Archaeology is one of those sciences that continues to push technology in advancing the science. Recently, some archaeologists and geologists have determined that early man used heat-treated tools much earlier than originally thought. Heat treating makes some stones better tools in that they will keep a sharp edge longer and they will become harder. The use of heat treating is considered a significant advance in the development of human technology. This news came out around the same time as the information about tool use by crows. It seems that crows have been observed figuring out complex problems to gain access to resources. To the Viscount that these two stories, are related in interesting ways. First, it is clear that all animals have the potential to be problem solvers. Second, it is clear that many animals use tools. We always seemed shocked when this happens, but there is more and more evidence that higher-order animals have the ability to use tools. Finally, it is clear that crows and humans have some brain functions that are similar. There is no doubt that humans have much more ability to problem solve and that humans have much more complex brains than crows. But the essence of sameness is fascinating.
The Viscount is approximately one-third through Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and he has some initial thoughts, although he hopes that he does not prejudice his readers against reading the book with his impressions which may be slightly indelicate and untrustworthy due to the fact that he has not finished the work completely.
After the last post in which Viscount X noted his completion of the book Dracula, he survived the evening without any significant disturbance from bats, wolves, or vampires. Nevertheless, before he leaves the topic of Dracula, he must put down some thoughts about the nature of the undead and the particular meaning of the undead during that particular time and place.
Much has been written about the metaphors in Dracula: the blood, the stakes, and the garlic. However, one wonders about the largest metaphor of all, Dracula himself. What did he symbolize during that era? He lives an existence that is somewhat solitary. He performs much of his own toilet and housekeeping, although he lives with several animal-like women he occasionally feeds small children. Thus, they are not especially helpful to him in the mundane tasks of dusting or general picking up. The castle is filthy and smelly. It is entirely unwholesome.
One is left with the feeling of great loneliness. He comes to England alone, he destroys many of the people he hypnotizes to help him, and he leaves behind the women with whom he has lived. One wonders why he even left Romania. Was it to make friends? This is one of the motivations that is lacking in detail in the book. The Viscount likes to think that he was tired of the frontier and the lack of sparkling society. He was surrounded by wilderness and relatively uneducated peasants. Like Jude the Obscure, he saw over the hills to the next town and he wanted more out of his life.
But what of his life? He could only be out of his coffin during evening hours. How frustrating it must be to have such little time for activity! By the time the Viscount would have prepared for the day and had his coffee, it would be time to think about returning to the tomb. This certainly must have added to his overall lack of good humor. In addition, it is difficult to imagine how Dracula would have had enough time to make his detailed last minute arrangements to leave England during the last crisis in his life given standard business hours of the time.
Somehow Dracula is an antique of sorts. His friends and family have long ago died and he remains a living memory in a scrubby corner of the world. Alone and relatively friendless, he is very much like Jude the Obscure in that he is destroyed by seeking to reach beyond his confines to the modern era. This brings forward the fact that this very romantic late-nineteenth century book is very much a modern book that speaks to the passing of so many things. The protagonists kill the living antique thereby destroying old ways and conventions. In doing so, they pave the way for modernity and scientism, for they refuse to make public the very papers that would demonstrate the reality of the supernatural.
In many ways, the Viscount thinks Dracula sets a starting point for understanding how scientism became the coat of arms of the 20th century. We see the protagonists' typewriters, phonographic recorders, cities, and the scientific method in stark contrast with the Count's castles, coffins, countryside, and capes. The protagonists kill the count thereby destroying the past and elevating modernity. But, in some ways, there is a sense of dread in the book. There are glimpses into how modernity could be damaged by the past through the corruption of Lucy and through the inability to cure mental illness. In this we learn that modernity is imperfect and we return to the ideals of love in the end. One of the protagonists, an American, dies for love, leaving the rest elevated in the remembrance of his chivalrous act.
The Viscount is moving on to Pride and Prejudice.
Viscount X is currently listening to the original Dracula novel on his I-Pod. It is full of blood, gore, and polite romantic manners. He approves completely.
