Day 17 on IWTV: Claudia born into the darkness

"She was sensual. Her eyes were as wide and clear as Babette's." I think, with that confession, Louis just fell in love with Claudia. Claudia's first words as a vampire were, "Where is Mamma?" and "I want some more."

With Claudia entering the scene the game takes a different turn. It is almost like a star has come into the lives of Louis and Lestat, and we see this in her satin hair, her glowing eyes. At this point I am so very tempted to put a bookmark on Interview and go to Ashley Marie Witter's excellent graphic novel adaptation Claudia's Story.

It becomes obvious that Lestat turned Claudia into a vampire to keep Louis from leaving. Louis did express his desire to escape. I wonder what would have happened if he did leave.

When I was struggling in college and my sister was about to finish school, she got pregnant with her first baby. I fell in love with my niece and took to caring for her, and often I was absent from school just to look after her so my sister could finish her studies. My sister used my soft heart a lot for her own sake, manipulating me to stay at home for the little girl, or stay up late so she can sleep because she had an early class the next day.

Well, I soon dropped out of college and thought, Why, I'm investing in another person's life. Must be worth it.

Of course, I shouldn't blame others for my own dropping out of school. I think the first day we become truly adults is when we take full responsibility for all our decisions in life, no longer blaming others for this or that misfortune.

I must say that not finishing college is a shame I carry to this day. And though I still do pursue with passion my loves: theater, literature, I think I might have gotten further on if I stuck to college and finished. Maybe.

Louis and Claudia is the first true love affair in Interview, because so far Louis had expressed nothing but animosity towards Lestat. Louis could have picked up and run away, maybe even carried Claudia with him. But he chose to stay. In his outward loathing of Lestat, he must have deeper reasons for staying that he has not yet admitted to the boy interviewer at this point. Louis is such a complex character.

Facebook!
A little off-topic note here. I am happy to be one of the Persons of the Page! I found Anne Rice's public facebook page where she regularly interacts with her millions of fans with interesting questions, articles, thoughts.

I also belong to a local group of Anne Rice fans, sort of a Pinoys of the Page. The Anne Rice Philippines facebook group, headed by Casey Edmunds.

Recently, I also joined the Lestat Book Coven, where people discuss a lot of about Rice's books. So, if you accuse me of being an Anne Rice fan, well, all I can say is Guilty As Charged!