What does this device do to the narrative? Does it help to remove or protect the reader from the full horror of what is being described? More generally, how does the structure of Dracula work to promote or undermine its political message?

Political Literature

Consider Dracula as an epistolary novel (that is, a novel written in the form of letters).

What does this device do to the narrative? Does it help to remove or protect the reader from the full horror of what is being described? More generally, how does the structure of Dracula work to promote or undermine its political message?

If Bram Stoker is trying to write a novel justifying and embracing British colonialism, does the fact that his novel is all conveyed third hand help to cover over and distance from the violence of colonialism?