It seems as though Louis was stuck in a perpetual existential angst. Why not end his suffering through suicide? Surely a few moments of intense physical pain were better than an eternity of emotional agony?
I think it's because he can't. It maybe a rule that a vampire can't commit suicide. Kind of like how he can't kill Lemere.
shareThat would make sense. I only thought it was possible because of their attempt to kill Lestat.
shareI accidentally remembered his name wrong. I just now watched this movie for the first time today.
shareHaha, I thought Lemere was another vampire that I didn't remember. Also, if they're immortal, how did Louie kill the vampires that killed Claudia?
I believe an older vampire can kill a younger one, but it is considered a cardinal sin in their world. Then again, how would the punishment be meted out?
Vampires in Rice's fiction are still vulnerable. It's been ages since I've seen/read Interview with the Vampire, but doesn't he light them on fire and remove their heads with a scythe? I assumed that the combination of those things would destroy them.
According to a chart on wikipedia, Rice's vampires are vulnerable to sunlight, fire, and decapitation. Elder vampires have a higher resistance to fire and sunlight, and apparently the body and head can regenerate if brought back together (not restricted to elder vampires). So, if Louis cut their heads off and burned the bodies, that seems like the final nail in the coffin.
I don't think so because they tried to off lestat and obviously the vampires he torched. I thought Armand said something about most vampires eventually die from their own hand. He definitely suggests that if Louis leaves than he will die, obviously he is implying suicide.
shareIt definitely is a contradiction. He might like his suffering subconciously and that is what keeps him around.
shareIf all a vampire has to do to commit suicide is to walk out into daylight, it probably happens.
If individual vampires don't, well, the human drive to stay alive is incredibly strong. I work in the helping professions and see people who are involved in horrific situations - homeless, chronically or terminally ill, in constant pain or believing they are tormented by demons or the illuminati... yet most of them don't commit suicide. They want to live, even if their lives are unspeakably horrible.
If vampires retain that instinct from their human days, suicide is probably are rare among them as it is among humans.
This is an excellent point worth considering. Thanks for mentioning it.
shareOtter sorry but what you argued is totally wrong.
People, and not vampire, are alive, thus feel the need to stay alive.
Vampires are undead, so they don't really have a survival instinct, since survival means staying alive, and they are not at all alive, since they are undead.
So, while it's true that lots of people don't commit suicide no matter how horrible their lives might appear, this attitude doesn't really make sense for a vampire, like the OP was pointing out.
Why go through an infinite existance (not life) of suffering when you can just end it in any instant?
If I ever deal with a real vampire professionally, I will ask them if the human desire to survive at any cost and under any godawful circumstances has carried over into their new mode of life.
Of course there's no way to test this question because vampires don't exist, but if they did... I'd say it's possible that the intrinsic human aversion to suicide is still there in their psyches. Because they used to be humans and their personalities and beliefs have been formed by human existence, it's possible that human attitudes such as the primal need to stay around carry over into their new life.
That doesn't make much sense.
Like I said, that's an instinct that is directly connected to being alive. Dead things don't have a will to keep on living, probably because they are not alive to begin with.
I agree that it could be something they are accustomed with, so they are just used to do it.
But somebody feeling so strong about how wrong it is to exist like that, like Louis, wouldn't he stop and understand that such instinct makes no sense in his new "life"?
That living, which implies dying, is not what he's doing, hence, ending such a futile existance would not be such a tragedy afterall?
It seems that given their immortality, vampires are always hyper aware and in a perennial state of turmoil over their existence. If we think about what we feel after ruminating over our existence for a few hours, imagine what it would do if we perpetuated this state for decades? I suppose the end result would be much like the demeanor of the vampires shown in the film.
There is no doubt in my mind that someone as emotionally fragile as Louis would have ended it long ago, especially as the wear and tear of emotional state only degrades further throughout the years, building up to an inevitable collapse.
"...the wear and tear of emotional state only degrades further throughout the years, building up to an inevitable collapse. "
I don't find that to be generally true, at least of humans. I have no experience of vampires, of course, but as I said I work in the helping professions, and I've found that humans have an almost unbelievable capacity to adapt to horrific circumstances. People can learn to live with horrific poverty, loneliness, disability, hopelessness, illness, neglect, loss of freedom, etc., and they go on living and looking for something better rather than having "breakdowns". Of course I only meet those with the capacity to go on living, those who don't have that are in the local cemetery and aren't seeing me.
Now it's been a while since I've seen this movie and I don't recall much about Louis's mental state as the years went on, but I vaguely recall that he adapted to a changing world and had some comforts in life, and that he didn't hate or despise himself. IMHO the last is a BIG factor, when a human has to decide whether to go on living, and for all I know it could be a factor for vampires as well.
It has been awhile since I've seen this movie as well, so I'm not sure if Louis ever came to terms with his immortality and newfound existence. I realize that some people are resilient, but Louis didn't strike me as someone who was.
I also work in the medical profession, and I know that there are resilient people who return to a relative level of baseline happiness after something like the loss of a limb, but there are also those who ruminate on their losses and shortfalls and this depression eventually overtakes their every aspect of life, lending to a very unhealthy mindset and overall lifestyle.
Good points overall, I think.
Yeah, interesting discussion. And I do have to say that my client base is heavily slanted towards those that want to go on with their lives, no matter what, so that's what I bring to the table.
Psychologically, i would think that controlled vampirism would be more akin to a physical disability than a mental illness, in terms of what a person has to put up with. There are things a vampire who wants to fit in with humans cant do, places they cant go and things that other people just wouldnt understand. Like a person with physical disabilities they arent living the same life as everyone, but they can take a place in society, if they wish. Frankly it sounds like a dreary existence and I myself wouldnt want to live it forever, but maybe vampires develop more patience than humans.
But that's what I call "controlled vampirism", fitting in with humans and not killing them for food, which is how I remember Louis. Any vampire who did kill humans for food would be very different, psychologically. Human values would go bye-bye very fast.
"Dead things don't have a will to keep on living".
You say that as if it's scientific fact.
Vampires have a lust for living and life experiences, so I'd argue you're wrong about this.
Otherwise vampire films would be very boring, they wouldn't bother getting out of their coffins.