I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book about vampires. The relationship that I am focusing on is between Louis and Lestat. There were feelings that left me to think about the many unspoken emotions between the two main characters. I found there was a intense sexual tension of the novel and layers of affection between Louis and Lestat. Also that they were dependent of each other as well. Anne Rice wrote this novel during the era of the gay rights movement in the USA which can easily assure me that this had some impact on her writing.
There was an immediate reaction about Lestat regarding how he uses seduction to manipulate Louis into doing what he wants, by seducing to become a vampire and to eventually kill. This was quite easy for Lestat seeing how Louis was taken in by the physical beauty of himself, as well as giving him his word of a new life without the rules of human desires. Obviously, Louis accepts the offer.
After Louis’ transformation, they both live together on his large plantation for quite some time. It becomes apparent that Lestat is a self serving narcissist and his only push for remaining close to Louis is based on finance. Louis is holding on to humanity and his moral standards by feeding on animals. Meanwhile Lestat thoroughly enjoys taking the lives of humans. There is a very clear tension with Louis that is driving him mad. Its apparent that he struggles with not feeding on humans after having experienced it already, but there is something to be said about his humanity that remains. I feel this goes very deep into his character. I myself would never imagine a vampire not willing to kill a human for feeding. This shows me that Louis has retained an aspect of his humanity even after full transformation, or maybe this is due because Lestat continues to withhold information from Louis the he needs to know regarding his transformation? Perhaps Louis is different than any other vampire and has a specific role in the course of their breed?
It's very interesting to think that Louis is a different kind of vampire. A major difference between Louis and Lestat that I found was the variation between new and old. Lestat spends the whole novel talking about the old vampires like it's some sort of secret club. I really enjoy the idea of the twist around with Louis himself being something special and new.
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