3/27/20 Chloe Chong Period 8

3/27/20

Chloe Chong 

PD 8

Modern Mythology 2020 Blog

#6

Interview with a Vampire is actually quite an interesting read. I’ve heard about it before Myth class and I’ve heard that most people read it for entertainment so it’s interesting to take a different approach on a popular book. 

Many thoughts came up while I was going through Louis’s story on “how he became a vampire”. We know that Louis’s brother died and that he blamed himself. And then, a vampire attacked Louis so he could get his estate. Then, the vampire, named Lestat, turned Louis into a vampire. I noticed on page 13, Louis talks about God. He says that not everyone believes in God but everyone believes in Satan because “evil is always possible”. I just found it really interesting how in the context of vampires being “aristocratic”, religion and philosophy falls into that box. I also found it interesting how even though Lestat is a “monster” because he is a vampire, he also has human qualities. He wants to take care of his father which is why he wants the Pointe du Lac. It’s odd that a “monster” would still have people they love and care for. Louis says “I never laugh at death, no matter how often and regularly I am the cause of it” (16). He has a wish for self-destruction and to be “thoroughly damned” because he blames himself for his brother’s death. He also has guilt for killing others and as a result he wants to die. It seems like Louis’s transition to becoming a vampire wasn’t as forced as it seems to be. Though Lestat doesn’t explicitly say he was turning Louis into a vampire, it’s almost like by doing so, Lestat has given Louis a new life. In his “old” life, he would continue to be depressed and grief-stricken by his brother’s death. But in this “new” life as a vampire, he is given different needs, priorities, and maybe even a purpose that will make him want to live. 

From the classroom slides and discussion, I learned about Anne Rice’s choice to make the interviewer young. I thought that people who are younger tend to have a more open mind. We don’t know much about the boy, therefore, the boy could represent us-- the audience that Louis tells his story to. The younger interviewer is like a naive, blank slate so he can be any audience member. And when he hears Louis’s story, he is more likely to have the same reactions as us. The way I see it is if the interviewer was an older person, that older person would probably have more developed opinions. This would take away from Louis’s story in that the interview is supposed to be about Louis, not the interviewer. If the character of the interviewer had been more complex, it would take attention away from Louis’s story. By having the interviewer being a young boy, it does not allow for character obstructions in the plot. We can stay focused on Louis, his story, and the characters in his story. The young interview can also reflect Louis in his younger days. Like mentioned before, we learned that Louis is a grief-stricken young man, terrorized by the death of his brother. All he wanted to do was die. When having to kill others, like the overseer, he is overwhelmed with guilt. In his first moments as a vampire, though he became a “monster”, he was innocent. He did not know much except that he did not want to kill and that Lestat was immoral and cruel. I learned that youth is often correlated with innocence and naivety so by making the interviewer a young boy, we can follow Louis through his changes in life and allow his story to shape the young boy as it does to us. I learned a different way of approaching the book. Rather than just focusing on the character’s intentions, a question like this allows me to think about the author and the reasoning behind her points.

Working from home has its advantages and disadvantages. For one, I get a great amount of sleep. Even though I’m stuck at home, I feel like I have academic freedom in that I can complete work at my own pace. For me, that’s pretty great. I don’t have to feel the stress of not getting my stuff done in one period. And I also get to eat lunch which I normally don’t do at school. At home, I have my family and we have nice meals together which I can’t really get at school. It gets a little boring sometimes. I can’t see my friends or hang out with anyone. And family gets a little annoying sometimes especially with parents always telling you to do stuff. But, it’s going along pretty well. I hope everyone is safe and is taking care of themselves. Hopefully spending time with their family which is something a lot of us don’t have time for or just taking time for themselves. Take care!