Week Two: Vampire: Love and Pain

In her novel, Interview with the Vampire, Ann rice uses several contrasting over-arching ideas to drive the narrative of her story, making it both interesting, and morally complex. The first and perhaps most central conflict to the story can be found within the Vampire Louis, who struggles between the innate moral human sensibilities of his past, and his seemingly dammed vampiric existence. Louis was seduced out of misery and guilt for the loss of his brother, into becoming a vampire. A choice which fills him with both wonder and hatred towards his own existence, and causes him pain and confusion in almost every major decision he is forced to make. With this central conflict, Rice stirs us to consider what aspects of ourselves can truly be considered good, and whether or not succumbing to our animalistic human drives can be seen as a kind of evil, akin to a “fall from grace”. The second most prevalent conflict in the story can be found in the character Claudia; a child that was turned into a vampire at a young age by the character Lestant, in order to manipulate Louis by exploiting his human compassion and guilt. Physically Claudia remains a child, but grows mentally through the decades spent with Louis. Claudia’s relationship to Louis wavers throughout the book, fueled and clouded by her own confusion and internal conflicts. On the one hand she seems to hate Louis for imprisoning her in an eternally fragile form, stealing her from her former life, and robbing her of the opportunity to experience growth and love. On the other hand she seems to revel in her vampiric nature, and considers Louis to be the closest thing to a companion she’s ever had. Through these conflicts their relationship fluctuates from friend to father figure, to lover, companion, and intellectual equal.

            I think Rice uses these conflicts and tangled moralistic dilemmas throughout the novel to elucidate a larger more complex moral spectrum, from a seemingly simple moral world. On the surface the theme of the Vampire can be seen as an easy case of good vs. evil. Possibly stemming from our deep-rooted ancestral fears of being something else’s prey. However as our culture, and understanding of human nature, develops, it causes us to re-examine our concepts of morality in finer detail, going back through our old myths and stories, developing them, and giving us the opportunity to learn more about ourselves in the process.