Insanity

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“ The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success, “ as Bruce Feirstein would say. The insane are merely the ones who are not given their chance to change the world. They are, instead, locked away before society begins to take grip on the ravings of the mad man. Genius, on the other hand, is what is created when the insane are given their time to speak out. When Renfield began to address himself to the question he was confronted with, he did so with the utmost impartiality of the completest sanity. This leads the astute reader to wonder if renfield was, in fact, completely sane but driven to madness while being locked within the confines of an asylum. Even the sanest person may have insane tendencies when over tasked. This simply represents the imperfectness of humans. How do you know if you are truly sane when you do not know the attributes of the mad man from his point of view? Insanity is contagious and those that get it should be counted lucky to get it as it is a mark of genius. It gives us the other side of the sword used to lash out against conformity and discord.

When Jonathan began to pray “Great God! Merciful god, let me be calm, for out out of that way madness lies,” to preserve his sanity while he was in Dracula's castle, he was being overwhelmed with things not usually known to those who live in the relative safety of the status quo. He began to quote Hamlet (which contained it's own fair share of insanity) as he stated that keeping his journal will help keep him within the realm of sanity. “ My tablets! Quick, my tablets! 'tis meet that I put it down,”. His mind was over tasked with things that are normally set as plot elements in children's fables. Jonathan was tasked with choosing betwee...

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...is right and who is wrong requires careful consideration which is afforded by those who have a tinge of insanity within them.

Insanity is the mark of a genius, it just isn't always allowed to come to fruition. Dracula contains a myriad of insanity. We are presented with a patient who is considered to be mad, and we are also given regular men who are out to eradicate the vampire threat that is Dracula; questioning their own sanity in the matter. All things considered, Renfield and the men are very much alike. We have sane men questioning their sanity, and lunatics questioning their insanity. This shows just what a small amount of insanity can do to a person. The reader begins to question themselves in the matter of their own mental state. “ There is but an inch of difference between the cushioned chamber and the padded cell,” as Gilbert Keith Chesterton would say.

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