Chong Lim
English 104W
The Power of Dracula, Nature, and God in Dracula
Nature is considered the ultimate power and force on Earth, however Bram Stoker’s Dracula challenges this assumption. A supernatural being, Dracula is able to control Nature as storms leave him unharmed and he is able to shape shift at will. He even seems to possess the ability to control the minds and actions of animals and humans. Stoker chooses to portray Renfield as an enigma, a being who is caught between the powers and influences of two colliding worlds. The clash between the powers and ideals of the world molds and shapes what Renfield is and the decisions he makes. Direct characterization leads the reader to know that Renfield is a human with some clear issues with regards to his sanity as shown by his erratic changes in behavior and personality. However, it is the indirect characterizations that can be inferred from Dr. Seward’s interactions with Renfield when he is catching and keeping his pets that truly allows the reader to understand this man. The issue of power and control in this scene where he creates an artificial food web composed of flies, spiders, and sparrows do the conflict and hierarchy of power between Dracula, God, and Nature occurs where each force plays a role in the decisions and actions of the characters in the novel. If God or his followers are not proactive in repelling the powers of Dracula, then Dracula’s power reigns supreme over that of God and Nature resulting in the battle between that which is good and bad. Renfield’s interactions with his pets is a metaphor for the battle of power between God and Dracula, which in this case Dracula is the victor. Renfield shows the reader what his philosophy of power is by manipulating his pets similarly to how Dracula manipulates John and Lucy. Renfield creates an artificial food chain composed of sugar, flies, spiders, and sparrows wherein one source feeds upon the next. The transfer of life from one source to another alludes to a right that the higher one is on the food chain, the more power one has over everything below it. This is the first time in the novel where Power is explicitly outlined in a sequential way. What is interesting is Renfield’s food chain mimics Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’ where a food chain is created. However, the methodology that Renfield incorporates is disturbing and makes this food chain unnatural. It is one thing for the natural progression of life and death to occur in nature, but to create an artificial network where Renfield takes an active role playing God, or in this case Dracula, indicates that the true influencing power is not nature or God. Dracula’s power and influence stems from his active role in influencing characters in the novel, often due to being a concrete source of power unlike God and Nature who play a more passive or unbiased role. It grows more and more apparent that Renfield mimics characteristics of Dracula. Both Dracula and Renfield appear to exert a certain degree of pleasure and satisfaction when manipulating animals. Dracula possesses superhuman strength with the ability to do seemingly impossible things with his body. Renfield also possesses this attribute as shown by his multiple escapes. It appears that Nature limits Renfield’s capabilities resulting in a dimmed version of Dracula’s strength. Renfield also possesses the ability to attract animals to his cell, although his control and influence of them are nowhere near those of Dracula’s. Dracula possesses the ability to directly control sophisticated animals such as humans and wolves, while Renfield is limited to flies, spiders, and sparrows. These similarities are essential to understanding the impact of Dracula’s power because it shows the reader the extent of his influence. Renfield’s actions seem to constantly allude to Dracula’s actions later in the novel, and this scene where Renfield captures and feeds his pets foreshadows