Dracula Exposed In Bram Stoker's Dracula

The tumultuous times of today seem grim and completely unredeemable, however, similar situations may have occurred in the past that ended with a somewhat happily ever after. In times of the past, various vampires, whether through disease, famine, or other plights, popped out of the woodwork, wreaking havoc on society until they were driven back into the shadows. The Victorian Era even went as far as to personify its troubles with this trope of the vampire through Bram Stoker’s novel, “Dracula.” Similarly, now a figurative vampire in the form of immigration seems to seek entry into our society and haunt us with never-ending strife. Thus the people of our society must do what has been done before and put an end to this wave of uncontrolled, mass

There are a few political cartoonists who use the image of the vampire to illustrate their opposition as evil or bloodsuckers. One cartoon that stuck out to me was Michael P. Ramirez’s “Mis-Stakes”. In addition to having a clever pun as the title, Ramirez still judges the Republicans critically despite tending to lean right. The cartoon depicts a room full of fallen, suited elephants clutching wooden stakes, hammers, and crucifixes. In the middle of the room lies an open coffin with Obamacare written on it and in the coffin is a vampire version of the former president, Barack Obama. Although the cartoon was more directed at the unnatural longevity of Obamacare and the incompetence of the Republicans’ inability to end it, the representation of Obama as a vampire casts a rather dark shadow, suggesting that perhaps his other legacies may not be as good as many people perceive. One of these legacies in question is over immigration from Latin America to the United States, the reverse colonization that plagues us

In the novel, Dracula embodies the swarm of immigrants, since he is immortals and his “growth . . . covers potentially limitless generations. He is in effect his own species, or his own race” (Arata 640). Following the nature of the vampire, both Dracula and the immigrants slowly kill their host country by sucking the lifeblood out of it. While Dracula does this quite literally, the immigrants in our world are more of a figurative blood-sucker. Coming into their host country, the myriad of immigrants begin their invasion by latching on to the state’s welfare, feeding themselves off of the labor and effort of many others. As Bourbon and Kennedy put it, this action directly mirrors Dracula’s “midnight feast” on Lucy, her blood donors, and Mina. In addition to living off of the living, Dracula intended to make invade England in the most chaotic way possible. Despite getting his documents in order with Jonathan, Dracula still came into Whitby illegally via the Demeter, but not before murdering the entire crew and dramatically crashing the ship into Tate Hill Pier. While our immigrants are usually not that disruptive, they themselves may be enough to cause unrest because “in the short run, however, immigration and ethnic diversity tend to reduce social solidarity and social capital” (Putnam 137). These outsiders bring in their traditions and beliefs, many of which are harmless,