Count Vernacular

For those not familiar with the plot of Bram Stoker`s horror story, Dracula, it goes something like this. The blood sucking count has a captive, naive and incredible population to feed on; from Exeter to Whitby, no one is safe.  But he`s thwarted by a small group led by a crafty professor who uses shock tactics to expose the count for what he is.  By showing the result of the count`s plans, before they can be fully unleashed on an unsuspecting public, the professor rallies support.

Tactically the plan is faultless: exposing, creating alarm and then riding the wave of hostility you`ve created to defeat an enemy.  And morally, despite his slyness, the professor is surely right – blood is life, after all.  Once the initial criticism dies away and everyone realizes the necessity of the professor`s purpose, his plan comes to fruition, the count is defeated and the country settles back into normality.

I recently re-read the book while sitting at home, not wishing to venture out into the maelstrom of panic fuel buying which had taken over the country. It struck me that the professor is not quite what he seems: he`s too nice, too appreciative; he tries to be `all things to all men` and ends up coming across a bit smarmy, as they say around here.  In his efforts to beat the count, he exposes his own ruthlessness and despite all the claims of reason, he`s a bit of a count himself. But at least he stopped the vampires sinking their teeth into us, sucking the life`s blood from our veins and leaving us for dead – well, for now, anyway.