Comparing Good vs. Evil in Sherlock Holmes and Dracula Essay -- compar

Good vs. Evil in Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula It is all too often that literary critics read literature and then sift it into good and bad pieces, critiquing its value or mediocrity. However, it needs to be pointed out that this onerous task of "analyzing literature" for literary devices need not be the basis for placing value and worth on literature. Additionally, it is a great misunderstanding in society's education system that students need to learn what makes a good book solely by its use of literary devices. It's about time students read books for recreation and be able to express in their own words why the books are great or not so great. Most importantly, the lessons each book teaches students must be learned individually. People cannot be told what the book is trying to communicate, they must learn it for themselves. This is what makes books noteworthy, and this is why Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula by Loren D. Estleman is an extraordinary book. It is a book people can enjoy for entertainment motives rather than for its devices of sound, syntax, and omniscient point of view. Through the story of good versus evil, Estleman entertains the readers of The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count (the other title) to make a great novel. In SHVD*, there are two protagonists: Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective residing at 221B Baker StreetÝ; and Dracula, the notorious count of Transylvania. To put aside all presumptions, ostensible facts, and popular stereotypes, it is necessary to examine who represents good and who represents evil. That is quite obvious. Aha! For those who agreed to that last sentence, sham... ...Jacqueline Roehl, "Sometimes a book is just a book." Notes *SHVD is referring to the title of the book in order to save paper space. ÝKudos to those who knew that. Woe and shame to those who didn't, obviously you aren't an English Literature "expert" are you?, or you would have known that. If you do not consider someone who sells his soul to the devil as evil, you really scare me, so do everyone a favor and read something good like the Bible.  §I submit that good and evil cannot co-exist if the interest of one hinders upon the interest of the other. *If your friends say this, it's time to get new friends or check your hearing. Do you say this? †¢This is merely an example. If it makes you feel better, fill in your own example. Nevertheless, you get the point.