A STUDY OF HUMANITY IN SMITH’S THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: THE AWAKENING
1,2Faculty of Languages and Communication Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia
3Faculty of Major Languages Studies Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
The idea that vampires exist across the globe has been a subject of folk tale, superstition, and myth throughout the history of man. This analysis of the The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening focuses on the effects of human qualities on the protagonist, Stefan Salvatore and the antagonist, Damon Salvatore. It features the usage of moral elements in enabling the characters to gain attractiveness among other characters. It also implicitly brought forth the two typical types of male model that entice their counterparts. L.J. Smith is one of the authors that managed to use vampires’ characters in their works to another medium of entertainment successfully. This then showed the importance of young adult fiction to be researched. The study undertaken on the role of emotions and personality to fuel their meter of attractiveness. The results of the study show that human qualities in the aspect of moral elements does play a role in applying a certain type of attractiveness to the creature of the night that are supposed to be a figure of dread. Ultimately, breaking the usual plot of story that focuses on species that human deemed to be harmless.
Keywords:The vampire diaries The awakening Humanity Novels critique
ARTICLE HISTORY: Received:30 January 2018. Revised:21 March 2018. Accepted:26 March 2018. Published:28 March 2018.
The depiction of vampires as vicious creatures in novels that was able to project its terrors was started by an Irish author, Bram Stoker on his 1897 Gothic Horror novel, “Dracula”. His novel was adapted to numerous films and plays, thickening the characteristics of vampires in the minds of the world. “But other, older, versions of the vampire were not thought to be human at all but instead supernatural, possibly demonic, entities that did not take human form” (Radford, 2014).
However, depictions of vampires as vicious creatures were being gradually neutralized by adding human-like traits on them. Stephanie Meyer’s The Twilight Saga shook the world’s perspectives on what kind of creature a vampire is. Allowing vampires in her novels to being able to experience love, sadness, guilt and family created a new image for vampires. The result of giving traits of humans to vampires made them seem fragile despite having immortality. Such changes that were exerted on vampires then captured the hearts of teenagers all over the world as vampires; mythical creatures known for their bloodthirsty nature are now seen as a male creature with perfect masculinity and a fragile heart that cares for their loved ones.
By adapting the young adults’ novels into movies, Hollywood indirectly attracts more viewers. “The Vampire Diaries”, a romance-fantasy novel written by Lisa Jane Smith that further enhances the portrayal of vampires positively by giving them human qualities that solidifies the vampires’ past life as humans. This was done by putting a new characteristic into the vampires in her writings. Vampires are given amplified emotions. Their emotions are of a higher degree compared to humans. However, a relationship based on love was still constructed between these two beings. The vampire that terrorized mankind has now become a figure that is capable to be loved. The personality of the contemporary vampires that not only possesses superior abilities but also humanity seems to serve as its main attraction to the female characters. It is presumed that the romance between a human and a vampire is what attracted the readers in the young adult category to indulge themselves in such type of writing. This study is made to discuss the comparison between the protagonist and antagonist characters in “The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening”. By analyzing the personality of the protagonist, the representative of the once-a-monster; Vampire and the antagonist, it will be used to prove how qualities of humanity morals and emotions that are put into a horrific figure are capable of turning it into a friendly and attractive figure.
Novels are one of humans’ important aspects in life. English language is known to be one of the most used languages in the world. Novels nowadays are regarded as one of the most influential forces within a society for the enormous amount of imagination that it offers to the young adults. However, the youths mostly focus on the actions, supernatural powers and all the extraordinary abilities that the characters within the novels have instead of focusing on the morality of acts done by those characters. This then clouded the real point or showcase in the novels.
The power of words in influencing its readers is not something to be taken lightly. Written words’ ability in influencing the minds of its readers combined with the ample amount of time that the readers have to read may impose a greater effect. The imagination of having such power, immortality and being under the wings of greater individuals from reading books similar to “The Vampire Diaries” may bring disastrous illusions to the mind of the young adults. According to Humpage (2015) the presentations of family complexity, vampire’s sex appeal as well as its immunity from law for its supernatural powers are the novels’ most appealing elements that attract the young adults. This is due to the natural state for the young adults for their current age, stage of life. Despite that, those elements might empower the desire for the young adults to follow the acts that they read.
This study is carried out to serve the purpose of exploring the comparison between the protagonist and antagonist in “The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening” in the aspect of human qualities. This presence of human qualities in protagonist character in “The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening” can be seen throughout the novel. This study attempt to examine the morality of the protagonist and antagonist characters in The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening, determine what moral elements are added to the protagonist in The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and investigate the effects of the morals on the protagonist in The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening.
This study is carried out based on the two types of theories. The first one is the Hymes’ SPEAKING Model. The Hymes’ Speaking Model theory that was constructed by Dell Hathaway Hymes holds the prowess in categorizing all the different features of communication situation. The process of categorizing and identifying the factors within the context of conversation captures every detail required by this paper to identify the human qualities within the protagonist and the antagonist of The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening. The conversations that happen with the presence of Stefan Salvatore, the protagonist as well as the antagonist, Damon Salvatore can be analyzed properly by building connections of the factors included in The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening. To be noted that not all the tools will be used as this study that leans more into discovering identity.
Another theory that will be used is “image restoration theory” that was introduced by Benoit (1995). It is a theory that drafts strategies in minimizing stains on ones’ image. The people’s perception towards an individual are very crucial to the individual if one’s wanted to have a better reputation of him. A clean image and reputation allows the individual to slip in or blend in to the society much easier. By examining the options taken by the individual, an understanding of the reasoning for the protagonist and the antagonist actions can be in a form of a much better clarity.
The significance of this study can bring benefit to every individual that is involved in the field of linguistics. The surfacing of changes in contemporary literatures such as the modernization of the Vampire characters allows societies to realize the strength of novels in shaping the minds of the generations. This can be confirmed through the emergence of young adults’ literature being adapted to several movies that managed to grab the attention of every teenager around the world. Being able to recognize the elements contained in the successful young adult literatures, allows writers to have a similar thing to focus on to produce work that may copy the success of the stars.
The impact that was brought by Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series shook the Hollywood with the potentials that are held by young adult literatures. This also became one of the significance for any film making companies that wishes to unleash a similar success gained by previous young adult literature turned into movies. Being able to find a pattern, elements that are similar in the category of young adults’ literature that are successful then has to be mimicked or discovered. This is to ensure that the film industry that heavily relies on youth or young adults to be able to keep on growing for they make up quite a big portion of movies consumers. Besides the uniqueness of the scope of the study, the significance of this study is also laid along with the usage of the two theories, namely Hymes’ Speaking Model and Image Restoration.
The review of literature begins with the definition of Vampires, young adult fiction, and moral and humanity. It will be followed by the theoretical and conceptual framework. The past researches involving the evolution of the portrayals of vampire in literatures are also included in order to assist and provide more information.
According to Melton (2011) in his book “The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead”, vampire can be defined as “a peculiar kind of revenant, a dead person who has returned to life and continues its form of existence by drinking the blood of the living. Every vampire shares some common characteristics such as the requirement for them to drink the blood of the living with the use of their fangs or canine teeth. The failure to fulfil this task will cause them to be starved, weakened then ultimately dies. Besides that, the vampires also possess superhuman strength while are also equipped with tremendous physical agility.
Karg et al. (2009) mentioned in their book “The Everything Vampire Book”, that vampires’ abilities are meant to completely overpower their prey and resist any attackers to avoid captures. Another characteristic of vampire myths that is worth mentioning is their vulnerability to sunlight that will be ended with their death. The rumors involving sunlight is fatal to vampire were heavily supported by the influence made Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula”. Apart from that, there was also another myth that is quite powerful before the twentieth century which states that coffins are required by vampire as a tool for healing and to rejuvenate themselves.
The definition of a young adult fiction was explained simpler by Jim McCarthy, the Vice President of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management during his interview with The Wire in 2011. He said, “Essentially, it is just literature for and about teens, there to bridge the gap between children’s and adult’s book. It can be subdivided into the same genres as adult books – romance, paranormal, mystery, horror, literary fiction”. The young adult fiction however cannot be seen as a genre as claimed by McCarthy. This is due to the fact that the young adult fiction is more into a category of age group for the amount of information contained in such category is a lesser form compared to the books meant for adults.
The young adult literature then can be seen as the medium for the teens to be revealed to the adolescent world in a slow manner, while still abstaining elements of adults that the teenagers are not ready for yet. The importance of the young adult fiction can now be seen due to its role in preparing these teens with the adequate amount of information digest-able for them.
In this study, the importance lies on comparing the protagonist and antagonist of “The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening” which are both vampires but holds different view on what it means to their life (or death). The protagonist is inclined to keeping hold of his humanity morals and emotions while the antagonist decided to embraced his nature as a predator, a vampire; the horrific figure that mankind fears. This theory is relatable to this study through the use of it as an identifier of on which community or society does these two characters belongs to. For example, by relating the participants, acts sequence with setting and scene, the social identity of a character can be reveal, hence, confirming which side did the character took. At the same time, ends can also be used to see the motivation for each of the characters actions, translating it into the nature of their morals and emotion.
The second theory that shall be used for this study is the Image Restoration Theory by William Benoit. William Benoit is an expert of political communication and has engaged in a lot of studies regarding campaign messaging in various forms in order to discover and determine if the communication is positive or negative. The relevance of using his theory in this study is to enhance the rationalization of actions by the characters whether the intentions and the effects are positive or not. Through the use of description that are derived from the Hymes’ SPEAKING Model, further explanation can be made, solidifying the characters’ sense of belonging of sides and at the same time, justifying the charms of it to the female characters within the novel.
Wilson (2006) studies the differences of young adult fiction regarding the contemporary vampires and the classic vampire folklore. She started her study by categorizing the vampires into three sections based on their narrative structure namely the transitioning to a vampire (the main plot where main character is turning into a vampire, usually against their wills), human-vampire socialization or “Power Negotiation” where the novel focuses on how the vampires and humans finding a way to allow co-existence and lastly, the romance type, a romantic relationship with vampires. The narrative structure heavily affects the relationship emergence between a human and a vampire but the gender issues involving the relationship steadily leans towards the male-authority.
Moreover, Ames (2010) highlights whether the gender and sexuality in Twilight are portrayed in relevance of time, intended audience and mediated format differs with other vampire literatures by bending gender and sexuality stands of its vampire literature. One of the things that should be highlighted is about the focus on the element of feminism that was arisen in the novel. Bella, the main character for the novel Twilight, was injured from the sexual intercourse with Edward but blames herself. This was found as offensive to the feminist as it is too similar with a situation where a rape victim blames herself after being assaulted. The result from this study sees that Twilight did not rise to its fame through any action of shifting beliefs regarding gender and sexuality in it but by merging the vampire literature into young adults’ genre.
Focuses on the evolution of the vampire figures over the centuries and to explore the paradoxes and ambivalences that revolve around the legendary blood sucker. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat and The Vampire Diaries (TV Series) are the subjects used for this study. The main point of this discussion is the concept of the creature that is dependent on good that then connects it to the themes such as otherness, isolation and immortality. For example, when the vampire in the Rice’s work became a narrator of his story, he was portrayed as an outlaw that are trapped in loneliness, helplessness and despair. The vampire is seen as a being that is a victim of Destiny, drawn to evil despite not wanting to do it. Through this representation done by Rice, society began to have accepted the idea of a sympathetic vampire. This then becomes one of the most sought dramas in the contemporary vampire literature, the vampire’s struggle of good and evil.
The books that were analyzed was Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight (2005), P.C. and Kristin Cast’s first House of the Night-novel Marked (2007), and Dead until Dark, can be seen that factors involving region creates the vampire their very own identity and cultures when they are given concrete places and cultures.
Kristensen (2010) examines an interesting topic regarding vampires and human and puts the scope on to see whether there has been any significant changes to the portrayal of vampire in the literature. By analyzing the most influential literature involving vampires such as Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’, Anne Rice’s ‘Interview with the Vampire’, Stephanie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’ series and Charlaine Harris’ ‘The Southern Vampire Mysteries’, a historical development of the figure of vampire in the literature can be brought to surface. It was concluded that the previous portrayal of vampires in classics literature were created so different from human and that made the figure became horrific, disgusting and frightening but the contemporary vampire literature centers around the idea of vampire being similar to human, vanquishing the element of scare and threatening. It can be seen as another way of a human being able to view himself, putting their self into the shoes of a vampire.
In this study, content analysis method was used to identify the morals and emotions elements of the protagonist and antagonist characters in “The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening”. Based on the content analysis, the texts that contained the protagonist (Stefan Salvatore) or the antagonist (Damon Salvatore) characters within the novel only were analyzed. The study focuses on the actions and characteristics that were exhibited by the protagonist, Stefan Salvatore and antagonist, Damon Salvatore within any texts in which they were present. Thus, the data was analyzed through the units of analysis / elements. The units of analysis / elements are the words spoken, responses towards others and the actions that were made. Hence, this data analysis was analyzed by using qualitative coding analysis.
Stefan Salvatore, the younger brother, and Damon Salvatore, the older brother, are the portrayals of two different versions of vampire representations in “The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening”. Both characters will first be described to get a better view of each of them which in turn will create a more solid comparison in the latter part of this chapter. This analysis describes the personality that was created around the character based on the other characters’ perceptions towards the subjects and decisions made by the subjects with the help of Hymes’ SPEAKING model as well as the personality that were born out of the efforts made by characters with the use of the Image Restoration Theory.
The protagonist of this story was introduced as a teenager that has just transferred into the high school in Fell’s Church, with a wide range of mystery encompassing around him. As the story progressed, Elena Gilbert, the heroine became extremely attracted to Stefan, the handsome, foreign and mysterious. Unlike any other guy that she met before, Stefan’s existence was able to stir her deep-seated feelings, obsessions and aspiration. His quick wit, playing hard-to-get and loner aura are among the qualities that Elena found to be the main attraction that Stefan possesses. Such qualities attracted Elena into finding ways to get close to Stefan in every way that she deems necessary, even if it would endanger her life in the process. Her obsession towards Stefan then is rewarded greatly as her life was saved by Stefan as she was sexually assaulted by Tyler Smallwood. The event caused the both of them to be romantically involved with each other. After some time passes, the murder of a person named Mr. Tanner, a European History teacher was used by Tyler to lead everyone in the school to believe that the perpetrator is Stefan Salvatore. The mysterious life that he had lived became the bane of him. He managed to escape the school. Elena, feeling distraught, chased after Stefan to his boarding house. She arrived to a scene of totally wrecked room due to Stefan’s rage and ultimately learned Stefan’s true nature, a Vampire. Stefan blames himself for every unfortunate incident that occurred in Fell’s Church. As Elena learns some of the abilities that are possessed by vampires and Stefan’s brother, she came into the conclusion that Stefan was not the one behind all the attacks in Fell’s Church, it was actually Damon’s doing. Stefan then went to confront Damon but unfortunately lost.
Stefan, despite knowing himself as a vampire, aware of every bit of the nature of what he is, chose to go to school. A setting that is for sure full of people and also the scene of attention. His first appearance in the Robert E. Lee High School, driving a Porsche 911 without a doubt is an example of him trying to make quite an entrance and gain attention. For someone that wishes to conceal his identity as a vampire, pulling off this sort of masquerade is a death wish. This is because all sorts of people will be looking at him as there is no normal student would drive a Porsche, especially in a small town like Fell’s Church, Virginia. There is no doubt that a school is a very unlikely location for stealthy life. The objective that Stefan is trying to accomplish is not just living alongside with the humans but also to be noticed and be approached by them. Despite this, he did not wish to be approached too closely, thus explaining the reason why he lived in a boarding house at the edge of the town. He wanted his presence to be felt but not in a way that it would bring them closer to his private life, or more precisely his nocturnal life. The setting that he chose allows him to roam around easier as he had the chance to feed on someone that wandered far out in the woods without worrying. Encountering Elena as she was being sexually assaulted by Tyler also made the decision seems very wisely as this allows him to use his supernatural abilities without the fear of having a lot of witnesses. Another event that shows the importance of the deciding where Stefan stays is the moment where Stefan was enraged at himself. He was furious at himself as he thought he was the cause of all the misfortunes in Fell’s Church. The trapdoor that leads to the widow’s walk on the roof became his personal space to find peace and solemn within himself.
In the element of participants, the act of Stefan socializing with the community in Robert E. Lee High School that can be seen in a positive way is the scene where Stefan defended one of the students in his class as Mr. Tanner, their European History teacher loves to shame his students by asking them question that they do not know. Mr. Tanner’s question does not have the intention to educate his students. It is more to make himself be seen as a person with a higher knowledge compared to the students. Stefan, witnessing the shameful act, corrects the teacher with his experience as someone that have lived the history taught by Mr. Tanner giving him the taste of his own medicine. Defending his classmates has given him a good reputation, students sees him as a good friend. Alas, the greatest participant that should have been the center of this story has to be Elena; the person that holds severe obsession towards Stefan. Their woven romantic relationship as a human and a vampire became the key in unraveling the mystery around Stefan’s life. There can be no other person for Stefan to confront on his distraught and guilt. Elena’s presence became the anchor for Stefan to let go every emotion that is poisoning his mind. Such relationship then allows Stefan to break down his story bit by bit to help Elena to understand the real story and at the same time learning the abilities possessed by vampires. One of the abilities mentioned by Stefan was a form of compulsion where vampires have the ability to play with their prey’s mind. This then enabled Elena to put the story into a conclusion regarding every incidents happening in Fell’s Church.
As for the ends; purposes and goals of Stefan Salvatore, he wanted to live a quiet and peaceful life. At the same time, he also wants to socialize with the community in the Fell’s Church. This thought of him was expressed in the first chapter of The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening.
“He was tired of being alone” (Page 7)and “Stefan appreciated respect for the past. He thought he might come to like the people of Fell's Church. And perhaps—just perhaps—he might find a place among them.”
Page 7explaining the reason why he moved out from Italy and came to Fell’s Church, Virginia. However, at the climax of the story where he came clean to Elena regarding everything, he mentioned how he was threatened by Damon to get out from Florence or face death, the second time.
The three fragments of Stefan as a human that stayed even after his death was his feelings of fear, guilt and compassion. This can be seen as he put the blame on himself in every unfortunate event that occurred ever since his arrival in Fell’s Church. For example, when he first came to town, he already had mixed feelings on the idea of staying there.
“For a moment he wondered, again, if he should just give it all up. Perhaps he should go back to Italy, back to his hiding place. What made him think that he could rejoin the world of daylight?” (Page. 7)
“He'd never be accepted completely, of course. A bitter smile curved his lips at the idea. He knew better than to hope for that. There would never be a place where he could belong completely, where he could truly be himself. (Page 7)
Such fear was born out of being different from the community. The fact that he was different and the nature of him needing to feed on blood in order to survive made him to see himself as an evil creature, a pestilence that has to be contained or quarantined from others. It is a similar trait of human that is called Autophobia; fear of being alone or of oneself. Despite being a vampire, Stefan kept to his ideal of being human, a social creature, and valuing connections as those are the keys to happiness which then leads to him not being able to see humans as a source of food but as his brethren.
Stefan is also portrayed as someone that carried a lot of regrets in the novel. Despite being a very old vampire, around 500 years old, he is still unable to accept the way of living as a vampire. As a result, he felt guilty over every living thing that he fed on.
“His eyes dropped to the limp white form in his hands, and he felt his face twist in regret. He hadn't meant to kill it.” (Page 7).
That is however, a small matter of regret compared to his regret of damning his brother, Damon. In Chapter 14, he revealed that it was him that killed Damon, ending his brother’s life as a human and rise again as a vampire. His fear and guilt was a form of mortification as he felt that he failed his responsibility and at the same time, he tried to ask for forgiveness in a by doing things that he deemed will correct his wrongdoings.
“Stefan laughed bitterly. “Do you know what the name Salvatore means in Italian, Elena? It means salvation, savior. I'm named that, and for St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. And I damned my brother to hell." (Page 103)
A quilt of him that cannot be dismissed is that he is a compassionate man. Even when he barely knew the person, and that he would not be affected by the bad treatments given to them, he still went to defend them. He applied a technique called attack accuser in the Image Restoration Theory to Mr. Tanner by degrading his knowledge thus comforting the students that was previously bullied by Mr. Tanner.
“Students all around Stefan were shifting uncomfortably. He could feel the resentment in their minds, and the humiliation. And the fear. They were all afraid of this thin little man with eyes like a weasel, even the husky boys who were taller than he was.” (Page 15)
In the passage above, Stefan’s supernatural ability to feel minds allowed him to comprehend the thoughts of people around him with ease. This built a bridge between him and the others, creating the feelings of empathy where Stefan responded by defending them that can be seen below.
"I said, excuse me," Stefan repeated, removing his glasses and standing up. "But you're wrong. Students in the Renaissance were encouraged to participate in games. They were taught that a healthy body goes with a healthy mind. And they certainly played team sports, like cricket, tennis—and even football." He turned to the red-haired girl and smiled, and she smiled back gratefully. To the teacher, he added, "But the most important things they learned were good manners and courtesy. I'm sure your book will tell you that." (Page 16)
The anti-hero in The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening comes out as a menacing figure as he confronted Elena during her preparation for the school’s Haunted House for the Halloween festival. The meeting between him and Elena gives off the first impression of Damon’s personality as a dangerous person as his debut started off with ‘eyes in the dark’ and ended the debut with a creepy shout out. Elena met Damon once again, inadvertently, through an ancient druid ritual proposed by Bonnie McCullough that was designed to find out one’s future spouse. The other name for the ritual was The Dumb Supper. Damon was invited in and he tried to seduce Elena with his looks and manners. Despite using his supernatural powers to charm Elena into falling for him, he failed and for a moment, that angered him but he managed to be calm again then left the place. He made another entrance in the story as a dark visage roaming around in the Robert E. Lee High School, murdering the European History‘s teacher, Mr. Tanner and successfully staging Stefan as the culprit. Elena assisted Stefan in clearing the shroud of doubtness in his head leading Stefan to accost Damon in the woods where Damon beat him with ease.
Damon Salvatore, the antagonist of this story, has been radiating the beam of evil ever since the start of the story except when Stefan started to reveal their story to Elena. Their mother, which was not named was loved very much by Damon during his childhood but after she gave birth to Stefan became weak and experiences health problems. This was the start of Damon’s hatred towards Stefan even though the incident was beyond Stefan’s control. In addition, as they grew up, Stefan became a gentleman that was loved by his father as he was able to achieve great things but Damon, hating the family that he lived with, has no interest of being a son that his father would be proud of. In page 17, Damon announced to his father, Giuseppe that he is quitting the university.
"You are telling me that I, Giuseppe, Conte di Salvatore, will have to face my friends knowing that my son is a scioparto? A ne'er-do-well? An idler who makes no useful contribution to Florence?" Servants were edging away as Giuseppe worked himself into a rage. (Page 17)
Even after receiving such response from his father, Damon did not falter from his decision and still have the guts to reply his father.
“Damon did not even blink. “Apparently. If you can call those who fawn on you in the hopes that you will lend them money your friends." (Page 17)
His zero tolerance in his behavior towards his father just showed how low he viewed his father. To him, the only family that he has was his mother, whom he loved very much until the death claimed her.
The only reason that he came to that house was to meet someone that he cared for very much, Katherine von Swartzschild. Stefan described Damon as a person with
“dark beauty and grace and the sensuality that drew women to him like moths to a flame.” (Page 18).
Katherine is a daughter of Baron von Swartzschild that stayed in Salvatore’s household in hope to recover her prolonged illness. Despite the fact that he was known as a womanizer, the feeling that he has for Katherine can be seen as something that is pure. This could be attributed due to her nature as a vampire, a creature of darkness that feeds on blood, seen as a threat to mankind. Damon sees her as the only person that could understand the way that he had been living all his years. Being shadowed by Stefan’s achievements and ridiculed by his own father.
The nature between him and Katherine is without doubt, compatible with each other. Unlike Stefan, who was attached to the world of sunlight, Damon does not feel even a slight attachment to such idea. The life that he has been living was all for the sake of pleasures and never for future endowment. To him, the world that Katherine has to offer will be the expansion that he dreamed of. It is the dimension that he would be able to revel each of his desires, completely. Unfortunately, the indecisive Katherine in choosing her one and only love became the peak of hatred between the two brothers, as both of them are unwilling to share Katherine.
The death of Katherine that was supposed to be the one thing that ends the rivalry between the two brothers instead becomes the splinter in their hearts. The wound that can never cease to heal and impossible to be forgotten. As the story progresses, it has become clear that the very intention of Damon Salvatore was to punish Stefan Salvatore for taking away his chance of happiness, something that he had sought for a very long time ever since he lost his mother. In his lifetime, he had been carousing, messing around as he was unable to find any individual that is capable of understanding him. Stefan’s unwillingness to give up a glimpse of sunshine for Damon, pushed Damon’s detestation towards Stefan to another level.
As a result, Damon deliberately plans to make Stefan suffer. Stefan’s decision to move to Fell’s Church was plotted by Damon as his vendetta for his loss of Katherine. During this process, he encountered Elena, a person that resembles his lost lover, Katherine. The plan to make Stefan live miserably was escalated to remove him out of the picture and for the second time, getting the woman that he once lost.
Damon Salvatore, in a nutshell is a very arrogant person. Although it was already shown when he produced no sense of remorse as he quit university and mock his father while doing so, that personality of his did not change. This can be observed when he met Elena in the gym. He was fully content as he surprised Elena and felt no need to apologizing for surprising her even though she almost passes out. It came out as a poor attempt of mortification technique.
"I'm sorry if I frightened you." The voice was pleasant, with a slight accent she couldn't place. It didn't sound sorry at all. (Page 74).
His arrogance also came from his high self-esteem which was portrayed in Chapter 9.
"And how can this boy make you happy when he knows nothing of the world?" Damon interposed his voice razor-sharp with contempt. "How will he protect you when he has never faced reality? He has spent his life among books and paintings; let him stay there." (Page 62)
As he asked Katherine to choose between him and Stefan, he viewed himself as a far better candidate of lover for her compared to his younger brother thus performing transcend by adding a notion in Katherine’s consideration. Although that certainly gave a good point for Katherine to choose her lover, it is still not enough for her to make an impromptu decision.
A quality of Damon that has to be mentioned is his charming dark beauty. Elena described him as a person that is
“remarkably good-looking” (page 74)and has cheekbones that were a “sculptor’s dream” (page 74).
These features of Damon are certainly among those that are hunted in someone’s appearance. In spite of that, appearance that does not come with a proper attitude makes for a failed piece thus resulting on Elena’s rejection towards Damon’s creepy and rude behavior. The dark aura that Damon’s emanated throughout the story has been the sign for everyone to keep their distance from him. This started when Vickie Bennett was attacked as she was having a good time in the cemetery.
Vickie sobbed, putting her hands over her face as Meredith settled Bonnie's iridescent pink wrap around her shoulders. "No… Dick," she said indistinctly. It seemed to hurt her to speak. "We were in the church… it was horrible. It came… like mist all around. Dark mist. And eyes. I saw its eyes in the dark there, burning. They burnt me…" (Page 56)
She was attacked by Damon and the effect lingered in her mind even days after the incident. The same aura was felt by Elena as she was visited by Damon in the school’s gym. Humans are known to being able to sense danger through their so-called sixth sense although it was not proven yet as the mechanism for such ability is still unknown to this day. Alas, it was applied on this novel and that supernatural element complements the genre of this novel.
"She's delirious," said Bonnie. "Or hysterical, or whatever you call it."(Page 56).
Such acts put the minds of his victims in an acutely disturbed state, reducing their credibility to give answers regarding Damon’s identity and existence. From the extensive analysis regarding the human qualities in in the form of moral elements done on both characters, it is revealed that the protagonist was represented with a lot of positive human qualities while the opposite were given to the antagonist. The findings of the research correlate with the Hymes’ SPEAKING Model and the Image Restoration Theory described in Chapter 2. By realizing the acceptable human qualities in novels, especially in the genre of Young Adult Fiction such as “The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening”, readers or even authors would be able to critically find patterns and elements that managed to capture their attention and use it to fully enjoy the works. Authors and writers however, may use this work as a mean to mimic the success of the notable young adult novels upon discovering its components.
It appears that both characters were given a lot of human qualities considering that both of the characters started out as a human and inheriting it later in their vampire forms. The combination of Hymes’ SPEAKING Model and the Image Restoration Theory by William Benoit exposed that the both of the characters interactions with other characters in the novel are the key to unlocking their true personality. This happens as both characters that were analyzed produced a shroud of mystery around them unless they were approached by people of their likings. Stefan’s and Damon’s fondness towards Elena and Katherine allowed the portrayal of fear, guilt, compassion, arrogance, charms and danger.
Damon, being the anti-hero in the novel was given the typical elements of villain in every other story. His arrogance and presence that emanates the perfumes of danger is his forte in keeping people away, hating him. In spite of this, Damon was not always seen evil, especially by his brother, Stefan. To Stefan, Damon’s love to their mother was not something that can be easily replaced by anything in his world, inflicting a tremendous woe to Damon as she passed away. It changed Damon. His personality might have seemed arrogant and all, but it was his way of expressing his thoughts. For instance, when he belittled Stefan as a boy, he is simply being honest. The life that Stefan went through was full of bright lights, hopes and dreams as he had always seen the world from books and paintings. Damon, on the other hand, exposed himself to adult life. He had a different view on life thus giving him a very mature personality and in times, becoming his charms, his dark beauty. This aspect of his attracted Katherine despite in the end might have become the perfect balance for Katherine’s scale to decide her one and only lover. In addition, his creepy behavior along with his dangerous atmosphere also became his perdition in getting close to Elena. The failure of Damon in integrating with the present community became his undoing. Sjoqvist (2011) elaborated that the process of becoming friendly or similar to human is what allows vampires to kick start their assimilation to human race.
Stefan was portrayed as a vampire heavily portrayed with fear, guilt and compassion. These human qualities then helps to build his character as someone that caring, compassionate and also sensitive at the same time. He values every life that exist around him, and also uses his supernatural powers when he required to which was shown as he protected Elena from the sexual assault from Tyler Smallwood. The powers that he received by becoming a vampire was also put into a good use even for a person that he barely knows. However, his past of turning his own brother into a vampire haunts him, rendering him unable to see himself as a good person. The name that he was given seems to be the complete opposite of what he had done. Knowing that he condemned his brother to such evil fate put his heart in constant feeling of guilt. In spite of this, he is a person that has a high compassion towards others; he is unable to leave people that are on distress. These three elements built him as a tragic and romantic character. He lives his life as a normal high school student, trying to fit in into the society and he built an intimate relationship with Elena and yet his efforts to build a wall that separates his curse to protect others became his core element of attractiveness in the novel. This event is also supported by the research done by Kristensen (2010) that resulted in proving that vampire literatures are moving the dreaded figure into mankind’s community. Stefan, despite being a Vampire, taking up the shape of a human in an emotionally way and also in personality, helped him to move towards human acceptance.
The study has managed to answer the objectives of the research. The Hymes’ SPEAKING Model and the Image Restoration Theory by William Benoit has been used to determine the moral elements of the protagonist and the antagonist. By investigating the moral elements added to the characters, the study has confirmed that the moral elements played a huge role in determining the process of building the character’s attractiveness.
This study examined the moral elements of human qualities in the protagonist and antagonist in The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening. It is important to see how the moral elements affect the characterization of both characters that played a huge role in bringing the story to light and keeping the readers to turn to the next page. In The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening, human qualities in the aspect of moral elements are put into a vampire; creature of the night that are known to be the hunter of the living. This move by the author allowed the creature to be seen from a different light. The once feared creature became a gorgeous species deserving love just as every other creation in the world. Stefan Salvatore, the romantic hero plagued with tragic past was imbued with mankind’s’ moral, the understanding of standing to his belief. As he continued walking on Earth, his purity as a man remained in his heart. His fear, guilt and compassion are his standard in making his decision. Equipping those made him become an approachable person in which in this novel, the one that was attracted to him was Elena Gilbert, a normal high school girl. The mysterious shroud encompassing him may have attracted her in the first place but it was his way being noble in helping people and the knight in shining armor to rescue Elena that glued her next to him. Meanwhile, Damon Salvatore was much more inclined to see himself as the greater one and was not afraid of expressing it to the people. Clearly, such move may have captured Katherine’s heart as he seems realistic compared to Stefan but it did not work on Elena. His narcissistic personality crept out Elena. According to Ames (2010) the popularity of vampire for young adult romance genre rises due to the continuous merging process between vampire literatures and young adult romance genre. This then explains why Stefan, the main character was described as a man with understanding of others’ difficulties, gallant entrances and compassions towards other people. Such qualities suited the young adult romance genre mentioned by Ames (2010) as the storylines are inserted with tons of ten angst issue. The attractiveness of Damon that came from arrogance, bad guys charm and narcissistic way of thinking are then deemed not-so-attractive to readers that seek salvation. This study contributes in the existing literature which subtly proven the moral elements in the protagonist character increases their attractiveness to female characters as such human qualities shown by the vampire has given the impression that despite being an ugly, terrifying monster, the heart that he has is full of kindness and warmth. Proving the possibility that a feared creature can be altered to have moral elements in order to make them a creature capable of loving and worthy to be loved.
This study is one of very few studies which have investigated the significant element of literature via characters of a film in which it is hoped that future research would involve a larger sample size, which consists of more characters of The Vampire Diaries, should be carried out while considering the entire series instead of focusing on just one part of it. This is to enable the full exposure of each character rather than making judgment based on the fragments of their story and at the same time, being able to avoid speculations on things that have not been revealed yet. The effects of moral elements on the role of a character then can be examined with much more clarity as the universe of the novel expanded.
Evidently, the paper's primary contribution in Smith’s THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: THE AWAKENING, carries tons of humanistic elements through characters that reflect the role of emotions and personality. The paper also shows that human qualities in the aspect of moral elements does play a role in applying a certain type of attractiveness to the creature of the night that are supposed to be a figure of dread.
| Funding: This study received no specific financial support. |
| Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. |
| Contributors/Acknowledgement: All authors contributed equally to the conception and design of the study. |
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