Dracula
by Bram Stoker
Table of Contents
Abraham Van Helsing
Van Helsing is Dracula’s principal antagonist, assertively leading his group of heroes on the quest to destroy the vampire and rescue mankind. He is set apart from the other men—all nearly indistinguishable from each other in terms of personality and core beliefs—by his ability to see the world with a wider lens. Van Helsing is not only, like Seward, a brilliant man of science, but is also intellectually open to the possibility of the extraordinary. Because of this, Van Helsing is able to diagnose Lucy’s illness when Seward cannot. Like the other men in the novel, Van Helsing is also chivalrous and gallant toward women, and places a strong value on friendship. This common set of values enables the protagonists to quickly bond together to fight evil. Without Van Helsing’s perspective on the supernatural, however, the mystery of Dracula would not have been solved. In this way, he brings aspects of the old world and the new world together, an essential combination in defeating the vampire.
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