Blood as a Family Tie

There is no question that Bram Stoker's Dracula mentions blood a fair many times. What is in question is how he uses the word throughout the story. The most clear uses of the word are in reference to death and life, for the Count's victims and the Count respectively. However, Stoker uses the word in so many ways that there are numerous other ways that he uses the word. One of the other uses are in reference to family and family ties

One such reference can be found in Chapter 21. Mina is being attacked by the Count, and when he is finally driven away from her, she begins to speak of the encounter.

"Then he spoke to me mockingly, '...and you...are now like me, flesh of me flesh, blood of me blood, kin of my kin, ..., and shall be later on my companion and helper.' "

A more obscure reference to familial ties in Dracula is in the scene before the actual death of Lucy. Doctor Seward writes about it saying, "With a careless motion, she flung to the ground, callous as a devil,the child that up to now she had clutched strenuously to her breast..."

Again no mention of blood is made, but her action was something that seemed strangely intimate. Isn't it the action of a mother to hold a small child up to their chest, as in comfort, or maybe to feed if the child is young enough? It is the embrace of a mother to a child, yet it is bastardized, since Lucy was the one feeding on the child, on his blood. IN that way, blood is once again a tie to family reference.

In this speech, the Count refers to Mina as his kin, after he forces her to ingest some of her blood while he is drinking hers. This turns her into a half-vampire of sorts, and a way for the Count to spy on his enemies while he is not there. Because of this, Mina is prey to the traps that any vampire is vulnerable to, such as the Holy Wafer.

Another mention of family ties in the final chapter of the book, again dealing with Mina. Van Helsing writes about the encounter.

"They smiled ever at poor Madame Mina...and pointed to her, and said in these so sweet tingling tones that Johnathan said were of the intolerable sweetness of the water-glasses:-
" Come sister. Come to us. Come! Come!" "

While no actual mention of blood is made, the three brides of Dracula recognized that she was, at least partly, one of them, by the blood of the Count flowing through her veins. In this way, the family was tied through the blood of the Count, making this a reference to family ties by way of blood.

Blood is an essential part of Stoker's novel. It binds many of the parts of the book together, and is intrinsic to the continues survival of the Count. It is impossible for the story to be told without mentioning the many ways that blood is used on this story.