WEEK 2: Interview With the Vampire

After reading “Interview With the Vampire” by Anne Rice, I had the biggest urge to go on a vampire novel binge. I never fell into the deep fandom hole of beautiful vampires and other supernatural beings, but I do appreciate the characters in this story. That being said, I found the relationships to be very interesting throughout. The way that they developed/ progressed in the story did a nice job of staying true to the book’s message. And that message was to let people know how immortality can really mess you (and your relationships) up.

People automatically assume that living forever is a blessing, not a curse. Even the interviewer boy believed this, despite just hearing about the tragedy and emotional turmoil Louis went through. This romanticized idea of immortality stems off of raw human desires—the desire of the forbidden. Immortality seems nice at first, but like Louis quickly learned, there are consequences. The biggest issue came to be the relationships Louis had in the novel. I’m not sure if Louis has always been a bit of a pushover in his mortal life, but he never dominated in any of his vampire relationships. Even with Claudia, a woman trapped in a 5-year old body, he easily fell into her control though he is physically at an advantage. I guess this is a classic example of “brains over brawn.” It could also be that Louis’ desire for companionship anchored him to Claudia, because she too was a newborn vampire. That sense of sympathy Louis developed helped in Claudia’s case to deceive him into doing things that he told himself he would never do, like creating other vampires.

Now with Lestat, his own vampire creator, this was clearly a toxic relationship. Louis was constantly being manipulated and pulled along by Lestat, probably because they had deeper feelings than “vampire buddies.” When you’re in love, you fall into forcing yourself to do what the other person wants over your own interests. It can be argued that Louis was also in a deep state of depression, thus causing him to make reckless decisions. However, I believe that he had stronger feelings of companionship that propelled him to stay for such a long time. It was interesting to see Lestat reoccurring throughout the novel even after attempting to kill him off so many times. This just further proves the point of their deep connection; it’s difficult for them to be parted, even after “death.”

- ☽Stacy Moon☾