Inside In Dracula

TO BELONG OR NOT TO BELONG

Throughout the gothic history, the vagueness between the “outside” and “inside” has existed for a long time, which is considered as one of the main features of gothic novels. According to this, the development of the differentiation between “outside” and “inside” has encountered two periods, using vampire gothic novels as examples. Firstly, in the novel Dracula, Count Dracula is defined as the “outside”, who yet reflects some human tendency and instinct. Secondly, using the novel Interview with the vampire as an example, the introspective vampires like Louis are considered as the “inside”, who symbolize modern consciousness however lacking in the “outside”. Ultimately the “outside” is transformed into the deeper inside

Taking the novel Interview with the vampire as an example, the narrator Louis is regarded as an introspective vampire, who differs a lot from Dracula in many ways. Throughout his life he seeks to find knowledge about God and Hell, wanting to figure out the value of existence without God in a faithless world. He tries to find redemption for himself but failed. Although the introspective vampires have formed their family, the companions are from inside rather than outside and thus virtually they are individuals. According to the senior vampire Armand’s description of Louis “you are the spirit, you are the heart . . . the very spirit of your age . . . Don’t you see that? Everyone else feels as you feel.” (Rice 224), introspective vampires like Louis represent the modern consciousness of the age. People with modern consciousness are able to “give a certain meaning to outside events and yet maintain distance from them” (Inoue 97) and are solitary individuals, however lacking in the outside like social adaptation, relationships, and development. The image of introspective vampires like Louis also voices the anxiety of the time. Contrary to the earlier times, where the basis of human existence mainly comes from the outside, or rather, the God and mythological world (Inoue 86), people in modern times tries to seek the value of existence by themselves. However, they are in a psychological dilemma, where they have difficulty addressing the conflicts between the self-command and the outside, which is regarded as the repressed or unacceptable part of modern consciousness (Inoue 87). To be specific, they not only perceive the otherness in themselves but also themselves in the otherness, which indicates both the anxiety and illuminating awareness of the time. In this way, the limitation and boundary between the “outside” and the “inside” has been broken thoroughly