These chapters include some of the more traditional treatments for handling or warding off the presence of vampires. Van Helsing, who is the only one knowledgeable about demonology and in particular about vampire lore, sends for garlic and hangs Lucy's entire room, especially the windows, with it; then he makes a wreath of garlic to drape around Lucy's neck, and he also places a crucifix around her neck. The garlic and the crucifix are two traditional agents that have become associated with the devices that can be used to ward off vampires.
In these chapters, it is clear that evil spirits can accomplish their aims in devious sorts of ways, as attested to by sixteenth-century legends concerning Faust. For example, even though Lucy is locked in her room and protected from the vampire by the profusion of garlic, the evil spirit of the Un-Dead is able to summon a wolf from his cage in a zoo, have him smash in a window, and thereby enable the vampire to enter the room. The smashing of the window and the wolf's horrible and terrifying attempt to enter the room cause Lucy's mother to panic and to rip the garlic away from Lucy's throat, leaving Lucy vulnerable to attack. The evil presence of the vampire manages to "materialize" inside Lucy's room, where it drugs the four household maids, thus preventing their aiding Lucy.
It is interesting to note that at this point, while we have been using the term "vampire" off-handedly, Quincey Morris's discussion of the vampire bat is the first time that the term "vampire" has actually been used in the novel. Stoker is careful to point out, or to detail, the lengthening of Lucy's canine teeth so that they resemble the archetypical vampire teeth, the teeth that the vampire uses to suck blood from its victim.
As a sidenote, it is interesting to consider that within a week we have witnessed the deaths of four people intimately associated with either Lucy or Mina: Lucy's mother, Mr. Hawkins (Jonathan's employer), and Arthur's father (Lord Godalming) have died (thus causing Arthur Holmwood to inherit the title), and, of course, Lucy herself has died.
Early in Chapter 11, when Van Helsing finds out that Lucy's mother took the garlic out of Lucy's room, Van Helsing, for the first time in his life, breaks down, loses his composure, and sobs bitterly. This is a dramatic device, used to indicate the magnitude of the evil which he is facing.
In this novel and other similar stories, Van Helsing represents those powers for good combating the powers of evil which are so dimly known and which so few people believe; thus, the deaths and Van Helsing's dejected state illustrate how completely the evil of Dracula has affected society.
As we will discover, Lucy is, in fact, the Bloofer Lady. Recall that she died on September 20th, and the first appearance of the Bloofer Lady occurred after Lucy's burial on the 22nd; thus, Lucy has risen from the dead after three days--in a dreadful perversion of the Christian Resurrection.
