Bram Stoker's Dracula-Foreshadowing
Later on in the novel Dracula the author uses foreshadowing to help the reader anticipate what is about to happen. 
In the book the author describes the sea in great detail to show this. Fog, rain, storms, vicious waves and wind are just some examples of pathetic fallacy that are used to anticipate that an absolutely dreadful event is about to occur. "The waves rose in growing fury, each over topping its fellow, till in a very few minutes the lately glassy sea was like a roaring and devouring monster." (103) Upon nature's warning, a ship crashes into the Whitby's harbor. At this event my worst fears are realized even though the book is not explicit in its telling of this event. Dracula has in some form come to Whitby. At the crash site there is a dog who escapes from this ship and is barking uncontrollably. This got me thinking about the significance of why is there a dog barking. Is it that the dog can sense that something horrible is happening? At first glance I think that Dracula himself is the dog after all it came from the mysterious ship. I thought that he must have transformed himself into a dog. I was very naive in thinking this. Dracula was not himself the dog but the dog was warning of his presence and the terrible events that were about to unfold.
In the book the author describes the sea in great detail to show this. Fog, rain, storms, vicious waves and wind are just some examples of pathetic fallacy that are used to anticipate that an absolutely dreadful event is about to occur. "The waves rose in growing fury, each over topping its fellow, till in a very few minutes the lately glassy sea was like a roaring and devouring monster." (103) Upon nature's warning, a ship crashes into the Whitby's harbor. At this event my worst fears are realized even though the book is not explicit in its telling of this event. Dracula has in some form come to Whitby. At the crash site there is a dog who escapes from this ship and is barking uncontrollably. This got me thinking about the significance of why is there a dog barking. Is it that the dog can sense that something horrible is happening? At first glance I think that Dracula himself is the dog after all it came from the mysterious ship. I thought that he must have transformed himself into a dog. I was very naive in thinking this. Dracula was not himself the dog but the dog was warning of his presence and the terrible events that were about to unfold. In my opinion this pathetic fallacy and foreshadowing is very well done. It plays on people's beliefs that dogs have a sixth sense and are able to sense evil. This foreshadowing makes me want to see if there are any real life cases of an animal being able to do this sort of thing or if it is all fiction. Sure enough this is exactly what I found. I was able to find entire books on exactly this sort of thing. Take for example an article on Discovery News called "Do Animals have a Sixth Sense About Earthquakes?" In this article it proves that animals, specifically dogs appear to have some sort of way of sensing that something bad is about to happen. This is much like in the novel where the dog knows something bad is going to happen. This proves that this is not only pathetic fallacy but an actual fact and a potential realistic event.
This gets me thinking if the author uses such a blunt use of foreshadowing what other foreshadowing occurs in Dracula. One that really stands out in my mind is in the very beginning when Harker is given a crucifix by the locals. This serves as a symbol that something so terrible is in his destiny and he will need such a thing. Also by the need of such a christian symbol it shows that there is about to be an anti-christian figure that will appear. Both these things are the very essence of Dracula. From here I looked directly at what happens next and right under my nose is yet another example. Foreshadowing the events that are about to unravel, Harker experiences a rough carriage ride and mysterious blue lights that are seen along the way. At the time of reading I didn't think anything of this, I just thought that it is a little strange. It is not until I read the following chapters that I understand that these are all warning signs of the terrible events that are about to happen. Later on in the novel there is an event that I would not today classify as foreshadowing, as for me with all my prior knowledge it is really obvious what is going on, but a person in the 19th century this is not as obvious. What is this event? Two pin pricks of wounds on Lucy's neck! "I was sorry to notice that my clumsiness with the safety-pin hurt her." (124) For me I find this so obvious what is going on I am angered by the characters being so naive, but for someone back then this is not the case. They have not heard many, many stories about a person being bitten on the neck by a vampire. They only know what the book tells them. This event is a precursor to Lucy becoming undead, all of the havoc that is about to happen, and most of all Dracula arriving!
Sometimes we have to look back at details to determine if they are in fact hints (planters or pointers) and it isn't until an event happens often that we recognize the foreshadowing that has been created by the author.
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