Chapters II-IV

At the beginning of chapter II, Dracula is finally introduced. He is described to look a lot differently than I had expected him to. He has white hair. My mind said, "Where did that come from?" I always pictured him as a young, suave guy. Other than that, the pale skin, sharp teeth, widows peak, and stiff demeanor all seemed pretty characteristic.

One of the first things I noticed upon Harker's stay in the castle is the amount of attention and pampering he is given. If Dracula is just planning on killing him, why would he go to such lengths to make him comfortable. He is given meals that sound delectable and plentiful. Maybe Dracula is trying to 'fatten him up' and keep him extra healthy so that when he drinks his blood it is a more gratifying experience. That is the conclusion I came to.

A small personal detail I would like to point out: I want to be in Dracula's library! The one with the shelves and shelves of books and the maps and the countless books on London and England. It would make me ecstatic because I am infatuated with learning about England, not to mention my sheer love of books. Transport me into that library now please. It would be a dream come true.

I can add one check to the list of things about Dracula that do fit into my traditional image of him. The first true evidence that Harker finds that there is something creepy going on is that he never saw Dracula behind him in the mirror that he was shaving in. The mirror myth was 'true'.

Back to my aversion of the style of the book (journal entries): it makes me feel like I'm not getting the whole story. This proved true to me in that Jonathan's part of the story ends abruptly (although I don't know yet if he will later tell me), and I don't know how or if he even got out of the castle. If he didn't, I wouldn't know because he would be dead and unable to write a journal entry. If he did, I would be very curious as to know whether he ran into any obstacles or exactly what happened. We will see if these questions are answered for me later in the novel.