How the use of the diary form narrative is beneficial to the novel Dracula.

Bram Stoker, being the creative and intellectual writer himself, wrote the novel

Dracula in the diary form of narrative.  This was a good choice of how to write the novel

since it was very beneficial to the plot of Dracula.  Examples of how the diary form is

beneficial to Dracula is seen in his writing and book.

        One of the greatest benefits of the diary narrative is that the reader is allowed

see, and feel the emotional hearts and souls of the emotional characters.  This is great

because when a character is not feeling too great and is trying hide something, the reader

knows this, and therefore the reader knows everything that is happening; nothing is being

hidden from the reader.  An example of this happening is when Mina is at the insane asylum

and is worried sick about something happening to Jonathan Harker.  Mina hides all that she

feels when Jonathan Harker is near her.  All that Mina is feeling is written by herself, and

what, how she is feeling is ready for a reader to examine because they are able to see her

diary.  If Mina's diary was not open to the reader, or if Someone was telling of what he or

she saw, the observation could be false and the reader would lose valuable information that

would be valuable to the whole plot of the book.

        Some things that can be noticed about the diary form is that different views of the

same thing can be expressed by many different people; all in first person view.  Then, along

with that, there are extensive and very detailed descriptions about a thing, or person that

is being described.  In the novel, this is seen as Jonathan Harker is traveling and he

describes almost everything, he does, eat, sees, etc.

        Another use of the diary form is that Bram Stoker can have people "talk to

themselves."  So if the person who is writing in his or her diary, that person can make

notes to him/herself writing "I must ask the Count about this."  So by "talking to him/her

own self" in this manner, he is writing it down and they do not in any way make it so that

they seem strange in front of public.

        The good thing about using the diary to write is that it can be used interchangeably

with periodicals and letters being written or read by a person.  In the same way as in a

diary, extensive descriptions and large emotional feelings can be expressed and felt by the

reader.  Also, during the usage of letters, two people conversing will and can be written

out in dialog form; because of this, the two people, while talking, will not have to switch

tenses after a couple of sentences.  When the newspaper form is used, the reader can see

what is happening and will be able to think for themselves and they will not have to have

the book, or someone in the book explain what they are reading to them.  So in other words,

if a newspaper is written in the book, the reader will have the freedom to think, derive,

and draw their own conclusions from the article being read.

When the diary form is used, many things can go on at once.  So one person can be

talking or writing about something, and then someone else can also be telling about what is

happening somewhere else.  An example is where Mina finishes writing a journal

entry and then all of a sudden, a new story of Dr. Van Helsing and his patient comes in

through a new start of a diary.

A great thing that is controlled wonderfully with the diary form is time.  Time,

which normally cannot be changed or moved around can be taken back through time for things

that need to happen when the diary form of narrative is used.  For instance, after Lucy had

written what was happening to her when her mother passed away, the story went back in time

for another important matter to take place.

        When, there are different people of different places, they can be identified by how

they act and how they talk.  If, Bram Stoker did not use the diary form narrative, this

would not be possible because if one person was telling the whole story, the reader would

see and hear what the person telling the story heard and wrote down.  So using, the diary,

Bram Stoker could make the reader "see" exactly how a person was talking and acting through

the written dialects.

In the novel Dracula, all the diaries, of all the individuals come together and in

the end, become one powerful, combination of descriptions, facts, that represents a group as

a whole and the reader can feel as if they are part of the group and read, and think along

with the characters.

        Another thing dealing with the diary form is quick referencing.  The reader, if

needed, can easily flip back through the book to look for something that he needs or wants.

        The diary form is great!  It lets a reader feel, and see how characters interpret

things themselves.  The form lets dialogues take place, it lets many people altogether tell

a story in first person, and it lets a reader be able to see densely detailed scenes through a

person that isn't being a fool talking to him or her self.  The diary form of narrative is

basically a form of writing that lets a huge possibility of good ways to write into a good book.