“Desperate Thoughts” is the chapter where Harker begins to believe that he will not live any more. He is now determined to fight the evil “Count Dracula”. Stoker’s Gothic Conventions pulls Harker into believing that if he kills the Count that he will be saved and be can go home and be safe from any more evil. Harker attempts to kill the count, but when the Counts “Burning eyes” awaken, Stoker creates both enemies. Harkers Journal is competed. At the beginning of Harker’s journal, in which he records his adventures in the Carpathians.
This is important, because his journal is an important clue in finally determining what exactly is happening. His fianci?? e, and later wife, after coming out of shock to have a “Hasty Marriage”, Mina transcribes the journal, and then shows it to Dr. Van Helsing, a noted physician, attorney, philosopher, and metaphysicist. Through the journal, Van Helsing is able to determine what exactly happened to Lucy, Minas’ best friend and an attractive, young woman.
She is loved by Arthur, Quincey, and John and becomes engaged to Arthur. Lucy, who sleep-walked to the local church, and into the church yard. Here Stoker describes a “long and black, bending over the half-reclining” and a “white figure” who is Lucy. Then a sensitive atmosphere in which new creatures and figures are emerged to which evil is over powering the weak, in this case the damsel in distress, Lucy, Who was “kissed”.
During the second to last chapter “The UnDead” Mina, Van Helsing, Quincy, Dr Seward and Morris are on the merge of finding the “Vampire”, a word used, by Dr Ven Helsing, in the Tomb of Lucy’s Family. Stoker uses the darkness of the night and the bright moonlight to create a mystic frightening atmosphere used to portray evil and the presents of evil. When “the coffin” was found “empty” readers where dazzled by either the strangeness or fearful gist that that fears that Lucy is awoken. Stoker creates the ‘final Showdown’ against good and evil.
After the return of Harker and Count Dracula, who has been forced to transported back to Transylvania by Gypsy’s he has hired and the earth of his land to keep him at bay. Stoker uses the earth as Dracula’s way of keeping alive, with out it, he is even less powerful, as is, without being in his own land, he is vulnerable. Stoker makes all the characters come together and fight there way to get to Dracula before he is reunited with his land. An adventure and heroic scene has been contrived, for an obvious ‘save of the day’. Mina is well when the Count is annihilate.
Stokers use of Gothic conventions have created frightening, heroic, dramatic and above all strange and new characters in his novel to creates exciting atmospheres of life defying situations where all of the world, friends and family are at stake. Gothic settings, Church yards, far away Castles, Family Tombs, also create suitable atmospheres in which new dramatic and exploited characters are designed to thrill the reader into carrying on to read of Bram Stokers Novel. Gothic Literature has been used to create a spooky, mystifying settings, atmospheres and suspense in the literature to enhance interest in Gothic books.
