Thursday, May 19, 2011
Chapters 14-17
Post your own observations, questions, and remarks about Chapters 14-17. When you respond to this posting, DO NOT simply repeat the thoughts of your classmates. You can add something new to a previous comment. You can comment or critique a previous posting, but your main goal is to add something new to the discussion. Remember, try to include direct quotes as much as possible!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
On page 232, where Lucy says "Come to me, Arthur. Leave these others and come to me. My arms are hungry for you. Come, and we can rest together. Come, my husband, come!" Even though Arthur knows she is a vampire, his love for her overpowers the need to stay away from her. He wants to be with her, but he can't. It is really sad that he can't be with her since he loves her so much. But it is for the best that he stays away from her.
At the beginning of chapter 15, after Dr. Seward's outburst questioning whether or not Van Helsing is mad or not; Van Helsing says, "Madness were easy to bear compared with truth like this." Dr. Seward trust Van Helsing and knows he speaks only the truth, yet hearing that a recently deceased, loved one is not dead anymore, can take a toll on someone. But when hearing something like that, would make one question whether or not the person is sane for saying something like that. Anyone would be more convinced that the person is insane for thinking such an obscene thought as to the one Van Hesling just said.
Hmmm, do you think Lucy and Arthur are really in "love"? Does Arthur really "love" her?
Chapter 16 left me in shock; from the revelation of Lucy being such a monster to Arthur being the one to drive the stake through her heart. There were a few spots in this chapter that caught
my attention. On page 226, Dr. Seward says this in his journal, "At that moment the remnant of my love passed into hate and loathing; had she then to be killed, I could have done it with savage delight. This line adds to my shock because in the previous chapters, he wouldn't have felt this way about Lucy. Before seeing her nature at the tomb, he couldn't imagine that Lucy, a then seemingly innocent, young woman was responsible for the suffering of some children. But after seeing this horrendous scene, he feels nothing but disgust towards her. Also, on page 227, Van Helsing asks Arthur "Answer me, oh my friend! Am I to proceed in my work?" To which Arthur replies "Do as you will, friend; do as you will. There can be no horror like this ever any more!" In a way, this surprises me because Arthur is her "love" but he doesn't show it because if one loves a person, he wouldn't have replied in such a manner.
I believe that just because Arthur was the one to drive the stake into Lucy's heart, doesn't mean he didn't love her. I believe that it was because of his love that he wanted to be the one to remove the evil from her soul. On page 207 of chapter 16, Van Helsing says "So that, my friend, it will be a blessed hand for her that shall strike the blow that sets her free." Everyone sees Arthur as the one fit to do it. When he is finished, he knows that the evil has gone. He is able to look at Lucy and see the woman he fell in love with, not the monster they had seen the night before.
Post a Comment