Dracula: Pages 66-75
Vocab
Expostulate: to make a friendly protest, to reason or argue with a person
"He has at present such a quality that I have had myself to expostulate." (Seward pg. 72)
Chapter 6 - Mina Murray's Journal
Mina met an elder gentleman, who says he's about 100 years old. They are speaking to each other in a graveyard. We're not sure exactly why he's there. Our guesses are that he's visiting his friends grave or he might be the grave keeper. He talks with a weird accent. What I'm wondering is why is Mina in the graveyard in the first place? The core of what the old man is saying is that all the tombstones are lying. Nobody can be 100% perfect, and that only the good things are written on tombstones. He also stated that all the people buried in the graves are going to be judged on the Day of Judgement. This whole conversation taking place in the graveyard is reminding everyone of Hamlet. Being in the graveyard and the fact that someone has commited suicide to piss of his mother. Even though nobody knows the truth because suicide is still a sin during this time. What's the connection between the graveyard scene and Dracula? Mina also hasn't heard from Jonathan in over a month and that's freaking her out. It's the first of August when all this happens. When Mina gets home there is still no news from Jonathan.
Dr. Sewards Diary
Dr. Seward goes to visit Renfield, and notices that he's raising flies. A few days pass and Dr. Seward tells him that he needs to get rid of all the flies in the room. As the days go on the flies bring in spiders, and the spiders brought in sparrows, and then he asked for a kitten. (Oh yeah... On one of these days he ate a fly in front of Dr. Seward.) Later in July Sewards goes to visit Renfield early one morning and noticed all the sparrows were gone, and that there were feathers on the ground and a drop of blood on his pillow. Seward is starting to realize that Renfield is only eating the lives of animals.
Food Chain in Renfield's Room
Fly->Spider->Sparrow->(He wanted a cat to eat the sparrow)->Renfield
Renfield has been labeled as a zoophagus, meaning the absorption of lives. This name was given to him by Dr. Seward.
