Thursday, February 13, 2020
Interview With A Vampire
When discussing "Interview with a Vampire" I feel the most interesting character I am urged to discuss is Claudia. Claudia is a supremely original character, I haven't seen the likes of (or at least, done properly) in a long time. As she is an adult trapped in the body of a 5 year old girl, the main characters have a hard time differentiating treating her as a child, as her body implies, or treating her as a fellow adult, as her mind is aged. The relationship she has with the main characters (technically her two dads) is quite a unique one. She despises them both, but seems to favor Louis more. Though Louis did kill her, she seems to have a grudge with Lestat, as he is the one who cursed her with immortality in her form as a child. Louis cares for Claudia, as Lestat did give her mortality in order to manipulate Louis into staying with him, and Claudia does seem to care for him, but she longs for independence and even for her and Louis to be closer, or bond even. She is almost given her wish as Louis makes Madeline a vampire to look after Claudia, as that is most likely how independent an adult woman in a 5 year olds body can get, but her wish is destroyed, as Lestat kills Claudia and Madeline. Before her death, Claudia was able to forgive Louis for killing her. I believe Claudia is a well thought, complex character, who has many layers and has gone through a rather unique experience, causing psychological stunting and damage.
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Claudia was my favorite character as well! I found it so interesting that the author decided to explore her maturity while keeping her at age 5 instead of the typical 12 or 13. The difference between her mind and body created such a deep character not found in many other places
ReplyDeleteI agree that Claudia is quite a unique character. It's not a very common archetype in the zeitgeist, probably because of the uncomfortable questions the situation raises. What I find interesting about Claudia is what her physical stunting of growth seems to symbolize. She is a girl frozen in time, unable to grow, much like how loved ones that have passed stay static in the mind as those who remember them, even as they continue to grow. This probably reflects the pondering of Anne Rice who was mourning her young daughter while writing this book. Claudia almost achieves independence through Madeline, a woman who lost her own daughter and i is drawn to Claudia precisely because of her immortality. She can't quite let go of her own daughter and projects that desire to have her back on Claudia. The two form an almost parasitic relationship, keeping each other and their woes alive. I wonder if Anne Rice was thinking about her own difficulties in letting go. And that the death of the two of them in the book is her own way of symbolically letting go of the life she once had and trying to move on.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Claudia is an interesting character who plays a unique role in this novel. To go through an immortal life as an adult in a child’s body is a difficult situation, to say the least. Claudia’s motives and actions are equally questionable as they are justifiable, as she struggles to live her life as a vampire.
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