"Dracula" Text and Analysis #2

Passage #2

Analysis of passage #2

"The minutes during which we waited passed with fearful slowness. I had a horrible sinking in my heart, and from Van Helsing's face I gathered that he felt some fear or apprehension as to what was to come. I dreaded the words that Renfield might speak. I was positively afraid to think; but the conviction of what was coming was on me, as I have read of men who have heard the death-watch. The poor man's breathing came in uncertain gasps. Each instant he seemed as though he would open his eyes and speak; but then would follow a prolonged stertorous breath, and he would relapse into a more fixed insensibility. Inured as I was to sick beds and death, this suspense grew upon me. I could almost hear the beating of my own heart; and the blood surging through me temples sounded like blows from a hammer. The silence finally became agonizing. I looked at my companions, one after another, and saw from their flushed faces and damp brows that they were enduring equal torture. There was a nervous suspense over us all, as though overhead some dread bell would peal out powerfully when we should least expect it. At last there came a time when it was evident that the patient was sinking fast; he might die at any moment. I looked up at the Professor and caught his eyes fixed on mine…" (Dracula 295)

The meaning or purpose of this passage in the book was to show the intensity of the moment when Renfield was facing death on the operation table, and the fear that surround those who were watching. Bram Stroker communicates these uneasy feelings, moods, and tones throughout this passage using "Texture". He uses great descriptive words and phrases such as, "suspense", "agonizing" and " blood surging through me temples sounded like blows from a hammer" to set the tone for the rest of the passage and chapter. His many different examples of imagery and similes allow the reader to feel and sympathize with the people in the book, phrases like " prolonged stertorous breath" and " The poor man's breathing came in uncertain gasps" made the readers feel the same way as the two doctors in the room unsure and at certainly uneasy and nervous to what Reninfields future held. His textured writing also communicated the imagery in the scene as well, such as when the two men looked up at each other and had fixed eyes, you as the reader can imagine to men hearts racing staring at each other intensely.