The Undead and the Jew Nose

Summary:
Nosferatu is based off of the oldest vampire there is, Dracula. It is the story of a vampire from "out of town" that wishes to make the journey to the home town of Hutter, the main character, which is Misborg, Germany. Hutter must first make the journey to the vampire, Graf Orlok, to settle all plans for where he will settle once he arrives. As the vampire's "bed" is carried across the seas to his new home, a strange case of the plague hits the crew members as well as towns the ship passes. Once Graf Orlok arrives in Misborg, the plague hits full strength and people are scared to leave their homes. The wife of Hutter, Ellen, realizes that she must take it upon herself to be a sacrifice to the vampire so that the terrible plague will end, and that is what she does, in sacrificing her life she saves the lives of all that would have been attacked by Graf Orlok.

The reading 'The Jew's Body' was about the different connotations typically associated with the Jewish race. It discusses how they were often taken as black and diseased and that there was no other way for them to be. They were the "ugly" race and no matter how they tried they would not escape their ethnicity. The article also brings up the idea of assimilation and adaptation. The idea that where ever one travels, there will be Jews that have different skin color or eyes than they would have in another part of the world. It is discussed however that no matter how hard they try, they will never escape certain physical characteristics, such as the 'Jew Nose'. For a long time the people that were worried the most about standing out as not Jew were the ones that had no recognizable Jewish characteristics.

Key Terms:
Nosferatu- vampire in Slovenian, or undead in Romanian
paracelsian- actions pertaining to a Swiss alchemist and physician of 1500's
Empusa- female monsters of Greek Mythology that were sent to harass travelers
Mischling-offspring of a Jewish and non-Jewish parent
spurious-not genuine, authentic or true
Zionist- world wide Jewish movement

Questions:
-Why was Hutter so excited to leave his wife at first and then when he was leaving her after making her stay at her sisters he was so hesitant?
-Do you think that Nosferatu had some control over Ellen's mind, or that she had her visions and episodes(sleep walking) because she had a strong connection to her husband?
-From a cinematography perspective, why effect did having Hutter make an audible gasp when cutting his finger, and then having Ellen make one not too long after have on the feel of the film?
-Did Ellen really sacrifice herself or was it more of a case of being at the right, or wrong for Nosferatu, place at the right time?
-What was some of the major irony that was played off of in the film?
-Why is it that we tend to associate strongly with a race that we categorically fall into even when we do not know all the members and their identities?
-What meaning do you take from the line in the reading "Germans hate less the religion of the Jews than their race, less their peculiar beliefs than their peculiar noses"?

I am not sure that i found much of an over lapping theme between the two readings. One that i did see however, even if very vague, is the connection between the idea of the Jews hiding within another culture to fit in, which is was Nosferatu did. He hid inside the culture of Misborg, although it was not as much to fit in as to feed. Although i guess both can be looked at as survival mechanisms.