Vampires: Interview with a Vampire (6 Points)

     What I thought was so interesting about this book and how it was written is how with our main character, Louis, telling of his story to the boy but in the way that the way he describes his emotions and his thought processes feel so human and realistic, while the way he describes his actions feel inhuman and beastly.

    I like this contrast because before we know Louis’ name, the text repeatedly states “the vampire said” after most of his sentences, and genuinely I could feel myself forgetting that he was a vampire as he spoke because of how human his thoughts and experiences were. It’s very different from older tales of vampires where they’re described as pure evil creatures or modern takes where they’re completely romanticized. I think because he was telling his story directly before and after becoming a vampire, the comparison of his old and new life was much easier to make. Especially telling his story of his brother and the emotions he felt were much more realistic than what I would’ve expected for a vampire story.

    At the same time, when Louis described his first vampiric actions, I interpret it as being told from the lens of a human because he was obviously not used to it at all in the beginning, so his explanations are first hand and not quite instinctual yet. The boy reporter continues to question Louis due to his curiosity despite being afraid of hearing of the vampire’s actions, showing the clear difference between Louis as himself and Louis as a vampire. Louis at default seems to be a more calm and soft-spoken normal guy at heart, while as a vampire, he obviously does normal vampire things like killing people, sucking their blood, not being able to go out in the sun, etc.

    Although I do enjoy this sort of humanizing take on vampires through Louis, the addition of the romanticized version of vampires through Lestat is still very enjoyable because of the contrast between him and Louis. Not to mention how amusing it is to read Louis describe Lestat with sexual undertones and reluctant attraction because of Lestat being the “sexy, cool, experienced vampire,” I think the contrast between them humanizes Louis even more.