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Personification
Explanation and Analysis—"King Laugh":
In Chapter 13, Van Helsing personifies laughter as an entity, "King Laugh," justifying his outpouring of laughter at the strange and perverse situation the main protagonists have found themselves in:
Oh, friend John, it is a strange world, a sad world, a world full of miseries, and woes, and troubles; and yet when King Laugh come he make them all dance to the tune he play.
There is something strange yet very human about laughing in the midst of an emotionally trying situation. This personification of laughter provides a momentary interlude in which the reader can rest from the drama of the story and laugh along with Van Helsing. This laughter is cathartic, both for Van Helsing and the reader. Amidst the supernatural and inhuman, in a novel so serious in tone and somber in mood, such a joyous interlude is refreshing. Stoker does not often break from the nearly non-stop action and tragedy in his gothic narrative: it follows, then, that when he does, such change, however momentary, must be important. As it stands, this moment provides important insight into Van Helsing's character. He is, above all things, an optimist, believing in human good despite the darkness of his surroundings.
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