Anne Rice: Searching, Seeking, Finding

Paper Summary:

In Anne's Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" and "The Vampire Lestat," the psychological self-examination and realizations of the characters contribute to an understanding of self in life and in death. The paper shows that the characters in both novels are perpetually asking questions of themselves and of others around them, desperately seeking the answers they yearn for. One of the main focuses of many of these characters is their morality in the decisions that they choose and are forced to make. The paper shows that closely following in the footsteps of the questions of morality is the quest for humanity. The vampiric characters in both novels are clearly not physically human any longer, but they strive to find and preserve the inner humanity. Finally, after finding the answers to their questions on morality and humanity, characters try to establish the place, if any, left to them in the mortal world.

From the Paper:

"Louis asks himself if his "very nature is that of a devil" (Interview, p. 73), trying to determine once and for all whether he has a place in the world of men, or if he is simply too monstrous to continue to try to be a part of their world. Several of the characters from The Vampire Lestat also struggle with this concept. They avoid the public, and shun the symbols of God with a belief that they will harm them. They disregard the advice given to them by their old queen, who has told them many times that "there is nothing to fear in the sign of the Cross, nor the Holy Water, nor the Sacrament itself" (Vampire Lestat, p. 226), but they do not listen to her wisdom. They believe that by their very nature they have no place in the world of men, and must keep themselves segregated from it, even after Lestat proves the old queen right, and shows them they have nothing to fear from a church or anything it contains."

More papers on Anne Rice: Searching, Seeking, Finding:

• Analytical Essay # 4273 : "The Art of Anne Rice's "Interview With the Vampire"
• Analytical Essay # 22444 : "Anne Rice, "The Vampire Lestat"
• Analytical Essay # 34303 : "The Diary of Anne Frank"

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