Comparing Dracula and African America in DeKalb

Comparing Dracula and African America in DeKalb

In 1897, central European folk tales found a new twist as Bram Stoker’s Dracula became the best and the famous horror book enjoyed by many. Dracula was aged enough and had the penchant for transforming himself into clouds of the mist and bats. Just like many stories about the vampire, Dracula proved to be quite interesting to discuss than to be read in the books (Peirse 1948). Vampires in 1897, just like we experience today, created the current anxieties and fears, unlike the vampire of the 2000s who could only represent fears of conspiracy theories and corruption. The older turn of the ancient bloodsuckers led to the rising globalization witnessed in London, the risk of activities related to sex, and the increased technological presence. In preferably a quick version, Dracula left their native land Transylvania in Southern Europe to finally immigrate to England. He had the intention of feeding on the plentiful millions at the heart of London capital.

The literature of invasion or that relates mostly to the monster became ridiculous at the time. Many authors wrote the most sensational stories over the exciting creatures and the scary monsters all over the world (Shaw 18). The paper tends to discuss the shared themes between a novel about Dracula and the movie about the Politics of African American in DeKalb. It would look at their struggle and the transformations where items like foreignness, xenophobia, good and evil, racial discrimination, and harassment as depicted in the two areas. The problems faced in both the movie and the novel would then get compared to the issues facing the contemporary world.

Themes

Foreignness

One of the aspects making Dracula look scary apart from the sucking of blood became the fact that he stayed as a foreigner. Many thought that Dracula could be a kind of allegory over the collapse of imperialism in Britain (Peirse 1937). According to the novel, the immigration of Dracula to Britain represented an invasion. Over the past days of the Stoker, people wondered why Britain spent much time colonizing and oppressing other cultures. The idea rubbed many people all over the world the wrong way. Stoker boldly described Dracula in the book as a foreigner (Shaw 18). The theme of foreignness applies almost in the same manner in the book of African America in DeKalb, who struggled for political space and transformation for quite so long. They had unequal opportunities in education and were similarly segregated based on their color.

Technology and Modernization

The theme of technology and modernization appeared in the novel when Bram Stoker got obsessed with the then-new technology. He made the big point of having the characters in his book become up to date with the then-contemporary situations in the world. This he did by keeping them up to date with the communication gargets (Peirse 1941). Jack Seward, for instance, recorded his diaries in a phonograph. Every high-tech gadget, however, severely contrasted the ancient traditions and puzzles surrounding the Dracula.

The theme of modernization and technology comes out differently. The African Americans living in DeKalb struggled for so many years in the US to get equal opportunity and get recognized in the political system in America. The dream of Martin Luther King Jr came to pass as a result of modernization, where Americans defied all odds of racism to elect Barack Obama as the first African American President (Shaw 22). Due to the current technology upon the emergence of smartphones and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, human rights activists, have found it easier to report cases of mistreatment among black Americans. Any instance of Harassment would quickly get to social media sites, and the whole world sharply rebukes and call for the arrest and arraignment of culprits in the court of law. As a result, slavery, assault, and other kinds of mistreatment among the African-Americans significantly reduced.

Passivity

In the Dracula world, inaction may lead one into a huge problem. For instance, after getting bitten by the vampire, it was assumed that all would get fine (Peirse, 2017). Another example in the book is Jonathan, who ignored every single superstitious advice when he decided to move by speed to castle the Dracula. He ignored the opinion of the Dracula to maintain at the end of the castle and later fell asleep in a room only to face the attack from the Dracula Brides.

Mina only faced attack by the bloodthirsty Dracula because she agreed to remain at home rather than joining the vampire in their hunt mission. She could avoid the trouble by becoming active and failing to submit to Van Helsing, among other men. In the book, the African-Americans staying in the DeKalb, the theme of passivity, came out pretty clear (Shaw, 2017). It emerged that the majority of the African-Americans suffered in silence since they feared to report their oppressors due to intimidation of further trouble if they tried to seek justice. Some worked in the whites’ plantations for less payment and mistreatment due to the fear of torture and eventual murder in an event they reported the issues to the anti-slavery bodies in the US.

Conclusion

The novel discussed Dracula, who could effortlessly transform himself into bats and cloud of mists. The Vampires in the Dracula caused both fear and anxieties among the individuals. The turn of the old bloodsuckers resulted in globalization that happened in London. The theme of passivity, foreignness, and technology and modernization came out clearly in both the book and the movie, which talked about African Americans staying in DeKalb. The comparison of the themes took place in the essay.