual Support:
Quote 1: “a man, tall and thin, and ghastly pale... I crept behind It, and gave It my knife; but the knife went through It, empty as the air.” (Stoker Ch. 7).
Explanation: We see here the main character John Harker in the midst of an attempt to kill Dracula. He embodies the good in this story, and to see him deliberately try to kill someone is quite unsettling. The object of his despise must surely be something terrible, and it is.
Quote 2: “What manner of man is this, or what manner of creature is it in the semblance of man?” (Stoker Ch. 3).
Explanation: Harker says this while trying to figure who Dracula really is. He is appalled at the monster he sees in him. Though Dracula tries to hide it, Harker seems to be able to see through the glamour Dracula has cast about himself to the wicked beast beneath.
Quote 3: “I am only too happy to have been of any service!... It was worth for this to die!... Now God be thanked that all has not been in vain! See! The snow is not more stainless than her forehead! The curse has passed away!” (Stoker Ch. 27).
Explanation: Morris was dying when he said this, expressing his joy that his death would not be in vain. His statement here is very compelling, and it encourages those who read it to be, like Quincy Morris, so dedicated to good to be willing to give your life for its cause.
IV: Your Opinion Part 2
I think Dracula should not be banned because this book teaches people about cultures other than their own.
Textual Support:
Quote 1: “I read that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians, as if it were the centre of some sort of imaginative whirlpool; if so my stay may be very interesting.” (Stoker Ch. 1).
Explanation: Jonathan Harker, when contemplating his visit to Transylvania. He is musing the fact that the area is steeped in superstition, quite drenched, really.
Quote 2: “We are in Transylvania, and Transylvania is not England. Our ways are not your ways, and there shall be to you many strange things.” (Stoker Ch. 2).
Explanation: Count Dracula to Jonathan Harker when Jonathan questioned one of his actions. Many things in Transylvania seemed quite unorthodox to him, and he isn’t able to understand much of what happens. He is, at this point, oblivious to the fact that the reason Dracula does heaps of weird things is because he is a vampire.
Quote 3: “He was very pale, and his eyes seemed bulging out as, half in terror and half in amazement, he gazed at a tall, thin man, with a beaky nose and black moustache and pointed beard...” (Stoker Ch. 13).
Explanation: The very appearance of Dracula seems to have a terribly adverse effect on our wayward Londoner in this passage. He was only used to the not-to-diverse-because-poms-inbreed look of English people, and the look of someone outside of that small sphere of familiarity caused a bit of panic.
V: Your Opinion Part 3
I think Dracula should not be banned because this book portrays two people in a healthy relationship.
Textual Support:
Quote 1: “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.” (Stoker Ch. 3).
Explanation: This is happening to Jonathan, and no, it isn’t his fiancée Mina who is biting him. One might say, “Oi! How does this show a healthy relationship, then?” To which the answer would be, it really doesn’t. The fact that Jonathan is repulsed by this display is the reason it vaguely represents a healthy relationship, as even when in a drug-induced trance, he remains true to Mina.
Quote 2: “But, oh, Mina, I love him; I love him; I love him!” (Stoker Ch. 5).
Explanation: Lucy Westenra to Mina Murray of her love for Arthur Holmwood. She loves him, but can’t seem to decide on which lovely man to marry.
Quote 3: “No man knows till he experiences it, what it is like to feel his own life-blood drawn away into the woman he loves.” (Stoker Ch. 10).
Explanation: Arthur Holmwood on his blood transfusions to Lucy Westenra. He is very willing to provide the blood for her, as he feels it brings him closer to her.