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The Vampire Diaries Values

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Many American TV shows and sitcoms have themes of strong American values and culture. Despite having an overwhelmingly supernatural theme, the show The Vampire Diaries is a shining example of where key American values are showcased interestingly in the underlying tones as opposed to being the main theme. Throughout the series, there are many key American values that are evident. More specifically: family, community, and patriotism. The series at its core follows Elena Gilbert, her family, friends, and relationships, and the town she lives in, as she learns about the world of supernatural beings and how to exist in it as a human. The various characters and captivating storylines offer in-depth understandings of these values. It is important …show more content…

At the beginning of the series we see Elena and her younger brother Jeremy being raised by their aunt Jenna after the death of their parents. Although the siblings become somewhat distant after this tragedy, we are shown in later seasons that they are in fact very close. In American culture, family is one of the most important things, it is an innate and unspoken bond . In the Vampire diaries, this is definitely the case. We see throughout the seasons that Elena values her brother’s safety and happiness above anything else, at one point having his memories wiped by Damon so he would not remember the pain of losing his girlfriend. Later on in the series, she has him compelled to leave town, as she believes Mystic Falls is no longer safe for him. Elena often goes out of her way to protect Jeremy from finding out about the vampires in Mystic Falls, as a big sister would. Despite these efforts, Jeremy still ends up finding out about the vampires, and still ends up in danger at the hands of them on multiple occasions. As the seasons progress, we see Elena endeavour to live through the loss of almost all of her family. After Jenna is killed and Jeremy dies (before he is …show more content…

Many American TV shows, as well as literature, have explored the theme of patriotism. For example, in the show Homeland, the focus of the show is on the US army and their families, throughout, the show holds a strong theme of patriotism. The Vampire Diaries is another example of a show that showcases patriotism, however it does this without bringing it to the forefront of the series. It could even be argued that the show isn’t very patriotic at all, and only uses the wars involved as a story-telling device to further the plot. However, it is significant and important to note that the reason the Salvatore brothers both take part in, and perish in, the American Civil War, is that they both agree that protecting their beliefs as Americans is an honour and a privilege. Stefan showcases this kind of patriotism more so than Damon does. After Stefan takes part in the Civil War of the 1860s and along with his brother, becomes a vampire, he goes on by himself to fight in World War II, deeming it to be a worthy cause for his vampire abilities. Despite the underlying patriotism in the importance in fighting for the country, Stefan is mostly interested in fighting for the causes that he believes to be right, as opposed to being outright patriotic, which is what truly led to his decision to fight in

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