Haunted Book Club: Dracula Pt. 2 (Chapters 9 - 14)
Welcome back to Haunted Book Club! This is the second installment in our Dracula series, covering chapters 9 through 14. Check out my YouTube video for a more thorough plot description.
If things were looking bleak for Lucy at the end of the last section, they are WAY worse now. From her mysterious illness to multiple blood transfusions to her mom dying right in front of her, just for her to die shortly after, Lucy has had a rough go of it. And she doesn’t even get to rest in peace! Because Dracula was the one stealing her blood, she seems to have become a vampire herself.
It is only because of the detective work of Dr. Van Helsing (yes - THE Van Helsing) that this fact becomes known to Dr. Seward, who had been caring for Lucy while she was sick. Dr. Seward is a hard-core skeptic, adhering to the scientific method, so he doesn’t catch on to Lucy’s new state of being until Van Helsing basically spells it out for him.
Van Helsing, now known as perhaps the most famous vampire hunter in literature and pop culture, turns out to be an older, highly educated scientist from Amsterdam, not exactly the muscular, cross-bow-weilding warrior I had imagined. Despite having a career in the sciences, he recognizes that there are forces in this world that science cannot explain. Which is why he has garlic flowers on the ready to deter any vampiric visitors.
The dynamic between Lucy’s three suitors is slowly becoming more central. They are all eager to tend to her in her moment of need, and they all give their blood through transfusions ordered by Van Helsing. How ultimately romantic in a gothic sort of way?
Mina, unaware of Lucy’s fate, sends letters updating her friend on her marriage to Jonathan and how her new husband inherited the law firm from his late mentor. From Mina’s writing, we also learn that she and Jonathan had a Dracula sighting in London. It isn’t until Van Helsing writes to Mina that she learns of Lucy’s death.
From Van Helsing, Mina learns that Jonathan’s journal entries about his experiences with the Count in Transylvania are true, and this affirmation changes everything for Mina and Jonathan, who are now ready to help take on Dracula and end his reign of terror.
As I read these chapters, a few prominent themes stood out to me:
Bram Stoker seems to be using an old-fashioned trope of women as pure, virtuous, beautiful figures, and as victims. I am hoping that changes as they confront vampire Lucy and as Mina joins the anti-Dracula team. Let’s break that mould!
Throughout this section, there is tension between old knowledge and new knowledge. Dr. Seward represents science and logic-driven reasoning, and while Van Helsing is also a person of science, he recognizes that he needs to pull from other, more archaic or esoteric sources of knowledge to deal with the supernatural/paranormal.
Love and devotion (as particularly romantic features of this novel) are strong motivators, particularly for Arthur, Quincy, and Dr. Seward. Van Helsing recognizes this and even tries to use it to inspire them to action when needed. Interestingly, instead of creating tension between the friends, it seems to bring them even closer.
I have a few questions as I look forward to reading the next two sections of this book:
Is Van Helsing as pure-intentioned as he presents himself? He seems to be multiple steps ahead of the other characters and is strategic about what information he shares and when. How much is he not telling the others?
Since the blood of all the men except Jonathan is in Lucy, will she have special power over them as a vampire?
How hard is it to kill a vampire (or 2 in this case)?
Let me know your thoughts!
