Immortality
"The first condition of immortality is death."
Stanislaw J. Lee
I love this quote. A heady reminder that to achieve eternity one must lose their most precious possession; their life. Is it a fair trade? Is it one I would make? All novelists writing about vampires much address the issue of immortality with their vampires: is it a gift or a curse? In the last episode of TruBlood, Bill Compton and Sookie Stackhouse are walking past the cemetery where his wife and children are buried. How strange and disconnecting that must be?
I once asked my husband Marvin what if you could live forever? We were walking through the historic district of my hometown one summer night and the topic naturally turned to vampires. His response was so touching. He said that he would have a hard time watching his two children grow older than him and then die. Not being a parent I had never thought about it. In the natural order of things, most children do outlive their parents. To watch them age, suffer and then die much be surreal indeed and lend such a sense of disconnect to your life.
For a vampire, it must be so strange and sad to watch your mortal family do the same. In Immortal Obsession, one of the vampires is faced with his offspring begging him for eternal life when she is faced with her own death. When she is turned by another vampire, she forever carries a grudge against her father for refusing to give her such a great gift. This impacts his life in present day New York. The consequences of our actions and our decisions.
What would you do if given the chance at immortality? Be honest.
Stanislaw J. Lee
I love this quote. A heady reminder that to achieve eternity one must lose their most precious possession; their life. Is it a fair trade? Is it one I would make? All novelists writing about vampires much address the issue of immortality with their vampires: is it a gift or a curse? In the last episode of TruBlood, Bill Compton and Sookie Stackhouse are walking past the cemetery where his wife and children are buried. How strange and disconnecting that must be?
I once asked my husband Marvin what if you could live forever? We were walking through the historic district of my hometown one summer night and the topic naturally turned to vampires. His response was so touching. He said that he would have a hard time watching his two children grow older than him and then die. Not being a parent I had never thought about it. In the natural order of things, most children do outlive their parents. To watch them age, suffer and then die much be surreal indeed and lend such a sense of disconnect to your life.
For a vampire, it must be so strange and sad to watch your mortal family do the same. In Immortal Obsession, one of the vampires is faced with his offspring begging him for eternal life when she is faced with her own death. When she is turned by another vampire, she forever carries a grudge against her father for refusing to give her such a great gift. This impacts his life in present day New York. The consequences of our actions and our decisions.
What would you do if given the chance at immortality? Be honest.
Labels: children, death, immortality
posted by Denise K. Rago at 7:39 AM
4 Comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.
Honestly? Depends. If the condition attached to my immortality was that I'd exist as a vampire, I think my answer would be "no". Might be fun for the first couple hundred years or so, but after that... I imagine it would become a lonely business, unless one had a tight-knit vampire community to hang with, and involvement with mortals was limited. Also, immortality comes with no guarantees of happiness, and forever is a long, long time to exist in angst. Another thing I don't think I could handle is never seeing the sun again... so, while I find the creatures of the night fascinating, it's a club I don't think I'd join, if given the choice.
Rita Vetere
www.ritavetere.com
www.myspace.com/rita_1111
Rita you bring up some interesting points. Immortality comes with no guarantees of happiness. I mean I consider myself upbeat but suppose I was not? Forever is along time to exist in angst. I too love the sun and the beach way too much to give it up...but suppose the man of your dreams was a vampire and wanted you to join him?
In that case, he'd darn well better make living in darkness worth my while! ;-)
Post a Comment
<< Home