In Bram Stoker's Dracula, the title character is omnipresent. For the novel's protagonists, the difficulty of escaping his power and ultimately defeating him is often overwhelming because he is always with them in some way, shape, or form. Throughout the novel, there are several demonstrations of Dracula's considerable physical, emotional, and mental control. Additionally, there are constant callbacks to Dracula, such as Mina's scar, which give him the opportunity to have an effect on his victims even when he's nowhere near it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First of all, Dracula possesses supernatural strength. According to Van Helsing, he has “the strength of twenty men” (Stoker 219), can change the weather at will, and also controls animals, especially wolves, rats, and bats. This power over animals is extensive, as demonstrated by the hordes of rats he sends to attack Lord Godalming, Morris, Harker, and Van Helsing (also known as the "Crew of Light") (Johnson 77). In contrast, Dracula's more complex powers are less recognizable than his ability to control weather and animals. These manipulative and chilling abilities are much more subtle and require the Crew of Light to invent new forms of protection. The strength of Dracula's more subtle supernatural powers lies in the fact that they cannot be easily contained or avoided. Stoker effectively portrays the invasive, disturbing, and overwhelming qualities of Dracula's presence by having Dracula's mist form play a crucial role in the novel (Johnson 76). The fog bothers Mina a lot, and it's understandable. He says, “I felt the same vague terror that had come to me before, the same sense of a presence” (Stoker 251). He describes his transformation, “as if he had come out of the fog, or rather as if the fog had transformed into his figure” (Stoker 251). The downside of the mist form is that Dracula can only use it at night. The fog form isn't the only one of Dracula's powers that daylight deactivates. Dracula is also unable to assume bat form in daylight. When he can use the power at night, he can travel much more discreetly and quickly. In his bat, mist, and dust forms, his movements are much less limited. Dracula is often associated with his bat form because his vampire and bat manifestations share some characteristics, including night vision, sharp teeth, flight, and bloodsucking. Van Helsing outlines many of the characteristics that make Dracula such a deadly creature: "He can see in the dark, no mean power, this, in a world that is half closed to the light... He came into the moonlight like elemental dust , as Jonathan once again saw those sisters in Dracula's castle... It may be a bat, as Madame Mina saw it in Whitby's window, and as friend John saw it so near home, and as my friend Quincy he saw it in Miss Lucy's window” (Stoker 211). Furthermore, Dracula's dust and fog forms allow him even greater flexibility in his mobility than his bat form, as evidenced by his entry into Lucy's sealed tomb, where he is able to “slide through a space a hair's breadth wide” (Stoker 211) The fact that in the form of dust or fog, Dracula can easily enter specially closed places, such as Lucy's grave and the bedroom of the children. Harker, increase his power and omnipresence. A closed door is supposed to invoke a sense of security, and when that security is violated, protagonists become even more uncomfortable. Tortureboth the characters and the captive audience never know when this monster might slip under a door or through a crack. Giving Dracula these abilities was genius of Stoker because it raised the stakes in the fight between Dracula and his victims. The protagonists can take all the defensive measures they want, but Dracula always manages to escape them. Perhaps even more deliberately diabolical than Dracula's tactics is his ability to manipulate the minds of his victims. Dracula takes full advantage of the plasticity of a fearful mind by using the power of suggestion and seeding ideas. In one of the book's most horrific scenes, Jonathan thinks he sees "the lights of the Earl's evil face... the terrible pallor" and Lord Godalming later says "I thought I saw a face, but it was only the shadows." " (Stoker 221). Dracula makes them believe they are being watched, so they get scared and stop looking for the last earthen coffin. His most obvious mental corruption is his control over Renfield, who Dracula uses as his lackey and spy, despite the considerable distance between them (McWhir 33). them because of the scar on Mina's forehead. Mina's red scar serves to perpetually remind all the characters of the immediacy of Dracula's threat. The scar is also the outward sign of Mina's internal conflict with Dracula ] in the mirror the red mark on my forehead, and [I know] that [I am] still impure" (Stoker 279), he says. Whenever Mina is present, her scar always infuriates men, as evidenced by what Doctor writes Seward in his diary, “…with the red scar on his forehead, of which he was conscious, and which we saw by gnashing our teeth, remembering whence and how it came” (Stoker 230). Likewise, the scar symbolizes Mina's alienation from Jonathan, Quincy, Van Helsing, and Doctor Seward. She constantly repeats that she is impure and hates not only being attacked by Dracula, but also being permanently scarred because of it. Physically, this scar causes Mina to resemble Dracula. All members of the "Crew of Light" know Dracula's scar: "We all recognized the Count in every way, even by the scar on his forehead... the red scar on his forehead where Jonathan had struck him" ( Stoker 247-251 ). The scar on Mina's forehead, along with her elongated and sharp teeth, pale skin and red lips shows that she is becoming more and more like Dracula, especially in that time when appearance was of utmost importance as a monster would have been truly terrifying for Stoker's readers (perhaps more so than actually becoming so). Since Mina is starting to resemble Dracula, it is a blatant reminder of Dracula's domineering omnipresence to those who are trying to defeat him. A reminder of Dracula's power is the destruction of all evidence of his evil. The journals are the primary documents that help guide the Light Crew and benefit them the most in their hunt. Dracula destroys them with a fire that burns until “all the manuscripts [. have] been burned, and the blue flames [are] flickering in the white ashes” (Stoker 249). Not only is fire how Dracula destroys evidence, but it is also how Stoker incorporates blue flames from the beginning of the book. When Harker travels to Castle Dracula, he sees blue flames in the countryside and is told that they indicate buried treasure. The blue flames that result from the burning manuscripts represent the treasure that the Light Crew has "unearthed", i.e. the information they are using to sweep. 2013.