DECONSTRUCTION OF DRACULA BY BRAM STOKER EDITED BY JOHN PAUL RIQUELME Essay

DECONSTRUCTION OF DRACULA BY BRAM STOKER EDITED BY JOHN PAUL RIQUELME - Essay Example These ideas are exposed to greatest effect when using the critical perspective of deconstruction in an attempt to see the story from another character’s perspective. As these concepts are difficult to define or explain, literature provides examples and analogies that bridge gaps in understanding as well as pose new questions to be answered. It also helps us to understand how these ideas were being formed and reinforced within the society in which these texts were written. Bram Stoker’s story of Dracula is very popular and has been depicted in numerous films and other materials for years. It is therefore difficult to come to the book without any pre-conceived ideas about the plot. However, reading the book is vastly different from simply watching the movie and provides the opportunity to see the story as it really is – a collection of writings that may have been as much fiction as the novel itself. The book begins with the journal entries of Jonathan Harker, a British lawyer traveling through Transylvania in order to complete a deal for his employer with Count Dracula who resides deep within the Carpathian Mountains. Within this journal, Dracula is portrayed as a man charming enough to set his guest at ease despite a shrieking instinct and misgivings founded on village rumors. He is described as ‘courtly’, ‘charming’ and ‘courteous’ even as he provides his guest with a warm and comfortable luxury suite in which to stay (Stoker, 1897: Ch. 2). He has ruddy red lips that give him an â€Å"unexpected air of vitality† (Ch. 2), but his breath is horrendous, making Harker feel ill. Harker also comments upon Dracula’s extremely pale complexion, the unusually pointy teeth that protrude over his bottom lip and the icy cold touch of his hands, which have, incidentally, been manicured to provide him with very pointy fingernails. His jou rnal is so detailed because it

Discussion about a theme in the book history of love Essay

Discussion about a theme in the book history of love - Essay Example ity of one’s life is defined and experienced through connection and validation and it is the need for these things that drive this novel’s characters in a story of existence. As the story of Leo Gursky begins we see a man who is ever in search of ways to validate his existence. He plays roles within society that are created to fulfill his need to be seen by others. Sometimes that role is that of a cranky old man who must insinuate his anger thus making himself unforgettable to clerks, waiters, and strangers on the street, and other times he plays the role of a fool, spilling and bumbling in order to achieve a One can define Leo by the concepts examined and created by the Austrian psychiatrist Dr. Sigmund Freud concerning the id, the ego, and the superego. Freud â€Å"portrayed humankind as only incompletely evolved, as torn by a fundamental rift between bestial motives and civilized conduct and demeanor, between an animal nature and cultural aspirations.† (Mitchell) Freud divided the self into three aspects, the id, the ego, and the superego. While the id represents the childish, willful wants of the unconscious mind, the ego is the conscious mind that keeps those desires from experiencing greater consequences than the identity would wish. The superego represents the unconscious adult mind that inhibits one from indulging fantasies, desires and impulses that can harm the needs of the ego. â€Å"The ego disguises the appearance of the id’s impulses, thereby both preventing social censure and keeping the impulses under careful regulation.† (Mitchell, p. 25) With his ac tions, however, Gursky seems to be led by the id which is described as â€Å"based on our pleasure principle. In a healthy person, according to Freud, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation.† (Hefner) In Gursky, the superego is diminishing as he is dealing with the