Vampires in the Lemon Grove

by: Karen Russell

 I am not sure if I have total clarity about what this weeks’ assignment is asking for. We are supposed to  "Post a discussion on your blog about an aspect of the way in which the text of "Vampires in the Lemon Grove," Karen Russell is situated." We are supposed to take the text in context and relate it to some other work along whatever thread,...of context?, we chose. So here goes, I'll give it a shot.

     When I read Vampires in the Lemon Grove I got a feeling of admonishment of fear. A kind of cleansing of all of the fears that people say are a requirement of certain rolls in life, both figuratively and literally. Clyde, the main character of the short story, is a Vampire... living for the time being in a Lemon Grove in Italy where he has found solace and reprieve from the pains of his bloodlust partly from lemons, and partly from his new found (yet 30 year friend, wife, lover) Vampire companion Magreb, A female Vampire who is Clyde's kindred spirit. She convinces him to shed all of his fears about what others have embedded into him as his weaknesses as a Vampire and proves them all false, to some degree or another. By overcoming this barrier Clyde is free to seek an eternity free of the constraints placed on him by the outside world.

     The main take away in the context for me is the sense that lifting restraints often leads to a more pleasurable existence. This is such a fundamental thread in stories that it is becoming very hard to narrow the scope of just one or two works that relate to this idea as a whole. I guess something that stands out most in my mind is the story of Siddhartha 

(probably because it is still so fresh in my mind). The story is ... as a very brief summary, a story of a young man who is trying to shed himself of what everyone says he needs to learn or to be to be truly happy. 

     This feeling of overcoming fears permeates our culture, and will most likely be drawn upon as a well of inspiration for years ... even centuries to come.