Merriam Webster Dictionary defines evil as “sinful” or “wicked” and defines good as “kind” or “right” (“evil”)(“good”).The contrast of evil versus good plays a large role in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. From Christian symbolism to Count Dracula the good against evil theme is very prominent. Bram Stoker was a sickly child and Stoker’s mother, a charity worker and writer, entertained Stoker with fantastic stories (“Dracula”). This is probably what Stoker used to create the theme of good and evil. The heroes proved they are good rather than evil through their selflessness.
The heroes’ selflessness proves they are good. This is shown throughout the entire book of Dracula. An example of their selflessness is “We, however, are not selfish, and we believe that God is with us through all this blackness, and these many dark hours…” (Stoker). When Van Helsing gives this line of the speech it makes reader realize, if they hadn’t already, that the heroes are selfless. It also shows that the faith of Christianity is perceived to them as selfless and is used throughout the novel. Another time Van Helsing shows us the selflessness of the heroes is when he says “We have self-devotion in a cause, and an end to achieve
…show more content…
We can see how the heroes signify good when they decide to risk their lives to save kill Dracula (Stoker). This shows self-sacrifice because they wanted to kill Dracula to save humanity. Dracula’s selfishness represents evil and is shown when Van Helsing says “…the very thing that the evil doer most reckoned on for his selfish good, turns out to be his chiefest harm” (Stoker). What Van Helsing means when he says this is Dracula tried to trick them into going to the wrong place so he could help himself, but, instead, gave the heroes the advantage. Evil is displayed using Count Dracula’s self-centeredness, good is exemplified in the self-sacrifice of the