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Blood. I stared across the room, leaning forward in my desk, completely missing the teacher’s journal assignment, as Cheryl Browner, the only junior in the class, one year older than me, pulled a Band-aid from her purse and stuck it to the paper cut on the top of her finger. How I longed to stand up, walk across the room, kneel just next to her, pull off the bandage, and…
No! This was wrong! I snapped my gaze away from Cheryl and looked around. I was in English class, fourth period, and everyone had just finished writing. Mr. Edgars was waiting for someone to start the journal discussion. Damn it! I thought. Oh, well. I’d just ask Jake what the journal was after class.
The rest of the class consisted of Mr. Edgars, easily the funniest, coolest, and most-loved teacher in the school, cracking jokes about Lexi Slice’s newest hair style. This week she had dyed it blond with black streaks, swept it down over one eye, spiked the back and top, and colored the spikes red. After that the class passed slowly, it being a reading day. But I couldn’t concentrate on my book, even though it was, by far, the best book I’d ever read. My mind was working overtime, trying to think of a way, any way, that I could deal with the Thirst, at least long enough to find a donor.
Though I had long ago come to terms with the fact that I, Steven Rowlands, seemingly ordinary high-school sophomore, was a vampire, I still couldn’t believe myself. I had almost made the biggest mistake of my life. I had been just one second away from leaving my seat, walking over to the far corner of the room, and drinking Cheryl’s blood, right there in the middle of English class. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Not only would the social stigma of such an act be enough to guarante...
... middle of paper ...
... thought she would.
Instead, she nodded. “Yeah, I guess there’s nothing else to do…” So we went, holding hands as always.
When we got there, we scoped out an empty aisle and sat, my arm around her shoulders, her leaning against my shoulder. We had been dating for almost a month now and hadn’t yet kissed, though I wanted that more than I longed for a human donor. I thought she wanted it too, but I was reluctant. I didn’t want to chase her away by moving to quickly. But today was the day. I could feel it.
But before I could make the move, she scared me by asking me the worst question you could ask me.
“Steven, I'm curious... Do you believe in... In vampires?”
I had no idea what to say to that. I mean, there was no way she could have figured out what I was, and she'd never been one to believe in anything paranormal... So something weird was definitely going on.
Stevenson, John Allen. A Vampire in the Mirror: The Sexuality of Dracula. 2nd ed. Vol. 103. N.p.: Modern Language Association, 1988. JSTOR. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .
After analyzing The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth is the ideal vampiric figure, supporting Thomas Foster’s perspective about vampirism from his book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor. In fact, Roger Chillingworth, presents many instances of how vampires might act and appear in literature. Even though he is not a literal vampire, it does not
Throughout many types of literature, violence exists to enhance the readers 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 was lacking violence. Dracula's power and evilness led to the violent happenings which began with the conflict of Jonathan's inner struggle, as compared to the conflict which blossomed later on with good versus evil.
In one of William Shakespeare’s most renowned and celebrated plays, the story of a General named Othello unravels in tragic form as he falls victim to the lies created by Iago. Once revered as a war hero and wed to the beautiful Desdemona, Othello’s life spirals downward with the untimely death of his beloved in his own hands, ultimately ending with his own demise. Love is the force behind this tragedy. Tragedy is the main driving force that brings happiness and tragedy to the characters within the play. But even as such a prominent force, it lacks clear definition. Love has a different meaning to the characters in the play. Characters like Othello, Desdemona, and Iago all have different perspectives on love, which informs their behavior in different ways.
The patient was more beautiful than she realized. If only she could see it for herself. The color from her dainty face had drained to a sickened green tint and her eyes widened in fear. The walls of the clinic exam room were ordained in calming colors, but offered the young woman no comfort. She continued to blink rapidly as if she would awaken from the nightmare; her long eyelashes could not fan the health worker’s words away. She thought it was harmless, just a night of fun. It made her feel valuable and attractive. Yet being desired now left her alone, crumpling to the floor screaming between sobs and desperately reaching to the empty air around her. She couldn’t grasp any security. Not only did that harmless night of fun result in her becoming
Vampires have long been an icon that challenges the idea of ‘myth’ while also being a perfect example of the term itself. Long before Bram Stokers Dracula, there was Carmella, the lesbian vampire. Before this there were the ancient Greek tales of the Lamia, who are best described by Lawson "....the chief characteristics of the Lamiae, apart from their thirst for blood, are their uncleanliness, their gluttony, and their stupidity" (LAWSON) that would suck the life essence of children. The difference with the vampire, however, is that while other monstrosities of literature and entertainment are considered mostly a natural evil, that is, in and of themselves capable of harm to general human interest, vampires are a commentary of relationships through a sort of
In Twilight, Edward Cullen presents the question; “ But what if I’m not the hero? What if I’m the bad guy?” The role of vampires is very controversial. Back in the day they were evil, soulless monsters and people genuinely feared them. However, in the present day it seems that we have grown to love them and even hope to one day be them. There are a plethora of vampire stories and many of them have become immense hits. With so many vampire stories, it is not uncommon that readers are able to identify a vast amount of similarities. Although similar in aspects, there are still many differences between the classic and modern day vampires. Two highly popular stories, in which we can easily identify similarities and differences, are Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.
At first glance, Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," the hour-long TV series which premiered in 1997 and is now in its third season, bears little resemblance to the book which started the vampire craze -- Bram Stoker's Dracula, published a century earlier. And yet, looks can be deceiving. Although the trendy -- and often skimpy -- clothing and bandied about pop-culture references of "Buffy" clearly mark the series as a product of a far different culture than that of the Victorian England of Dracula, the underlying tensions of the two texts are far similar than one might think. Beneath the surface differences in the treatment of their heroines, the two texts converge in similarly problematic anxieties about gender and sexuality.
Storey Amanda, Strieter Carrie et. Al, (2005), Richard Trenton Chase “Dracula Killer”, “The Vampire of Sacramento”, Department of Psychology, Radford University. (1-6)
When the word vampire is said it evokes Hollywood images of handsome men and beautiful women, seductive creatures with fangs that lure in their prey with their hypnotic stare along with their good looks, wit and charm. Once the prey is seduced the vampire goes straight for the throat, biting down and draining their blood and ultimately their life. More recently the images may be of the sexy Vampire who is trying to pass as human in some high school setting that is amazingly fast, and strong, yet trying to be sensitive. Some sparkle in the sun and others must avoid it altogether, while still others wear some enchanted ring or jewelry in order to walk in sunlight. Oh yes, and let’s not forget their ability to go on living forever because one of the most incredible qualities is a vampire’s immortality, unless they have a wood or silver stake driven through their heart, or end up decapitated and burned, which would swiftly end there immortal rain. Whichever version of vampire you envision will depend on the most recent book, movie, or television series you are intrigued by. These images are the glorified Hollywood images that are spoon fed to us daily, but these are not the true definitions or characteristics of a real vampire. As much as most people believe that the image of the vampire was spawned from the story of Dracula written by Bram Stoker that is certainly not the case, the story of the vampire started thousands of years ago and span the globe, and continue to engross society today. Every culture has their own story and origination point and these stories have spawned a growing fascination with vampires. It is important to look back and see where it all began in order to uncover the truth of real vampires today.
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’.
The author’s op-ed piece was published in 2009, the very peak of the vampire contagion, where one could find these creatures wherever they looked. This pandemonium that arose from vampires is what drove del Toro and Hogan to pen “Why Vampires Never Die.” Furthermore, the purpose behind this essay is to give an abridged description of the past of vampires for the people who had become fanatics of the creatures. Also, this essay showed how vampires have persisted in pop culture. They suggest that vampires have been remade by diverse cultures at different times, and this change echoes that society's angst and concerns. The novelist’s imply that Stroker’s Dracula may mirror an exaggerated human on a prim...
Fangs, dead, blood, and bats. Those are some things that come to peoples minds when they think about vampires. In Webster’s International Dictionary vampires are defined as “a bloodsucking ghost or reanimated body of a dead person, believed to come from the grave and wander about by night sucking the blood of persons asleep…” Whatever people think of vampires, they are not really what they are believed to be.