Immortal Lover of the Night

Vampires are known as cold heartless creatures that creep into our homes like thieves in the night. In movies they are creatures who are lifeless. Skin as pale as the moon's light and skin as smooth as silk. Vampires are often seen as beings who can transform in a giant bat or having inhuman abilities. They want one thing and one thing only. Blood. But why do they want our blood? What drives them to take the blood of the innocent? In Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" the answers are far more disturbing than one would be willing to comprehend or grasp. During the interview Louis goes on to tell "the boy" about his life and how he came to be a vampire. To begin his story he tells "the boy" of his first tragedy. The loss of his brother who he cared for fondly. After his brother's death he describes his brother's lifeless body and how he blamed himself for his brother's death. He felt guilty for everything that had gone on so he leaves the plantation only to have the thought of his brother cross his mind everywhere he went. Drunk or sober he could not escape the thought of his brother. Wanting to die he would get into fights in ally ways. One night he is attacked by the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt. Louis goes on to tell "the boy" about his kills with Lestat. To Lestat every kill was intimate and exhilarating. He describes the kill as being better than sex. He would stalk his young victims for hours until the time was right.

 In the end it wasn’t blood that the vampires wanted. It was the vitality of youth and the jealousy of the innocent that drove their undead heart. The lack of companionship. And why do they want our blood? To feel human again. They want to retain the life they used to have, but no matter what they did they could never live the same. That is the curse of the vampire. Not the unquenchable thirst or the inability to walk into the sun’s light. The true curse is being alone with no one to call friend or lover. That is what Louis was trying to tell “the boy”. The reason not to become an immortal being.