The Mummy novel: Encyclopedia II - The Mummy novel - Motifs

The Mummy novel - Motifs

Like the vampires of Rice's Vampire Chronicles, those who take the elixir become immortal, inhumanely strong, and unable to die from normal means. These individuals could even be said to be "reverse vampires" since they derive their strength from the sun, and cannot live without it. Unlike vampires, they are able to eat, drink, and function as normal humans.

However, this immortality comes with a strange price. Those who drink the potion are constantly driven to sate their senses. They constantly crave food and drink, although they need neither to survive. They have an extremely heightened libido. Moreover, their bodies continually blunt drugs that give humans pleasure. For example, Ramses constantly drinks and smokes because the "buzz" the alcohol or nicotine would normally give him fades after a few moments.

For this reason, the elixir's formula is strictly hidden by Ramses; although the ingredients are common and easily-obtained, he does not want to create too many ravenous creatures. His feud with Cleopatra began when he refused to create an "immortal army" for Marc Antony's use.

As with many Rice novels, sexuality tends to be fluid. Both Elliott and Lawrence are described as bisexual - when younger, they were lovers, but both eventually married and had children (Elliott even has sex with Cleopatra at one point). In the past, Henry had an affair with Elliott as well, but his only reason may have been a failed blackmail attempt (at the time of the novel, Henry has at least two mistresses).

As always, Rice employs considerable irony. For example, after his death, Henry's corpse ends up in a "mummy factory" (during the Egyptian craze of the early 1900s, natives often took modern corpses and made them into mummies for sale to gullible tourists). Elliott, his nemesis, gets the last laugh when a merchant tries to sell him Henry's mummy.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Motifs", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki