The Gilda Stories (5 points)

             The Gilda Stories has a unique take on vampirism, where drinking blood isn’t simply an act of taking from a victim, but is treated as an exchange. When the vampires drink the blood of others, they leave them with pleasant dreams and heal their wound. This leans hard into the more romantic takes on vampirism, which I find more compelling than a lot of vampire fiction. Being a vampire in this novel doesn’t automatically make you a monster, although it does make it easier for one to become one. The vampire is not in the same league as werewolves or other creatures; they are instead like the mythical Sandman, leaving pleasant dreams for those they visit. The tragedy, then, comes more from immortality.

 While the novel does romanticize the idea of living forever at points, it also doesn’t leave out the downsides. With being able to witness new life and amazing advancements comes the downside of seeing the worst in humanity and harmful cycles continue. The original Gilda mentions how she supports abolition and the Civil War, but she is tired of witnessing death and wars after over 300 years of life. Being an immortal vampire invigorates them but also drains them, especially since, in Gilda’s teachings, being a vampire is about life, not death. This is another stark contrast to most other vampire fiction, where the vampires are surrounded by and are forced to indulge in death.

 The novel makes the struggle of being a vampire far more existential and nuanced than that. Characters are forced to grapple with extended life, human nature, and having the ability to kill so easily while wanting to celebrate life. The pain these vampires feel, aside from the hunger for blood, is more in their hearts. People must choose their own deaths while leaving their loved ones behind, and those loved ones, such as Bird, have to live with the decision her lover made. She has to respect her wishes and carry on without her. It’s an extremely human approach to the vampire mythos even though it is based on things humans can never experience.

 I found this tragedy almost beautiful in a way; the idea of living for as long as you want (mostly) without fear and choosing how you get to die seems appealing. Even the way the downsides are presented seems like a romantic idea. There’s a feeling that vampires in this book get to see the world as it truly is, and really appreciate that it focuses on the good in addition to the bad. It’s not oppressively sad, but it’s not saccharine either; it’s a great blend of romantic and grounded storytelling.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bloodchild (2 Points)

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?  That was…a lot. There’s a lot to unpack with the relationship between the Tlic and the Terrans. It’s disgusting in a literal sense, but it also mirrors a lot of things going on in the real world. Their parasitic relationship, which the Tlic make out to seem mutually beneficial, reminds me of how some white people view Black people. In America, the whites are the ruling race, like the Tlic in the Preserve. They make it seems like Black people are just part of the “mutually beneficial” system of capitalism, but really, they are an oppressed class, being used to further the wealth of those in charge. This parallels how the Tlic use the Terrans as host bodies for their young, but make it seem like they’re doing the Terrans a favor by “protecting” them, when in reality they are putting them in harm’s way.  2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss what elements of the story with which you were able to connect?...
Read more

Metropolis (2 Points)

A lot of Metropolis barely feels like fiction at this point, at least when it comes to its commentary on society. As a matter of fact, it weirdly feels like a predecessor to Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite. Both visually portray class in similar ways; the working class literally live under the upper-class, who don’t really care about those beneath them. Sure, you can argue it’s a bit of an obvious visual metaphor, but I don’t think it takes away from how effective it is. I’d argue that some of the most powerful imagery seems obvious. It speaks to the core of what it’s representing, in this case how the working class is seen as below the upper class. It’s kind of hard to analyze it beyond that, because the film sums it up better than I could with its final card: “The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart.”
Read more

The Comet (5 points)

Image
  The Comet examines the racial divide in America through a story of survival. When Julia and Jim are alone together, convinced they’re the only survivors, they cooperate and are willing to set aside their race in order to help rebuild society. However, the moment more white people show up, Julia seems to forget this, jumping at the chance to be back with her own race, leaving Jim behind. Although, to be fair, she does defend Jim, which is the absolute bare minimum of decency. However, she doesn’t know his wife is going to show up after she leaves, so from her perspective she’s leaving him there to die. I guess I take back my earlier point. The second the societal divide is reintroduced, Julia completely disregards the safety of the man who helped her and goes back to the racist status quo.   It’s also interesting to note that when Julia’s white family arrives everyone is fine, whereas when Jim’s wife finds him she carries with her their baby’s corpse. I see this as a repr...
Read more