"Dracula" Text and anlysis #1

 

Passage # 1

Analysis of passage #1

"When I went into the dining-room, breakfast was prepared: but I could not find the count anywhere. So I breakfasted alone. It is strange that as yet I have not seen the Count eat or drink. He must be a very peculiar man! After breakfast I did a little exploring in the castle. I went out in the stairs and found a room looking towards the south. The view was magnificent, and from where I stood there was every opportunity of seeing it. The castle is on the very edge of a terrible precipice. A stone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything! As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree tops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm. Here and there are sliver threads where the rivers wind In deep gorges through the forests. But I am not in heart to describe beauty, for when I had seen the view I explored further ; doors, doors, doors, everywhere, and all locked and bolted. In no place save from the windows in the castle walls is there an available exit. The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!" (Dracula 31)

The meaning or the purpose for adding this passage into the novel was to not only show and describe how Lucy felt about the Castle but also to give the readers a visually idea of how it looks and feels. The author Bram Stroker does by creating "texture" within his novel, by using careful word choice and literary devices he allows the readers to see what Lucy sees and feel what she feels. A good example of that would be when Lucy was exploring, " …doors, doors, doors, everywhere, and all locked and bolted. In no place save from the windows in the castle walls is there an available exit…" The repetition of the word "doors" clues the reader into assuming she is looking at countless doors and having no such luck. " The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!" Lucy says, this line is another prime example of how he uses texture to create meaning throughout. By comparing the castle to a prison the reader knows that she doesn’t want to be there and that she feels trapped and alone inside the grand castle. In conclusion his carefully selected word choice (diction) and various amounts of other literary devices such as similes, metaphors, imagery, and repetition all allows him the ability to communicate the purpose of his writing to his readers, allowing them to get a strong