Louis and Lestat: Villains, Anti-Heroes, or Heroes?

by Shadow Dove

Louis was the main character in Interview with a Vampire, and his distaste for his maker, and the way he spoke of him was maybe part of what made Lestat seem like such a villain. At one point early in his new life as a vampire, Louis had this to say about Lestat “And all the time, he belittled me and attacked me for my love of the the senses, my reluctance to kill...and would taunt me with sealed lips when I asked about God or the devil” (Rice 37). It was made very clear that the two were developing a great distaste for one another, and Louis had a suspician that he had only been given the “dark gift” as it is later reffered to, for his plantation and his wealth.

So just because Louis is not as bad as Lestat, does this make him a “hero” or does he rest in the place of “anti-hero” like so many other softer natured Vampires? According to Richard Wilson's article “Anti-Hero: The hidden Revolution in Leadership and Change”, the Anti-Heroes “are inherently sensitive to other people and aware of the limitations of their own knowledhe and skills. It is this sensistivity to themselves, others and the wider world that forms the basis of the Anti-hero” (Wilson 15). This definition clearly fits Louis, he is very sensitive to other people, in fact for many years he refuses to feed on human blood and feeds off of animals instead.

Furthermore, when we look at an excerpt from the Hero's Journey Outline, featured in “The Hero's Journey Outline The Heroine's Journey/ Archetypes 'The Memo That Started It All' by Christopher Vogler 'a Practical Guide to Joseph Cambell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces' by Christopher Vogler”, Vogler describes a hero as “the person who goes out and achieves the great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization” (Vogler 1). So although Louis has good intentions and is sensative to the plights of others, he does not by any means have a journey in which he is fighting a cause that serves a “group, tribe or civilization”.

It would appear that by both Wilson's and Vogler's definitions that Louis indeed fits the Anti-hero model. Bleeding heart and all!

Now, Lestat, oh Lestat, what a misunderstood soul indeed. There is no question in my mind that he does not transend from Anti-Hero to Hero, and in fact many times, by his own will, fits quite comfortably into the roll of Villian. However in the second book in the Vampire Chronicles: The Vampire Lestat you see his humanity quite plainly when he is speaking to Armand, an ancient vampire whom he has recently encountered “'You know it was the damnedest luck!' I whispered suddenly. 'I am an unwilling devil. I cry like some vagrant child. I want to go home'” (Rice 242). You have to understand that he had been given the “dark gift” by an ancient who then lept into a fire killing himself, without any explanation of how to live as a vampire, and upon meeting Armand, Lestat had hoped to find answers, but he found none. Instead he learned only that in the words of Armand to “Live among men, and the passing years will drive you to madness” (Rice 201). So perhaps his disapointment and loneliness is what drove him to be villainous, and although he had his moments of making you feel like he could be an Anti-hero, he definitely does not fit into the category of Hero, by any standard that I have found so far. However, I find a fondness for him nonetheless....not only because he is a vampire, but because he is so completely torn between two parts of himself, and I can relate to that. The only difference is that he surrenders to his darkness, and that is what makes him a true Villain.

What is a Hero?

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Rev. Veasey in Cold Mountain.
(NOT a particularly heroic character.)
Strange and melancholy timing that we
started watching this movie in class this week.

This past week there have been many people on the Internet writing about the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman; at the same time, the other big celebrity story has been about Woody Allen getting the Lifetime Achievement award at the Oscars and possibly having molested his adopted daughter when she was a child.

I don't want to dwell or speculate on the details of either story, but what they have both brought to mind for me are questions about celebrity and heroism.  Our culture seems to have a tendency to confuse the two, otherwise we might not be so shocked when we discover that celebrities are often deeply flawed human beings.

So I'd like to look at the definition of the word "hero."  For the purpose of this post I'm offering two distinct definitions (and both are open for debate):

1. someone with heroic qualities such as courage or honor or altruism, who has demonstrated those qualities through heroic acts that others have benefited from.
2. the principal character in a story.

Clearly these are very different definitions.  It is the first that comes into question for me when considering the lives of Hoffman and Allen.  These men are not heroes by this definition simply because they are celebrities, nor even because of their talent.  Have these men done heroic things?  If so, have they done "enough" of them to earn them the label of "hero"?  Does death through drug overdose automatically disqualify someone from having been a hero?  Can someone who has molested a child ever be considered a hero?  Why or why not?  Can someone be a hero in some ways and not in others?  Can a villain be redeemed and become a hero? If so, how? Who decides?  

We all have people we hold as heroes in some way; what is it about them that makes them heroes for us?  And how do we react if we see them display less than heroic or even villainous qualities?  

I also want to touch on the second definition of "hero."  From that perspective, everyone is the hero of his or her own story, his or her own "hero's journey."  And yet, to complete the hero's journey cycle as described by Joseph Campbell, the hero has to overcome his or her villainous urges or tendencies and perform some deed(s) that line up with the first definition of "hero."    

Do you see yourself as such a hero?  

To me, it is a heroic act to explore questions like these, beyond the knee-jerk black-and-white responses that might first arise.  Even if we don't come to comfortable, clear-cut answers.  If you have any thoughts on this topic that you'd like to share, please feel free to do so in the comments below.