Essay/Term paper: The witching hour

Essay, term paper, research paper:  English Term Papers

Title: The Witching Hour
Author: Anne Rice
Copyright Date: 1990
Number of Page Read: 1043

Three main elements classify the genre: Gothic, Mystery, and Romance. I classify
Gothic novels as stories pertaining to a dismal atmosphere, such as Edgar Allan Poe"s
literature. .

Lovers who unlock thirteen generation"s of Mayfair family secrets and incest;
discovering that their intervention becomes a more complex-intertwining destiny.

Our Antagonist Michael Curry, a 48-year old Irish man who had lost himself in a
world in which he had accomplished his dreams, experienced his emotional pain, and yet
he felt empty. Michael approached the rocks of the bay, thought of his life and emptiness,
then he slipped and fell to his fatal doom in the sea. Found by a woman known as Rowan
Mayfair , he discovered that he was dead for over an hour as he rested in the hospital.
Michael also discovered that he had received the gift of seeing images by using his hands
to touch objects, and that he chose to come back. He was burdened by the images and the
vision after his death, that he had a purpose, that he was sent for a reason. Something that
had to do with a doorway, and the number thirteen.

After isolation from the press of the burden of his powers, he found himself wanting
to go back on the deck of the boat where he was rescued. He wanted to talk to the woman
who rescued him, for he thought that she would let him touch the boat to recover images
that night. He discovered that this neurosurgeon, Dr. Rowan Mayfair, was the veritable
love of his life. After he discovered how much he deeply loved Rowan, he began to
reminisce the images of his purpose; that certain elements and images of his childhood
hinted him to return to the house he had been fascinated with in New Orleans as a child.
Another major character of the story, Englishmen Aaron Lightner, was a part of an
archaic organization known as the "Talamasca". Aaron studied a family called the
Mayfairs in New Orleans, because his organization had believed the Mayfairs to be
witches. He devoted his life to the history of the Mayfair witches, and his organization had
compiled a history of the Mayfairs since the days of the 17th century inquisition in Europe.
As he watched Michael and Rowan from the corners of darkness, he intervened their lives
to enlighten their knowledge of Rowan"s family history—and its dangerous potential.
Rowan did not know a single thing of her family history, as she was left in the dark
her whole life by her aunt Ellie who became her legal guardian the day she was born..
After her notification from a family member that her mother died, this gave her permission
to learn her family history and go to New Orleans where her family resided to mourn her
catatonic mother"s death. This also gave her signs of coincidence with Michael"s life and
hers. Rowan then learned of her family"s meaning and history, and her life started to make
more sense as she got involved. Her passion to heal the wounded, her sixth sense to stop
the wounds of the sick, and her dangerous potential to kill without knowing it…or does
she?

These three main characters learn of the history, the scandals, the incest, the beauty,
and the apparition. The apparition is the Protagonist of the story, and goes by the name of
"Lasher". Lasher destroys everything that was established between Michael and Rowan,
and he is a character that seduces the Mayfair"s into his need to be human. He had been
with the Mayfairs for thirteen generations, and was summoned by an ancestor of Rowan"s
named Suzanne. Lasher, an ignorant being who learned over the generations of human
nature to educate himself in this new realm. He eventually enlightened Rowan of his past,
his intentions and his knowledge, for she had the gift to see him after his mother"s death.
But she was warned of this being by Aaron"s knowledge, her new-found immensely grown
family, and Michael, who studied with the Talamasca when Aaron came into his life.
The being is seductive, and after letting Lasher come between Michael and her,
Lasher destroys their child, and spawns himself into this fetal organism to be human based
on his new knowledge fed to him by our times. Rowan was the door, the thirteenth witch.
It"s complex, as I"ll explain below. The outcome, was that Rowan was not as powerful as
she thought, for she lost the two things she loved the most, by the evil contrived intentions
of this being and her weakness.

There are many elements that I"ve interpreted from the book. I would like to quote the
antagonist Michael Curry"s interpretations, as his interpretation is one of the pieces: (p.
1037)

"...for ours is the power and the glory, because we are capable of visions and
ideas which are ultimately stronger and more enduring than we are. If any revelation
awaits us at all, it must be as good as our ideals and out best philosophy. For surely
nature must embrace the visible and invisible, and it couldn"t fall short on us.".

What this story really is, is the power of creation, the power of knowledge,
understanding the barrier between the most abstract ideas and science. Perhaps there is a
thin barrier between the abstract mythology and science. Lasher, a ghost, one would
assume that this book would deal with archaic atheism, good and evil. But it"s not focused
on that, the focus is the sign of our times today. Lasher was a being, a representation of the
force of ignorance. Lasher learned and picked up the knowledge of what the Mayfair
witches knew and experienced throughout the 300 years of its existence. But as you know
the 20th century has created miracles, things that were unimaginable 100 years ago.

Lasher was a being whose existence seemed to interact with humans upon the
summoning of Suzanne Mayfair. Hence, his knowledge began with the ignorance of
science, and it was a time of atheistic beliefs dominating civilization. He knew nothing, of
how he was created, why he was there, and was ignorant of communication. But as the time
of the Catholic power died, and the Enlightenment came, Lasher began to see things
changing, progressing into an enlightenment and the possibility that he may become flesh
and learn of himself. The 20th century, things imaginable centuries ago would be seen as
magical, just as how we see mythology and atheism as magical—it"s unexplained. This
book is about the very thin line between the abstract and science, that science is the true
reliance.

As a prime example to think about, examine this; it was established this century that
human cloning was impossible, but yet we have found ourselves that this theory has been
defeated. Human cloning is as possible as any other scientific discovery, and it shows you
that any day, something new can be discovered, something that possesses the ability to defy
archaic magic and belief of gods, and other undiscovered territories. What if one day, you
woke up and heard on the radio that the energy of souls had been discovered as tiny
particles smaller than quirks that were linked together with incredible scientific
explanations? That scientific and computational technology allows us to answer age-old
questions. Indeed, it was no coincidence that Lasher chose Rowan"s destiny to become a
neurosurgeon. This book is certainly about the thin barrier between the archaic age-old
questions and science. Because of human being"s ability to create, maybe we can finally
identify ourselves as the gods. Think about it. I would like to quote Lasher"s words, he
talks of this interpretation of mine briefly: (p. 934)

"Why couldn"t anyone do it before me? Julien was powerful."

"Knowledge Rowan. Julien was born to soon…that is the key; that is what
enables you to be the doorway. The knowledge of your era was unimaginable even to
Julien, who saw in his time inventions that seemed purely magical. Could Julien have
foreseen a heart opened on an operating table? A child conceived in a test tube? No.
And there will come after you those whose knowledge is great enough even to define
what I am."

This book is a fantastic read, the story of each generation from 1689-1989 kept me up
until six in the morning often. The characters are beautifully crafted by Anne Rice, yet the
story and plot were sometimes set aside because of the vivid development of each
individual character throughout the book. I"ve already read several novels from this author,
and this novel earned it"s position with a high mark. It"s intuitive, mysterious, logical, and
enlightening. But the sad ending of Rowan"s strength depleting from her loss from this
"evil" Lasher, causes the book to develop into its next novel "Lasher".

Anne Rice gives the reader the ability to see the world through different eyes,
besides, are philosophical beliefs revolve around perception and perspective. I wish to
continue this saga with "Lasher", although I am going to take a brake from Rice, and I"m in
the process of choosing between "Exit to Eden" (John Steinbeck) and something from
Edgar Allan Poe.