Critical Essay on Vampires in the Lemon Grove

Introduction

The short of "Vampires in the Lemon Grove" by Karen Russell (1981) talks about a vampire couple that lives in Italy. Maghreb and Clyde, the vampire couple have discovered that human blood is not primary to their survival and they believe that the traditional and literary traits of vampirism such as nocturnality and sunlight risks are nothing more than lore. The couple has incorporated lemon as part of the staple food in their diet and mostly lead a relatively normal life. Fila, the seventeen old-year girl who runs the yield at the lemon stand, is the only person aware that Clyde is a vampire. However, as the story proceeds, the couple start to have a strong desire for blood and Clyde loses the sense of control. The ability to slake their thirst by lemons is overcome with the continuous desire for blood. On his way out of the theatre, Clyde runs into Fila and completely loses control and eventually feeds on her to the point of killing her. After the incident, Clyde sits Fila's body against the wall as he watches it dim and stiffens. Clyde then ransacks Fila's pocket for the key to the funicular office and returns to his wife while wondering on how he will be viewed. The Vampire in the Lemon Grove story further surveys Clyde disappointments in marriage, a marriage that Clyde claims of a commitment to starve together. This essay seeks to highlight and more also elaborate the ideological conflict between Maghreb and Clyde.

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Initially, Clyde had been spending most of his life in the dark, sleeping in coffins, imitating the character of vampire tales as well as drinking human blood before he met Magreb. It was not until Clyde met the Maghreb, his future wife that he realized that blood did nothing. On page 471, Clyde starts to question the false narrative that he has been feeding on. His relationship with Magreb opened his eyes to some of the fictional narratives that described the false details, particularly his monstrousness brand. At one part of his life, Clyde is faced with children dressed as vampire hunters. This makes him start shaking violently and soundlessly. He eventually drops candies into the bags of children (Ruiz,p.13). The author describes Sorento, the grove, the nearby cliff as beautiful as much as they are coupled with sadness as well as terror. Russell describes the Pipistrelli Impazziti, the descent of the bats as one of the tourist attraction. The vampire in this story is not just a mere vampire, but recognizable human habits of love, fears, and delight in the sour lemon are evident.

Additionally, the author has tried to portray the ideological conflicts between the couple. Clyde and Magreb differ on the issue of vampire from the first date. Magreb does not want to live on blood any longer and insist that blood does nothing. Since Clyde had lived on blood from childhood, he found Magreb idea to be so difficult to abide on. Magreb does not see herself as a bloodsucker when she observes herself in the mirror, but the mirror has the opposite effect on Clyde. When Clyde observes himself in the mirror, he sees his mouth ringed in black blood. During the initial days, Clyde finds difficulties in coping with the situation. The love of Clyde for Magreb made him suppress his desire for blood. Clyde later found out that human marriages do not please him and are subject to commitment. The couple tried lemons to suppress their desire for blood, but it did not work effectively. On page 474, Maghreb finds out that the lemons do not work appropriately and only gives them approximately eight hours of peace. She further tells Clyde that their marriage was only a commitment to starve together. In most cases, Clyde pressed his dry lips together when left alone with Fila. Maghreb and Clyde differed in most cases but complied with his wife because of the love he had for her. Clyde hunger pangs gradually disappear when he thinks of her wife (Naimon,p.72).

As much as Clyde nodded on everything told by Magreb, he did not agree to some ideas suggested by his wife. Clyde viewed himself as a vampire who had spent his childhood living on blood and lived in dark places. When Clyde runs into Fila, his urge for blood persist and eventually began to feed on her to the point of killing her. After losing his control, Clyde returns to his wife wondering what his wife will think of her. This indicates that the couple had a conflicting ideology on the vampire issue. Magreb was willing to change, but Clyde found it very hard to change his situation. In this kind of story, the author has tried to craft a fully realized world by indicating the fascinating lemon stands, the soaring cliffs, tourists and crashing waves. The author positions this story on a world with the past, present, and future on which he interrogates the narrative as people base their ideas on identity as well as monstrousness. The vampire myth in this story reflects human habits of love and fear as well as the difference in ideas.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the vampire myths in Vampire in the Lemon Grove story have categorically illustrated the ideological conflict that existed between the vampire couple. Initially, Clyde spent his childhood feeding on blood and living in dark places until he meet Magreb. Because of his love to Magreb, he decides to abandon his old way of life and follows Magreb way of life. Clyde frequently complains because he had different ideas. He had a great affinity for human blood. The vampire couple tries to suppress their desire for blood by using lemons, but it does not quench their thirst. The lemon could not slake their thirst anymore. Clyde believed himself to be a vampire right from the start. This evident when he finds difficult to cope with this life and eventually feasts on Fila. On the contrary, Maghreb never wanted to be a bloodsucker as much as she was starving. The difference in ideology made Clyde feed on Fila.

Works Cited

Naimon, David. "A Conversation with Karen Russell." The Missouri Review 36.2 (2013): 136-147.

Ruiz, Natalia. Caged People: Idees Fixes in Karen Russell's Bestial Transformation Stories. Diss. 2018.

Russell, Karen. Vampires in the Lemon Grove. Random House, 198.