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Interview with the Vampire is a gothic horror and vampire novel of immortality, loyalty, and disconnection while displaying the creation and life of the vampire, Louis. The plot summary focuses on three individuals brought and held together by the bond of immortality. It begins with the reporter questioning the vampire Louis, who, at the time was a young indigo plantation owner in 1791, who is stressed due to the death of his brother.
Louis is attacked by Lestat the vampire who then sucks his blood from his neck but does not kill him.
Lestat later turns him into a vampire after expressing a wish for his company, and the two live on the plantation for a while. Lestat feeds on the slaves, but Louis is overcome with guilt and survives on animals.
Due to being supernatural creatures, they are forced to leave when the slaves start a revolt. They decide to set the plantation on fire to avoid word spreading about vampires.
Eventually, Louis begins to feed on humans, however, Louis is concerned by Lestat’s disrespect for human life. While feeding on a lifeless child, he begins to think of going on alone, but Lestat is worried so he decides to turn the child into a vampire to give Louis a daughter.
Claudia, the young child is natural for killing, however as she matures, she becomes very unhappy and disgruntled due to her mind maturing into a woman, but her body still being a child. After many years, she decides to murder Lestat by poisoning him and cutting his throat.
Once Lestat died, they decide to place his body in the swamp and leave for Europe. However, once again Lestat appears, so both decide to set their house on fire leaving him to burn and die.
At that point, they leave for Europe looking for other vampires, and when they arrive, they find nothing but reanimated corpses, however, in France, they find vampires like themselves. They come across Armand, a vampire, who lives in an old theater where they feed on live humans before a live audience. Claudia is disgusted by these vampires, but Armand and Louis are attracted to each other.
Dreading that Louis will abandon her, Claudia requests that Louis make her a friend, so she finds a doll maker in Paris. The doll maker, Madeleine, and Claudia live peacefully together for a period before Lestat appears again having survived the fire. He then locks up Louis in a coffin and incarcerates Claudia and Madeleine in the courtyard. At that point, Armand arrives in time to release Louis, but he is too late to save the women.
Louis is devastated about losing the women, so he decides to set fire to the theater killing all the vampires. He and Armand leave, but soon after grow apart, making Louis ponder his return to twentieth-century New Orleans living in the shadows and never making another companion.
Louis has lost everything around him, Claudia, Armand, Lestat, and his belief in life and mankind. He used to be able to enjoy life and art, but when he goes to the Louvre, he can appreciate neither: "I saw the people who walked there … in a new light. Before all art had held for me the promise of a deeper understanding of the human heart. Now the human heart meant nothing. … Like Claudia and Madeleine and myself, they could all be reduced to ashes" (3.614). Louis has lost everything, which explains why he's been so sad, miserable, and gloomy the entire time. The boy, however, only sees the great powers granted to a vampire, pleads to be made into a vampire himself. Louis becomes angry that the reporter learned nothing from his story, so he attacks the boy and disappears without a trace.
In conclusion, the ending shows us an interesting contrast. Louis seems to be telling us that eternal life is not as great as everyone seems to be. However, humans cannot understand that, and they will do anything to accomplish everlasting life. Secondly, it's almost as if vampirism is a symbolic form of some type of fantasies that humans have.
Book Review: Interview with the Vampire. (2020, Oct 30). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/book-review-interview-with-the-vampire-essay
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