LDPDL Books 1c (Family / Parenthood / Siblinghood)
Day One centers around Louis’ family and his emotional/high intense relationship to those he holds dear to him. @ldpdlweek2026
For ldpdlweek2026, I'm compiling AMC's book references to break them down thematically, and explore the parallels in the books AMC used to contextualize Louis' dynamics with the people in his life.
1943: The Flies - Jean Paul Sartre
A modern adaptation of the Oresteia/Electra. Orestes & his sister Electra are exiles in the wake of their father Agamemnon’s murder; and reckon with the consequences.
[x] The Flies (French: Les Mouches) is a play by Jean-Paul Sartre, produced in 1943. It is an adaptation of the Electra myth.... The play recounts the story of Orestes and his sister Electra in their quest to avenge the death of their father Agamemnon, king of Argos, by killing their mother Clytemnestra and her husband Aegisthus, who had deposed and killed him. Sartre incorporates an existentialist theme into the play, having Electra and Orestes engaged in a battle with Zeus and his Furies, who are the gods of Argos and the centerpiece for self-abnegating religious rituals. This results in fear and a lack of autonomy for Zeus's worshippers, who live in constant shame of their humanity.
Sartre's The Flies is one of the books sitting on Louis' nightstand in Dubai (2x3).
It's very easy to see the parallels, so long as Clytemnestra/Electra/Claudia and Orestes/Aegisthus/Louis are melded together.
- Zeus (Greek) / Jupiter (Roman) – a major antagonist in the play, Zeus is introduced in the exposition as "god of flies and death", although he is traditionally associated with sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, and justice.
- Orestes (Philebus) – the play's major protagonist, he is the brother of Electra and the son of Agamemnon.
- Electra – the sister of Orestes and the daughter of Agamemnon.
- Agamemnon – the former king of Argos and the father of Orestes and Electra, Agamemnon was murdered by Aegisthus prior to the story's onset. Orestes' desire to avenge his father's death is a major plot device in the play.
- Clytemnestra – the wife of Aegisthus and the mother of Orestes and Electra.
- Aegisthus – the husband of Clytemnestra.
- Furies – also known as the Erinyes or "infernal goddesses", the Furies serve as Zeus' enforcers in Argos and punish those who swear false oaths.
I've discussed Clytemnestra!Claudia before (wrt Helen!Louis), because she's the real focus as the one who wanted Agamemnon/Lestat dead. Likewise, Electra (in Euripides' version) is the one pushing the story forward as the mastermind behind killing Clytemnestra & Aegisthus; cussing Orestes from A-Z when he hesitates for lacking her conviction & backbone despite everything they've lost & suffered.
Because vampirism melds spouses & children together, Claudia is a companion-killer AND parent-killer: she's Clytemnestra as Agamemnon/Lestat's traitorous & vengeful spouse/companion; and she's Electra as Clytemnestra/Lestat's traitorous & vengeful child.
As for her brother Orestes/Louis, he's the one who gets left holding the hot potato, half-mad riddled with guilt over going along with the Murder Plot. Plagued with existentialist insecurity, he doesn't know who he really is or what he really wants; so his sister is his source of strength & identity & duty/purpose as the only family he has left--
--esp. since he must lie about who his true father even is ("Bruce") when he moves to a new city. But ofc the head-honcho in town, Zeus (Armand) already knows exactly who he is and what he's up to.
[x] Orestes first arrives as a traveler...and does not seek involvement. Orestes has been traveling in a quest to find himself. He enters the story more as an adolescent with a girlish face, one who does not know his path or responsibility. He enters the city and introduces himself as Philebus ("lover of youth"), to disguise his true identity. Zeus has followed Orestes on his journey, and finally approaches him in Argos, introducing himself.... Orestes has come on the eve of the day of the dead, a day of mourning to commemorate the killing of Agamemnon fifteen years prior....
[x] Electra has been treated as a servant girl since her mother and Aegisthus killed her father. She longs to exact her revenge and refuses to mourn for the sins and death of Agamemnon or of the townspeople.
[x] The Furies decide to leave her alone in order to wait for Orestes to weaken so they can attack him.... Orestes informs them he has taken their crimes upon himself and that they must learn to build a new life for themselves without remorse. He...promises to leave, taking their sins, their dead, and their flies with him.... Orestes walks off into the light as the Furies chase after him.
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