Interview with the Vampire Response

Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice, is a commentary on humanity. Rice, like many fantasy writers, writes about fantastic creatures to discuss the human condition. Louis, the interviewed vampire, tells his life story. We learn that vampires usually have companions. Formally, this works as a master/apprentice relationship, but throughout the novel we learn that vampires are desperately. They long to be with other vampires in a relationship that seems romantic. There’s dependence between the vampires.

The loneliest vampires in Interview with the Vampire are the savage vampires that Louis and Claudia come across in Eastern Europe. These vampires live in solitude in the mountains. They are mindless corpses that savagely feed on the locals. This suggests that the socialization between urban vampires is what keeps them civilized.

Throughout the book Louis mentions that vampires can’t feel, and he doesn’t have feelings. This is a lie. He’s constantly contradicting himself, talking about his feelings for Lestat, for Claudia, for Armand. This suggest Louis is denying what he feels.

Keeping Rice’s purpose in mind, the reader can discern a greater meaning from the novel. Perhaps the vampires are an exaggerated metaphor for human nature. It demonstrates Rice’s ideas of what forms relationships can take. The book also argues a lack of civility can lead to savagery, and that people can deny their nature, assuming what they are has a hold over their emotions.

Another thing to keep in mind about the book is the lack of satisfaction on the part of the boy and the vampire. Through his story we can see that Louis wants desperately to be human. He regularly contemplates death and its implications now that he is immortal, and he seems to be telling the boy his story to demonstrate the horrors of being a vampire.

The boy, on the other hand, is amazed by the vampire’s life, and is unsatisfied when he ends his story bleakly. He says he can do it right, and savor immortality and the life of a vampire. He begs Louis to turn him, and when Louis refuses he sets off after Lestat. This shows that the mistakes of the past are destined to be repeated. The book is saying that people don’t learn and that they only hear what they want to hear.