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Good and evil in literature
Good and evil in literature
Good versus evil in literature
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For various decades’, raconteurs used a simple concept of good conquering bad to structure their stories. This topic is frequently utilized because it relates to several different aspects of authentic life. All religions address this opposition; despite of any cultural beliefs. This theme of good surmounting evil is evident in various varieties of art forms. Today’s society desires a fairy tale ending in movies instead of a dramatic ending. In addition to movies, many musicians enthrall the idea of the dark side against the world of good, and compose pieces incorporating the struggle between the two. Similar with writers, no matter what genre they are writing they all lean towards this struggle. This theme is reluctant in today’s movies, books, music, and in this case, a classic gothic novel. In the book Dracula, Abraham Stoker portrays the topic that true evil can never defeat pure good through the antithesis of light and dark, the characterization of Dracula and Lucy, and with Christian allegories.
Stoker uses psychological and visual reckoning of light and dark; which establishes a perpetual mêlée amongst pure and evil. In Count Dracula’s mansion Jonathan Harker writes that “he has suffered from the night [and] how sweet and dear to his heart and eye the morning…..” is to him (Stoker 52). The daytime consist of pure neutral happenings; in contrast to night time there are mystifying paranormal events materializing. From the unnatural events at night Jonathan is petrified and prefers the morning. That is to say that wickedness is the strength that bedlam utilizes towards jurisdiction, and the moral is the compel that enlightens. The readers can surmise that in the commencement of the tome, “…the day and night system...
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...strength of evil is, the crucifix or any symbol can guard you. This can lead to good will always defeat evil at the end.
Stoker ends the book with the protagonist defeating the antagonist, with the use of strength, knowledge and mechanisms. This ending depicts the author’s ideal theme that good ultimately overpowers evil, through the antithesis of light and obscurity, the qualities of Lucy and Dracula, and most importantly, with Christian symbols. Today’s society prefer not to watch or read upsetting stories, they do not have time for a sorrowful ending. This is why this subject is so common because it has and happy ending and it also correlates to different perspective of life, making it a universal topic. The topic is similar to art work, music, films, dance and other books where the ending always stays the same, making the noble characters win at the end.
Anyone who has ever seen one of the several adaptations of Dracula as a movie will know that it was intended to be a horror story. Stoker goes to great lengths in order to create an atmosphere of terror and villainy, while hinting at exciting things to come. Straight from the beginning of the book, foreshadowing is utilized to hint at horrifying future events. As Jonathan Harker was about to depart for Castle Dracula, an old lady accosted him and said, "It is the eve of St. George's Day. Do you not know that to-night when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway?" (Stoker, 4). However Harker leaves anyway, despite the warning. Thus the reader is fully aware that something awful is going to happen to him. This quote makes one's mind think of possible future events, thus creating imagery. Every writer aspires to create good imagery, and Bram Stoker is particularly good at doing so.
he is leaving is the night when "all the evil things in the world will
Throughout many types of literature, violence exists to enhance the reader’s interest in order to add a sense of excitement or conflict to a novel. This statement withholds much truthfulness due to the fact that without violence in a piece of literature such as Dracula by Bram Stoker, the plot would not have the same impact if it were lacking violence. So to holds true to that of the movie. The movie bares different characteristics then that of the book. First off, the whole ordeal with the wolf escaping and jumping into Lucy’s, room and Lucy’s mom having a heart attacked is never even mention in the movie. Second, The night when the four men go to Lucy’s grave and find it empty is stated both in the book and in the movie however what unfolds after this is different. Finally, the end of the book differs severely from what Francis Ford Copolas rendition and that of the Bram Stoker see it to be. The differences are as follows…
This fictional character was soon to be famous, and modified for years to come into movie characters or even into cereal commercials. But the original will never be forgotten: a story of a group of friends all with the same mission, to destroy Dracula. The Count has scared many people, from critics to mere children, but if one reads between the lines, Stoker’s true message can be revealed. His personal experiences and the time period in which he lived, influenced him to write Dracula in which he communicated the universal truth that good always prevails over evil. Religion was a big part of people’s lives back in Stoker’s time.
What if in between good and evil did not exist? Where would you stand? Today, it is believed that everyone was born with the slightest bit of evil in them. In the Victorian Era, this theory would be considered very wrong, because one would either be all good, or all evil. In Dracula, by Bram Stoker, good versus evil was symbolised throughout the book as two antithetical forces without an in between. By clearly demonstrating the relationship between the dualistic ideas of intuition versus logic, good characters facing figures comparable to the devil, and symbolism within the natural world, Bram Stoker effectively recounts a “holy war” between the antagonistic forces of good and evil.
The late nineteenth century Irish novelist, Bram Stoker is most famous for creating Dracula, one of the most popular and well-known vampire stories ever written. Dracula is a gothic, “horror novel about a vampire named Count Dracula who is looking to move from his native country of Transylvania to England” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Unbeknownst of Dracula’s plans, Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, traveled to Castle Dracula to help the count with his plans and talk to him about all his options. At first Jonathan was surprised by the Count’s knowledge, politeness, and overall hospitality. However, the longer Jonathan remained in the castle the more uneasy and suspicious he became as he began to realize just how strange and different Dracula was. As the story unfolded, Jonathan realized he is not just a guest, but a prisoner as well. The horror in the novel not only focuses on the “vampiric nature” (Soyokaze), but also on the fear and threat of female sexual expression and aggression in such a conservative Victorian society.
While literature often follows some pattern and can be predictable, it is often evolving and can change in an instant depending on the author. In most Gothic literature, a derivative of Romanticism, there is a gothic space in the work – a limited space in which anything can happen in contrast to the normal world in the work. In addition, normally, order is restored at the end of Gothic literature – the good is rewarded and the bad is punished. In his Gothic novella, The Terrible Vengeance (1981), Nicolai Gogol decided to expand the ‘normal’ idea of Gothic literature by, in the work, transforming the traditional Gothic space to encompass anything and everything; in addition to the use of space, through the ending in which there is no reward, Gogol conveyed the idea that evil is prevalent everywhere and in everyone.
It can be argued that the theme of light VS darkness is used to good
In Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, Stoker’s use of inverted gender roles allows readers to grasp the sense of obscureness throughout, eventually leading to the reader’s realization that these characters are rather similar to the “monster” which they call Dracula. Despite being in the Victorian era, Stoker’s use of sexuality in the novel contributes to the reasoning of obscureness going against the Victorian morals and values. Throughout the novel the stereotypical roles of the Victorian man and woman are inverted to draw attention to the similarities between Dracula and the characters. Vague to a majority of readers, Bram Stoker uses Dracula as a negative connotation on society being that the values of the Victorian culture are inverted amongst the sexes of characters, thus pointing out the similarities of the characters and the so called “monster” which they call Dracula.
While studying the diabolical figures in the devil, the idea of presenting Dracula came to mind. Dracula represents the devil in many similar ways. Dracula remains as a character in many diabolical movies and films. For instance, Van Helsing provides a good interpret of how Dracula remains noticed in the past and in present day. Although Dracula’s character obtains different views in every movie and film, he plays an important role in Stephen Sommers Van Helsing movie. In the movie, he acts as many different things. Demonstrating both the kind and evil inside, Dracula portrays his character as a mystery. Different views of Dracula throughout the movie include harsh, strong, powerful, evil, the devil, and unstoppable. The studies of Dracula
In the novel, Dracula, Bram Stoker puts together a variety of characters with several characteristics that are unique and somewhat alike in many ways. One way that some of the characters are similar is that they show signs of being a degenerate. A degenerate is a person who has sunk below a former or normal condition and lost normal or higher qualities. These people most likely have mentally and sometimes physically become deteriorated to the point where they no longer can think and function as a normal person would. Two characters in the novel that stand out as degenerates are Dracula and Renfield. Both are degenerates in their own ways and also have characteristics that are in some ways the same. They follow most of the traits that degenerates contain and portray it throughout the novel.
While the character of Renfield is ostensively extraneous to the central plot of Dracula, he fulfils an important role in Stoker’s exploration of the central themes of the novel. This paper will examine how Renfield character is intertwined with the three central themes of invasion, blood and otherness. Firstly, through Renfield’s inner struggle we learn that he is ‘not his own master’ (Stoker, 211). The theme of invasion is revealed by the controlling and occupying powers of Count Dracula. Secondly, the recurring theme ‘the Blood is the Life’ (Stoker, 121), is portrayed throughout the novel and has been interpreted through Stoker’s character Renfield. Then finally, a look at the social construction of the ‘other’ in Dracula and how, through Renfield, who is ‘unlike the normal lunatic’ (Stoker, 52), the Count emerges as the ‘other’ of all ‘others’.
Imagine the late 1800’s, walking alone on a dark and eerie street. Not a single human soul in sight. As you walk further and further into the unknown you gradually get a chill running, screaming down your spine. You know you shouldn’t be here or anywhere even remotely close to where you are right now. But the pure fear of what might come drives you onward further and further until you reach the large, stronghold like, gothic, Castle Dracula. However nowadays people visit the castle on a daily basis. For it’s a renowned landmark as it is the birth place of Bram Stokers’ monster, Count Dracula. This castle is the home to Count Dracula and is also one of the most important scenes in the whole novel (“Dracula” 26) The famous novel Dracula needed
This essay will demonstrate how the interactions between human and vampire in the novel represent a heroic struggle between a person and their personal unconscious. Carl Jung states “He must be convinced that he throws a very long shadow before he is willing to withdraw his emotionally-toned projections from their object.” (Jung 7). This sentence best describes the state of Jonathan Harker when he first goes to confront Dracula. Dracula is a projection of Jonathan’s shadow and gains power over him because of Jonathan’s ignorance of his own unconscious mind.
In Dracula by Briam Stoker, Dracula himself challenges the idea on sanity and insanity throughout the book. The use of hypnosis and sleep deprivation can be the cause of many incidents that occur during the story. Dracula is one of the most inhumane characters in throughout the book but cause the human characters to experience a loss of sanity. “God preserve my sanity, for to this I am reduced.’(Stoker, 60) this quote was said by Jonathan Harker towards the beginning of the book. Harker has already come in contact with Dracula and is observing the different character traits that the townspeople pointed out to him before his arrival. I think that this quote could set the tone for the rest of the story. Hacker is praying to God for his sanity, because without it the balance between what can be considered good and evil becomes blurred.