4/21/20 Justin Lew Pd 2

4/21/2020

Justin Lew

Blogger #20

Modern Mythology 2020

Aim: How does Armand’s fascination with Louis highlight shifts in culture over time?

DO NOW: Let’s imagine the Dragon, Grendel, Louis, and Armand all met at a cafe for an espresso and a biscotti. What would they discuss?

I believe that Grendel would be able to relate to Louis in a sense of their conflicted emotions regarding their existence. This is also the same for Armand in a way due to his disconnection with society as he has lived for a long period of time since he became a vampire. However, the dragon would likely laugh and talk about how it’s pointless to talk about these things as eventually, they will all die and how these subjects will become irrelevant due to the longevity of vampires.

Pair-Share:  Armand was created in the early 15th century. Thinking back on history, what were the values of the people of the time?

The values of the people during the early 15th century were humanism, classicalism, skepticism, and open-mindedness to name a few due to the time period being a part of the Renaissance. Furthermore, patriarchy and lineage were still major values as the Middle Ages had not yet ended (not until 1453).

Why does Armand need Louis to understand this?

Armand: “You are the spirit [of the age].” 

Louis: “I’m not the spirit of any age. I’m at odds with everything and always have been! I have never belonged anywhere with anyone at any time!” 

Armand: “This is the very spirit of your age... You reflect its broken heart.”

Having lived through 2 centuries, Armand has watched as humans move towards a more skeptic and individualistic way of thinking. As a result, the Renaissance and Enlightenment age are known as some of the most significant evolutions in human ideology. However, this new way of thinking can lead to conflicting thoughts, as shown by Louis’ mental state. Humans tend to follow a central entity, such as religion, and feel lost when losing this “leader” (just like when religious people feel lost when they lose faith). Similarly, there were those who rejected the transition between the 14th and 18th century as thinkers moved towards secularism, the separation from religious thought. The moment Louis stopped being human, he lost a part of himself that made him who he is and made him question himself and everything around him, while also trying to cling onto Armand as his “truth”.

What is the spirit of our time era? If you were thrust 300 years into the future, how would you explain the overarching values of now?

The spirit of our time era would be the internet, or more specifically, Reddit. Although it may seem questionable to choose Reddit over platforms such as Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and others, Reddit has been consistent with its presence in evolving culture. As the self proclaimed “front page of the internet”, Reddit encompasses a large variety of topics that appeals to at least one person. Furthermore, Reddit functions as an unbiased platform that allows anyone and everyone to express themselves, whether it be through thread discussions or through memes. However, if I were to be allowed to choose, I would pick the internet itself due to its impact on different industries while continuously expanding. Though there are many values in this era, self-expression (1st amendment) would be the overarching value as indicated by the ever evolving and expanding culture of MEMES.

Coffin Symbolism

The coffin is a reminder for vampires of their death as humans and a restriction to them, The constrictions of the coffin also symbolize the vulnerability of vampires despite their superior strength and longevity when faced with human society.

Why does Lestat return? What should the reader take from this moment? Why doesn’t he blame Louis for anything that happened to him?

Lestat returns to bring back Louis with him. He tries to cover for Louis and explain to him what had happened at the swamp while saying that Claudia needs to die. Lestat is desperate and determined to take back Louis but to no avail. Similar to Armand, Lestat needs Louis as a guide as Louis still has a bit of his humanity as well as his emotions since becoming a vampire (my assumption). Lestat doesn’t blame Louis as it was indeed Claudia that attempted to kill him and as stated previously, Lestat needs Louis to rejoin him.

Where in the world is Armand and why isn’t he helping them? After all that talk about loving Louis…

Armand might either orchestrated the events leading to Louis’ confinement, or he was unaware of what was happening. Afterall, Armand states that “if there were a leader here, I would be that one”. If needed, Armand would be able to use the vampires of the Theatre des Vampires to isolate Louis so he (Armand) can become Louis’ only pillar of support and get closer to him (Louis). Armand acting as the “leader” can also mean that Armand has no control over the group’s actions leading to Louis’ confinement despite Armand’s “love” for Louis.

Reflection

This lesson helps me understand how monsters, particularly vampires, are interpreted in different eras. In class, we have learned that mythical beings and creatures are a representation of an aspect of nature or human psychology. As the spirit of an era, Armand and Louis both represent the unified ideology of their respective times. Especially for vampires, they are portrayed as a remnant of their past human life (medieval lifestyle, mannerism, etc). On the other hand, medias also portray some vampires as beings who try to assimilate with society as time passes, absorbing evolving cultures and accumulating wisdom from past experiences (I really didn’t want to say it but Twilight gave us a look at modern vampires and some stuff we didn’t really need). Just as Armand tries to make Louis understand their roles as the representatives of their time periods, we as students try to objectively understand the evolution of humans through the portrayal of monsters and mythical beings.