Draco vs. Van the man

Van Helsing would totally kick Drac's ass.
Ummmmmm well we looked at how they contrast each other, and also how they are reflected in each other. Because, really, they aren't total opposites. They're all one big happy family really.

Firstly, their contrasts. Dracula is seen to be evil: 'the evil smile as quickly passed into a cold stare'. And Van Helsing opposes this in his goodness: 'Van Hesling would, I know, do anything for me'. Also the Count puts on a facade of friendliness: 'Nay, Sir, you are my guest.' Whereas, Van Helsing's good will is real: 'all embracing sympathy', 'with such an infinate geniality'. In actual character they are each other's antithesis.
However, in their portrayal they are actually quite similar. They are both defined by their actions more than their words, as gothic heroes often are. For example Dracula never actually tells us he's a vampo, but Jonathan Harker sees him climb down the wall of the castle, and Mina sees a man we assume to Dracula bend over Lucy, presumably drinking her blood. Van Helsing is often shown to us through his actions for other characters. He performs all the operations for Lucy, even giving her his own blood, and the other characters come to see him, as we do, as a selfless man. They are both also foreign to the other characters as well as the contempory reader, though that comes to mean different things for the two characters. Their use of archaic language highlights their difference to the other characters. They are both intellectual and quick minded, and certainly both determined.

So we see that it is not just that their contrasts define Dracula and Van Helsing as antagonists, but their similar portrayals are what lead us to make comparisons between the two.

You're welcome x

Lucy is sooo gonna die now

So...a few lessons ago we looked at chapter 11 and thought about the ways in which the beginning foreshadows Lucy's death.

Lucy herself writes things in her diary which relate to death for example she wishes it upon herself when she cannot sleep, comparing herself to Ophelia who, obviously kills herself: 'hoping for sleep, and lying like Ophelia in the play'. That's a bit stupid to be honest...to wish for death when you're already ill, like tempting fate right?
Also, Lucy's mother's action of removing the garlic from Lucy makes it clear to us she will have become worse overnight. The mother thinks she has helped Lucy which is sad because the dramatic irony for us is knowing it probably killed her.
Another presage of Lucy's death is the breakdown of Van Helsing: 'Then, for the first time in my life, I saw Van Helsing break down.' His composure throughout the book showed him to be a strong character, so to see him lose it now implies there is no hope for Lucy.
The repetition used in the writing seems to suggest hopelessness too: 'Again the operation; again the narcotic; again some return of colour to the ashy cheeks, and the regular breathing of healthy sleep.' This seems to be repeating something that they know hasn't worked in the past, and it is really just prolonging the inevitable.

Gutted for Lucy.