Signs Of Being The Outsider In The Novel Dracula By Bram Stoker

Humber College

Literature Essay

Christina O’Doherty

HUMA 242 - 005

Professor: Mark Wadman

Christina O’Doherty

HUMA 242 - 005

Professor: Mark Wadman

Bram Stoker created an array of characters in his novel Dracula. I decided to examine Dracula himself because he is one of the most interesting characters of this novel. Dracula in my opinion show signs of being the outsider in this novel; the lone wolf per say in an ever changing world around him. In a conversation with Johnathon Harker, Dracula proclaims, “I long to go through the crowded streets of your mighty London, to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of humanity, to shave its life, its change, its deaths…” (Stoker). That sentence alone explains how much of an outsider

You see the clear divide between the good and the bad characters of the novel itself. Stoker makes you believe that Dracula may only be capable of negative emotion. The main character traits being hunger, hate, bitterness, and contempt. Being s vampire though Dracula has some unexplained abilities that puts him at predatory level compared to humans. He has the ability to hypnotize others, to influence the weather and change his own shape not to mention his immense physical strength. He is portrayed as a tall, thin old man, with red eyes and unusually sharp teeth. But this white haired man explained at the start of the story begins to appear to be getting younger the more human blood he consumes. But with becoming younger and a more approachable with his look and clothing choices he still seemed to on the outside looking in on the world around him. Dracula lives alone in a rural area in a castle; that may not be to appealing and welcoming to other guests. Why would anyone bother going there in the first place, it brings out that type of feeling that just says “stay away”. It is like when Dracula would travel to London and interact with different people he just never seemed to look quite right, he could never really blend in with human society. Dracula would often come across as if he felt superior to humanity and it was as if they were only there for

It gives him a type of sexual predator trait as if to show some evidence of the author’s suspicion and anxiety toward all forms if sexuality, especially those considered “perverse”. It’s taking Dracula’ s hunger for human blood and looking at it as a type of sexual hunger which in turn is where you get the sexual predator trait from. But in some form Dracula did love Mina and from the way it was written seemed to try and put less emphasis on the fact that humanity has this type of monstrous trait in within all of us. Stoker put a softer side to Dracula to make him seem more relatable, the fact of the story is one love stricken man trying to steal another love stricken man’s fiancé. Dracula himself seemed to just take many different forms or personalities as he needs to for a particular situation. Almost like a drifter that changes to his surroundings; and in some form a drifter can be considered an outsider and not usually very welcome into the social norm.

The outsider can be defined as a social cast out and what better created creature to be compared to that then a vampire. Dracula in this novel is the outsider, the drifter, the every changing character. The one character that never really fits into a category or into society, he is cursed to forever wonder alone in the world never knowing another humans touch; nor remember what it felt like to be loved by another person. Just that