Social Control through Works of Fiction

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Recommended: Light and dark imagery within gothic literature

Vampire stories have universal themes that provide the backbone for every dark tale. The unholy essence that any vampire story provides sets the stage for the message that the Church is the way of life and will save you from creatures of evil. From in class readings, we can see all the major religious themes of the classic vampire story. The common religious theme is the abscess of light is the absence of holiness and is the path to eternal damnation. Darkness is the prime universal fear of humanity mostly because we, as a species, are not nocturnal creatures; therefore, we have developed a fear of the predator filled darkness of night. Using figurative descriptions of darkness as the enemy, the Church preaches the way of the light. The Church associates the side of good and evil with lightness and darkness appealing to the duality of man whether it is black and white, Ying and Yang or Good and Evil. The Church put a twist on this appeal when it started to manufacture works of fiction associated with creatures not of this world who oppose the message of the light, such as the Vampire. Vampire behaviors and tendencies counter-act the Church’s messages in every vampire story with themes of darkness, sensitivity to light, unholy lifestyles and an abundance of anti-Church related subjects. Vampire tales are a response to a changing societal view on religion practices and validity; the roots of vampire stories are strong indications of the Church’s attempt to tighten its firm grip of social control tied with universal human fears.
Protection from evil is the corner stone message preached by the Church since the beginning of religious practice. When humans started illuminate the night with fire and light bulbs this species began to ...

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...al control and conformity. With the following quote, vampires can be viewed as the history the Church has written, “They Who Write History Control History and thus Control the World.”

Works Cited

Fiorini, Debra A. "RELIGION, SEX, AND VAMPIRES: A STUDY OF THE GOTHIC LITERATURE OF POE, STOKER, AND HAMILTON." Proquest. Http://search.proquest.com., Sept.-Oct. 2000. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
Furneaux, Holly. "Victorian Sexualities." Literature Compass. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 12 Oct. 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
Miller, Peter S. "Over The River." Http://www.oocities.org. Penguin, Oct. 1989. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
Moore, Catherine L. "SHAMBLEAU." REAL PULP FICTION. Http://www.unexploredworlds.com, Nov. 1993. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
"They Who Write History Control History and Thus Control the World." The Institute for Economic Democracy RSS. Www.ied.info, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

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