Post by Lon-Dubh on Mar 20, 2008 18:34:51 GMT -5
So sorry it took so long to update. I kept waiting for people to ask questions or suggest other lessons that a new thread didn’t seem to happen for a while. Anyways, on to questions from the last lesson.
Some people asked about exceptions to the rule: the Volturi and the southern vampires. These are both good points, but actually both show the mindset of vampires. Let me explain:
Yes, the Volturi rule over Volterra, and yes; the southern vampires waged war with other vampires to fight for territories. But in both cases, we can see that the vampires’ actions centralize on their belief in the lesser existence of humans.
Southern vampires fought over control of places like Mexico City; essentially in a power struggle. But they weren’t fighting for humans—they were fighting for possessions. These vampires did not view the humans that they were fighting over as people—they were more similar to possessions. And, in a sense, vampires didn’t fight over humans at all. They fought over the blood humans so handily possessed; all wrapped up in a conveniently frail package. When the southern vampires fight in, say, Texas; they are fighting against each other, not for humans. Vampires want to control their food source while maintaining dominance over other vampires—and to do so they must struggle for territory.
So here’s the gist of this last point: vampires want to control what they regard as their possessions, not the humans. In waging war, vampires aren’t really fighting for the people so much as they are fighting for dominance over the other vampire. The southern way of life illustrated by Ms. Meyer is cutthroat. To survive, vampires must have the best food source—and that happens to be humans. If, for example, polar bears were the best source to make a vampire strong—vampires would be fighting over pieces of Alaska. The vampire’s clash centralizes around humans not because they are humans, but because they are the best way to maintain dominance over other vampires.
Most vampires, minus trackers such as James, would consider it below them to fight with or for a human. They are simply fighting for the food source, and humans happen to contain that food. You notice that vampires never struggle with humans; they fight with their own kind. A vampire would never wage war on the human race—it would be like declaring all rabbits are your enemies. They wage war on each other—the dominant beings.
Humans are only the necessary vessel that happens to carry the food. It would be like medieval monarchs fighting for the choicest piece of land. They want that land so they can be stronger than the other monarchs, not to be stronger than the land itself. Vampires need no sort of reassurance to know that they are the dominant race.
Next, on to the Volturi. The Volturi are very similar to the southerners—they are just more sophisticated. The Volturi fought and won the struggle that Southern vampires fight in more current times—they just did it thousands of years ago before there was anyone around to stop them. So, in a sense, you might think of the Volturi as the oldest form of a southern war, minus the war part. They are really no more powerful land-wise than any other vampire—but they have millennia of experience and a nasty reputation to back themselves up. The Volturi rule Volterra because they want to have a sense of dominance—that and the fact that it’s always easier to get running water wherever humans happen to be. Not living in a human area would be impractical—the Volturi happened to choose Volterra.
The Volturi don’t fight for their land to control humans, they fight to control other vampires. They can control humans all they want—they know this. But to control other vampires, the beings that are worth holding dominance over, they need power. Establishing themselves in a city and offering “prestigious” jobs to other vampires in exchange for their services is the way the Volturi chose to do this. The Volturi don’t really rule the humans. They use the humans as a conduit to have dominance over what is actually worth ruling—other vampires.
We can compare vampires to medieval monarchs. Vampires are the supreme rulers, unquestionably more powerful than the frail peasants. But a monarch would never fight against a pauper—it would be beneath them. Monarchs fight against monarchs. Extending this metaphor, we see why humans are so necessary—not because they are humans, but because they are the means to an end. Monarchs will use the peasants to fight their wars for them, sacrificing those lesser people for their own desire of domination. Just like arming a pauper who has never held a weapon before and sending them off in a war against another monarch to die for your ambitions; vampires use humans as a way to sustain themselves so they can have domination. Were humans not the ideal food source, vampires wouldn’t have anything to do with them.
The gist of this last point is basically that vampires only need humans so they can use them to gain dominance over other vampires. Though the Volturi could technically, and do technically, have dominance over “their” humans; what they really fight for is dominance over other vampires. A monarch isn’t going to fight one-on-one with another ruler; they’re both going to sacrifice lesser beings to achieve their own ends.
Thank you to all people who posted asking questions or pointing out other sides to the vampire mindset.
Any more questions or comments? Feel free to post. Also, if anyone has a request for a particular lesson, I would appreciate it if you would let me know. I promise I’ll be quicker in updating (though I couldn’t be much slower)
Lon-Dubh
Some people asked about exceptions to the rule: the Volturi and the southern vampires. These are both good points, but actually both show the mindset of vampires. Let me explain:
Yes, the Volturi rule over Volterra, and yes; the southern vampires waged war with other vampires to fight for territories. But in both cases, we can see that the vampires’ actions centralize on their belief in the lesser existence of humans.
Southern vampires fought over control of places like Mexico City; essentially in a power struggle. But they weren’t fighting for humans—they were fighting for possessions. These vampires did not view the humans that they were fighting over as people—they were more similar to possessions. And, in a sense, vampires didn’t fight over humans at all. They fought over the blood humans so handily possessed; all wrapped up in a conveniently frail package. When the southern vampires fight in, say, Texas; they are fighting against each other, not for humans. Vampires want to control their food source while maintaining dominance over other vampires—and to do so they must struggle for territory.
So here’s the gist of this last point: vampires want to control what they regard as their possessions, not the humans. In waging war, vampires aren’t really fighting for the people so much as they are fighting for dominance over the other vampire. The southern way of life illustrated by Ms. Meyer is cutthroat. To survive, vampires must have the best food source—and that happens to be humans. If, for example, polar bears were the best source to make a vampire strong—vampires would be fighting over pieces of Alaska. The vampire’s clash centralizes around humans not because they are humans, but because they are the best way to maintain dominance over other vampires.
Most vampires, minus trackers such as James, would consider it below them to fight with or for a human. They are simply fighting for the food source, and humans happen to contain that food. You notice that vampires never struggle with humans; they fight with their own kind. A vampire would never wage war on the human race—it would be like declaring all rabbits are your enemies. They wage war on each other—the dominant beings.
Humans are only the necessary vessel that happens to carry the food. It would be like medieval monarchs fighting for the choicest piece of land. They want that land so they can be stronger than the other monarchs, not to be stronger than the land itself. Vampires need no sort of reassurance to know that they are the dominant race.
Next, on to the Volturi. The Volturi are very similar to the southerners—they are just more sophisticated. The Volturi fought and won the struggle that Southern vampires fight in more current times—they just did it thousands of years ago before there was anyone around to stop them. So, in a sense, you might think of the Volturi as the oldest form of a southern war, minus the war part. They are really no more powerful land-wise than any other vampire—but they have millennia of experience and a nasty reputation to back themselves up. The Volturi rule Volterra because they want to have a sense of dominance—that and the fact that it’s always easier to get running water wherever humans happen to be. Not living in a human area would be impractical—the Volturi happened to choose Volterra.
The Volturi don’t fight for their land to control humans, they fight to control other vampires. They can control humans all they want—they know this. But to control other vampires, the beings that are worth holding dominance over, they need power. Establishing themselves in a city and offering “prestigious” jobs to other vampires in exchange for their services is the way the Volturi chose to do this. The Volturi don’t really rule the humans. They use the humans as a conduit to have dominance over what is actually worth ruling—other vampires.
We can compare vampires to medieval monarchs. Vampires are the supreme rulers, unquestionably more powerful than the frail peasants. But a monarch would never fight against a pauper—it would be beneath them. Monarchs fight against monarchs. Extending this metaphor, we see why humans are so necessary—not because they are humans, but because they are the means to an end. Monarchs will use the peasants to fight their wars for them, sacrificing those lesser people for their own desire of domination. Just like arming a pauper who has never held a weapon before and sending them off in a war against another monarch to die for your ambitions; vampires use humans as a way to sustain themselves so they can have domination. Were humans not the ideal food source, vampires wouldn’t have anything to do with them.
The gist of this last point is basically that vampires only need humans so they can use them to gain dominance over other vampires. Though the Volturi could technically, and do technically, have dominance over “their” humans; what they really fight for is dominance over other vampires. A monarch isn’t going to fight one-on-one with another ruler; they’re both going to sacrifice lesser beings to achieve their own ends.
Thank you to all people who posted asking questions or pointing out other sides to the vampire mindset.
Any more questions or comments? Feel free to post. Also, if anyone has a request for a particular lesson, I would appreciate it if you would let me know. I promise I’ll be quicker in updating (though I couldn’t be much slower)
Lon-Dubh