“ The Horla ,” Dracula ’ s Older French Cousin
of a solicitor ’ s clerk sent out to explain the purchase of a London estate to a foreigner ? Solicitor ’ s clerk ! Mina would not like that . Solicitor�for just before leaving London I got word that my examination was successful ; and I am now a full-blown solicitor ! ( 21 )
Jonathan Harker ’ s conceptions of life and love appear rather bourgeois and dull , very much like his excitement at having passed the examination to become a real solicitor , which correspond perfectly to the pragmatic rather than emotional tone of his journal ’ s initial entries .
The atmosphere of the Carpathian mountains and the general appearance of Dracula ’ s castle do belong among the most recognizable paradigms of gothic literature , however , not only are they presented from the point of view of a very ordinary individual , they are also quickly left behind , as the narration moves to more recognizable surrounding , such as London and its vicinity , where most of the action takes place : what makes Dracula an authoritative narration does not reside in its gothic elements but in the constant confrontation it presents between an acceptable reality and the supernatural .
We find as well our share of gothic elements in “ The Horla ,” although it is not usually considered a gothic tale , such as the visit of the protagonist to the Mont-Saint-Michel , which describes the site ’ s tormented gothic architecture and relates a strange conversation with a monk who expresses our inability to see all that surrounds us in rather mysterious if not mystical terms . However , just as it happens in Dracula , where the narration has to move away from Transylvania to a more familiar environment in order to preserve its fantastic dimension , this visit to the Mont-Saint-Michel occurs early in the
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