Evil VampiresAre vampires evil? This question encompasses the idea that there really are real vampires, as well as the idea of vampire as symbol and metaphor. The question is one that particularly concerns me as I watch the nice/non-evil vampire become the dominant idea of genre fiction. If vampires aren’t evil, then okay, fine. If they are simply representational symbols for outside groupthere are authors to write them. s which require acceptance, maybe fine. But what if they are truly evil? And we, society writ large, are allowing their acceptance as safe beings? Not so fine. So, are they evil, and who gets to decide if they are evil or not? Is it a question left subjective, with each individual coming to his or her own conclusion? Thank God, yes. Certainly the authors of the many vampire novels come up with as many answers as there are authors to write them. If you wish to read about some of their evil vampires, click here. My students had a varied range of answers and reactions to the questions surrounding vampires and evil, as did I. The question became a two part question: what is the definition of evil; and do vampires meet that definition? One strain of thought asks the question: Is evil equal to sin? Many of my students think it is. One way to examine that particular answer is through the lense of the Christian church. Every range of them embraces the Ten Commandments, stating that following the commandments is the way to be sin free. For any reader unfamiliar :
Note that Commandments five through ten are part of the social compact necessary for any society to cohese and prosper, for any society which does not embrace them will inevitably be torn apart by anarchy – every man or woman seeking what is best for that particular person without regard for the safety of the whole. This brings us to the second major strand of thought, which really embraces the ideas inherent in a secular (non-God centered) society; that evil is simply knowingly doing harm to some other person (or the earth) without their (its) explicit permission. It is stealing for thrill, killing for profit, or knowingly exploiting the innocents among other possibilities. But excludes any harm freely embraced by the “victim / donor chick.” A subhead of the latter idea is unknowingly doing harm to people, such as with second-hand smoke, or working for a corporation which bankrupts or forecloses on folks while you are making money and gains from doing so. Vampire economics anyone? One major problem with the question of evil – even evil done intentionally – and vampire is that vampire’s aren’t human anymore. If the idea of human means being alive until death, are post-death human bodies (vampires) to be held to the same standards as regular humans? There is a wide – galaxy wide – answer found in books about these creatures. The major problem with any definition of evil is its subjectiveness. Each of us has our own definition of “evil,” as each society has its definition of “evil.” Our side is just and the other side is “evil.” I am lucky, in part. My website is devoted to non-real vampires controlled within the pages of books. Yes, they can suck me in and affect me, changing my view of morality and rightness and wrongness, but by and large I can always put the book down, refusing to listen to the words on its pages. I can choose to only read about “good” vampires, or to mix my reading up with “evil” vampires. I can just enjoy a good read without having to answer the question, but I do think that when society and its sociologists and psychologists begin to use vampires as an all purpose metaphor for outsider, arguing for inclusion and diversity with the vampire as representational metaphor, we’d best be thinking about the issue of precisely what constitutes outsider and what form inclusion might take. What if vampires are really real and really evil?
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