Monday, April 4, 2011

Final Dracula blog

In this section of Dracula we come to the end of the novel. Mina has been left alone by the Count and is able to be herself once again. After the gang comes back from a long day, Mina tells them to rest and while they do so, she studies the recent happenings and puts together a plan of where the Count is. The observations and assumptions she makes are very logical and seem the only hope to help guide to Dracula. They decide to split up into three groups: Jon Harker and Lord Godalming travel by steamboat through the river to try to catch the Count while he is on his ship; Mr. Morris and Dr. Seward travel on horseback along the river banks as to arrive at the Count's destination before he gets there; and Mina Harker and Van Helsing travel by train and horse and carriage to the Count's castle so that they may sterilize it and keep the Count out of his castle. As all three groups journey, they each encounter troubles along the way with little rest, terrible weather and small setbacks that are inconvenient. Mina and Van Helsing get to the castle at night and are visited by the same three vampiress' that preyed over Jonathan. Van Helsing keeps them safe by encircling themselves with pieces of the sacred wafer. While Mina is close to the Count's castle, she becomes very peculiar and isn't able to control herself in a normal state. The next day Van Helsing enters the castle, knocks down all the doors, kills all three vampiress', and places a sacred wafer in Dracula's tomb so that he may never enter it again. Arthur and Jon are taken as government officials aboard their steamboat and wave a Romanian flag so that they may inspect ships that they come by as they pursue the Count. Jack and Quincey ride tenaciously along the river and stop very seldom to rest the horses and themselves. After Van Helsings parade in the castle, he comes back to Mina who is still protected by the circle of the sacred wafer. They begin to hear the howling of wolves and start to head towards the river. As they approach the river down the hill, Van Helsing sees the Sgnazy and his men carrying Dracula's last tomb. From one side come Jack and Quincey to kill the Count. From another come Jon and Arthur. They have the Count surrounded, but time is running short as the sun begins to set. Through the thick snow, they trap the Sgnazy and his men and Jonathan and Quincey go after the Count in his tomb. They pry open the lid, slit the Count's throat and stab his heart. The Count turns to dust and the Sgnazy and his men run for their lives. In the process of killing the Count, Quincey was stabbed and wounded badly. After a short time, Quincey passed on and died. In a note 7 years later, we learn that mina is all better and has had a child with Jon who has qualities similar to Quincey. Both Dr. Seward and Arthur aare married and it is a happy ending.

I really liked the book and though the ending was short, I enjoyed. This section was very action pack and was easy to finish reading. I thought it was funny how they outsmarted the Count with his childbrain, and also how the American is the only one from the gang who died in the end. I'm glad I'm done with Dracula, I learned a ton!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Dracula blog 8

This section begins with Dr. Seward giving an account of that happened in Renfield's chamber. They found the patient unconcsious and lying on the ground. His back was broken and he had a major fracture to the skull. The guards said that it all had happened at once and that they could only hear one voice, that of his. They weren't sure how Renfield had managed to break his back at the same time inside of the chamber; it was nearly impossible. Van Helsing acted fast and underwent an operation above Renfield's ear to save him. He was eager to find out what happened to Renfield and needed him to be alive in order to know. After the quick operation Renfield awoke as if he had just had an awful dream. After a while Renfield realized that it was not a dream and that it was all so real. The Count showed up at the window in the msit and was invited in by Renfield. The he began to promise Renfield lives of many rats, dogs and cats as well. As he was promising these things rats flew out of his house next to the asylum, fulfilling his promise and making Renfield believ. At that moment The count came in and attacked Renfield. Renfield put a fight that didn't last long. Renfield told the others that the Count had been preying on Mina and that he could smell it in the blood on the Count and by the paleness in Mina's face. After sharing his account, the gang quickly ran to Mina's room and found in the room Jon athan Harker, Mina, and the Count himself. As the Count saw them break in the room, he began to attack them. Before he could get to them, Van Helsing had out his sacred wafer and his crucifix. Immediately the Count drew back quickly. As he did so, the rest of the gang held out their crucifix's and approached the Count as well. The Count left the room immediately and the gang attended to Mina. When they were able to wake Jonathan and Mina, Mina told her account of what had happened. She said that the Count sucked her blood, then opened his shirt, cut a wound into his chest and forced Mina to drink the blood from the wound. At that time the gang broke in and they knew the rest. The gang planned out what to do next and finally decided that they must start to take action and sterilize the boxes earth in the Count's houses. Before they left, Van Helsing wanted to do bless Mina by place the wafer on her body in the sign of the cross in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. As soon as the wafer touched Mina's fore head it burned into her flesh and she let our a scream. After this they began with the house next to the asylum and opened each box one by one. Inside they placed a portion of the wafer and then sealed it up and left each box as it was before they intruded. They then planned to break into the house at Piccadilly by hiring a locksmith during the day and entering the house as if it were theirs. They succeeded in the task, but when they got inside, they found only 8 boxes instead of 9, meaning that the Count had already moved another box. They sterilized the 8 boxes inside the house, and on a table found they keys and legal papers to all of the other houses that the Count owned. They then left the house and Quincey and Arthur went to examine the other houses, while Jonathan and Van Helsing wait for tem at the asylum.

I think that Mina is gone for. She is definitely a Vampire now and I don't believe that she will survive the change. It's going to be sad when the gang has to kill her. during one of the passages I think that Jonathan mentioned that if she has to become a vampire, she will not go alone. This makes me wonder if he will try to become a vampire if she does fully change. The book is getting much easier to read because it is much more interesting.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Dracula Blog 7

This section begins inside of Dr. Seward's home, where Dr. Van Helsing, Lord Godalming, Mr. Morris and the Harkers stay so that they work together to hunt down Dracula. The house is connected to the asylum and is next door to Dracula's house. Mina gets the chance to visit Renfield in the asylum with Dr. Seward and Renfield behaves in a way that he has never behaved in the asylum before. He acts a true englishman in the presence of Mina and speaks with great knowledge and philosophy. Throughout this section he is met by the rest of Dr. Sewrad's guests and acts with the same saneness. On one occasion he is very impatient when he wants to be sent home, even if he is accompanied by attendants and kept in a straight jacket. He is set on leaving the asylum at once, as if his life depends on it, but Dr. Seward will not allow it. Renfield warns Dr. Seward that he will regret it and that he has done all he can to warn him of what will happen in the near future. The gang meets and makes a sort of covenant that they are all in with killing Dracula, even if it means jeopardizing their souls. They decide that it will be best for Mina to stay out the vampire hunting business and be kept ou of the loop of what is going on. Though disappointed, Mina obeys their command. The gang breaks into Dracula's home in the early morning. They find 29 of the 50 coffins that were delivered to the Count from his home in Transylvania. They are equipped in the house with a silver crucifix, a necklace of garlic, a revolver, a knife, a small electric lamp and a sacred wafer to protect them from anything that may cause them harm, including Dracula himself. After learning about the boxes, they decide that the best way to get rid of Dracula is to destroy all of his coffins on the same day between sunrise and sunset. The coffins are spreadout all over London, so this will be a difficult task. While the gang goes throughout the night to accomplish various tasks, Mina is met by mist that has two fiery eyes. Every morning when she awakes she feels extremely tired just like Lucy did before she died and turned into a vampire. She is quite neglected by the gang because they are so concentrated on the case at hand. Renfield talks much with Dr. Seward and gets very anxious and overwhelmedat the thought of souls, not only of humans, byt spiders, flies, and even elephants. Dr. Seward starts to believe that Renfield hasdirect dorrespondance with Dracula and is being used by him. He also thinks that Renfield is searching human life. The section ends with Renfield having an accident of some sort in his chamber.

Things are starting to get a lot more interesting. I think that it is a terrible idea for Mina not be a part of the gang and help with the awful case at hand. She is very smart and does brings so much to the team. I also think it is a bad idea for her to be left by herself throughout the day and night. I think that she has been losing blood every night. I can't belive how oblivious the gang is to this. Renfield is becoming much more interesting and I wish he would tell more about what is happening between him and dracula.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Dracula blog 6

This section opens with Van Helsing doing everything he can to convince Dr. Seward that Lucy is the cause of the Hampstead horror. Dr. Seward just won't believe it. After much arguing, Van Helsing finallly descides to take Dr. Seward to the grave one night. They stay late after a funeral and open her grave. They then open the coffin and no one is there! they go back home and on the way they find a child in the forest alone. They return him to the city and leave him where he will be found by police. The next day they come back to the coffin. This time during daylihgt, they find Lucy inside looking very beautiful with long fangs and red lips. Dr, Seward can't believe it. Van Helsing says that they need to get Arthur and Qunicey on their side as they may be of use later on and that it will be hard to convince them. They do the same steps as last time but now with Arthur and Quincey tagging along. Once they find out, Arthur andQuincey are shocked! Van Helsing walks Jonathan through some steps and has his him drive a stake through Lucy's heart. Lucy's begins to seize until the stake is driven all the way through her heart. Arthur and Quincey then leave and Van Helsing chops off Lucy's head and fills her mouth with Garlic. Lucy starts to finally look like a dead human now and not a sleeping beast. They all go back home to get rest. Van Helsing gives his copies off Mina's diary and Jon's journal to Dr. Seward. Everyone who reads Jon's journal is in awe of his courage and bravery. Mina comes to visit Van Helsing and Dr. Seward at his home. She is then told of what happened with Lucy and is shocked. The section ends with Mina comforting Arthur and Quincey, as only a woman can do.

This section was very long and drawn out. It was cool to see how the dealt with Lucy and how to kill a vampire. I'm sure that there will be more of this later on in the book. I can't wait to see how they plan on killing the Count. I don't like that Mina is around all of these guys by herself. I think that they will become very attracted to her and i don't know how that will go with Jonathan. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Dracula blog 5

Lucy's funeral has happened, and Lucy still looks alive even though she is dead. Everyone seems to think so, including the undertaker and Arthur. Van helsing says a weird comment to Dr. seward. He says that the night after the funeral that the are to come back and cut out Lucy's heart, burn it, and chop off her head. This never happens though. Van Helsing was able to collect Lucy's memorandum and her diary, as well as some other paperwork. Arthur comes to see Lucy before she is barried to say one final goodbye, and finds her looking more alive than ever, seeming just a sleep. regardless she is dead and he kisses her goodbye. Jonathan and Mina are walking in the park one evening when they run into a man that resembles the Count. He is staring at a beautiful woman. Jonathan has a relapse and Lucy hasno idea what to do. She then takes Jonathan back home because his brain fever has come back. she outs him to bed and begins to read his journal that was kept during his stay in Transylvania because she believes it will help her to keep him well. She is shocked at what she reads and feels so bad for what Jonathan had to go through. She is skeptical, but thinks that it could all be true. She then gets a telegram from Van Helsing saying that he is coming to visit her to inquire about Miss Lucy. When he arrives at their house, Van Helsing is alone with Mina. They talk of Lucy and her journal. Mina gets to read it. SHe gives a typed copy of her journal as well as Jonathan's journal to Van Helsing and he confirms that everything inside of Jonathan's journal is true. Mina then tells Jonathan and he is relieved of his brain fever. It was the doubt of what he had been through that made him so sick, but now that he knows it was reality he can live certainly. The Hampstead Horror is realeased in an article in the newspaper. A 'Poofer Lady" has been taking kids at night who are alone in the park and leading them away into the forest. She then sucks their blood and the kids do not return home until the morning. Dr. Seward and Van Helsing read the article and Van Helsing tells Dr. Seward that he knows who the Poofer Lady is: Lucy!

A lot happened in this section and it was an easy read because of it. These people would get so much more done if they would stop keeping everything they know to themselves and share it with everyone around them. Once the journals and diaries were made known, things started to happen and the truth was found. Dr. Seward still needs to tell Van Helsing about Renfield. I really like Mina, I think she is very smart and nice. I'm glad that Jonathan has come to his senses and is able to be himself again.

Dracula blog 4

In this section much is done to save Lucy's life. When Van Helsing comes to visit her a second time, he finds that she is even plaer than before, much weaker, and breathing even heavier. Van Helsing conducts a blood transfusion between her and her fiance Arthur. Although it weakens Arthur, it brings life to Lucy. Then again one day they find Lucy weakened and at a short of blood. They conduct a transfusion between Dr. Seward and Lucy. This happens twice more, and Quincey Morris and Van Helsing are the ones who give their blood. Arthur doesn't know of the other blood transfusions and believes that giving his blood to Lucy feels like they have become one now and that it was like a marriage. We learn that Quincey and Dr. Seward's feelings for Lucy are still alive inside of them and that is tough for them to conceal.them. Mina continues to write to Lucy and we learn from their letters that her marriage with Jonathan is going great. Mr. Hawkins becomes much closer with Jon and Mina and invites them to stay at their house. After a short while he notifyies them that he has put everything that belongs to him under their name on his wil. He himself has no children and has no both Jon and Mina since their birth and says that they're the closest children he knows. Mr. Hawkins soon dies as if he knew it was coming when he put it in the will. Now Jon and Mina, the newly weds, are well off. Jon has taken over Mr. Hawkins job, they have his house, and a fortune of money. One night When Van Helsing and Dr. Seward are away, Lucy is visited at night by her mother. They sleep in Lucy's bed together, but are awakened by by a big bat outside the window and many dogs howling outside the house. Lucy left a letter of what occurred that night in her breast. In the morning when Dr. Seward and Van Helsing came to the house, they found Lucy very weak. This was the last of her. The two punctures on her neck had seemed to disappear and she was dead. Later Arthur comes to visit and notices that Lucy seems to look alive still, even though she is quite dead. It is very weird. Van Helsing stops Arthur from giving a kiss goodbye to Lucy until she passes out. SHe has grew long white fangs just like the Count's.

This section was very long and drawn out with all of the blood transfusions and the sae things happening over and over. I think tha Lucy is definitely a Vampire and that she is slowly making the change. I am very happy for the Harker's and all that is going on in their lives. They deserve it. This section built up a lot of anticipation and I think that a lot will happen in the next reading.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Dracula blog 3

Chapter 7 opens with an article from the Dailygraph. The article tells of a storm that ship dared to set sail in except for one that was guided into Robin Hood's Bay by a man who was dead. His hands were tied to the steering wheel by a necklace that helda crucifix. Once the ship landed however, a dog ran off deck and into town, but was never to be found. The ship was Russian and was carrying 50 crates of earth. A couple of days after its docking a bottle was found with a record of what happened on the ship that was written by the captain. It told of how men one by one went missing during the night while on patrol. Finally, the second to last man jumped off before "He" could get him. He jumped into the sea so that he could be saved.
Mina Murray writes in her journal that she has been staying with Lucy and at night Lucy has been sleepwalking. Lucy's mother has been very sick lately and needs Mina to make sure that Lucy doesn't sleepwalk on cliffs or roofs. One night Lucy gets out in her night gown and Mina is in a search to find her. After looking all over the house, she finds Lucy on a parkbench, their favorite spot. Something dark stood over Lucy and then disappeared into the darkness. When Mina got to Lucy, she was still asleep and breathing, but very heavily. Lucy awoke the next day to tell Mina to keep the happenings of the night before a secret between the two of the,. Mina now made sure that all of the doors and windows in their room were locked at night so that Lucy would not be able to get out. Lucy continues to have trouble sleeping at night on and off, with many visits from a bat flapping its wings at the window. Mina misses Jonathan terribly and hasstill no word from him. Mina finds on Lucy's neck two sharp wounds that she believes have come from a safety pin, but after many days, the wound still looks fresh and has not healed. Lucy finally talks to Mina about the night that she was found on the park bench and explains it in depth. Mina Finally gets news of Jonathan, that he has a brain fever and is a hospital. He has been to sick to write, but Mina is to visit him at once. Renfield begins to act very strange and stops his fly trapping and spider catching. he becomes furious during the day and calm at night. One night he even escapes and acts vioulently towards Dr. Seward. But after the attendants get him he goes quietly back to the asylum. He is now kept in the padded room. Lucy begins to keep a diary following what Mina does. As a favor to Holmwood, Dr. Sweard looks after Lucy and her condition. Dr. Seward sees something in her and consults Dr. Van Helsing from Amsterdam to come and inspect Lucy. Van Helsing comes and goes with much interest in Lucy's state. At the end of the section, Lucy seems to be doing awful and Dr. Seward telegrams Van Helsing to come from Amsterdam at once.

The story has become so much more interesting. There are so many characters now that are starting to experience many strange things. I believe that it all has to do with the arrival of Dracula ad that he has shaken things up in England. I think that Lucy is being tempted by Dracula and will be hunted until she is killed. It's almost like she wants the terrible things that happening to her when she is sleepwalking. I am glad that Mina is married now and finally reaping the benefits of being such a good and kind person. The same goes for Jonathan.