Interview with a Vampire Louis Character Study Essay Example

Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice, is the story of the creation and life of the vampire, Louis. Louis was a 25 year old plantation owner in Louisiana. Following the death of his brother, which he blames on himself, he begins living very recklessly, attempting to entice anyone to end his life. A vampire named Lestat, looking for a slave, turns him into a vampire. From the beginning, Lestat ridicules Louis for his empathy towards humans. Louis begins to feel hatred towards Lestat and wants to leave him. In an effort to keep Louis, Lestat transforms a young girl, Claudia, into a vampire. Louis and Lestat treat her as their daughter. Lestat teaches her how to hunt, kill and live like a vampire, while Louis tries to educate her, so that she could embrace the beauty of the world. Claudia, unable to grow up, also develops hatred towards Lestat for creating her. Claudia plots to kill Lestat and threatens Louis not to interfere. Claudia’s attempt to kill Lestat fails, but as he attacks the two, Louis sets him on fire and knocks him out with a blow to the head. Afterwards, Claudia and Louis flee to Europe to look for other vampires. Throughout the story, Louis displays that, unlike most vampires, he has not lost his sense of humanity. He chooses to feed on animals instead of humans. When Lestat kills the young man who runs a neighboring plantation, Louis helps Babette, the man’s sister, successfully run the plantation. Then, when Lestat creates Claudia, Louis serves as a protector for Claudia, so that she is not harmed by Lestat.

Louis does not feel right about killing humans so that he can survive. During a conversation with Lestat, he finds out that he can live off of the blood of rats. His empathy for human life leads him to feed off of animals rather than humans whenever possible. Although it would be easier to kill and live off of a single human a night, he instead chooses to consume the blood of multiple animals. His compassion for humans