About Memnoch the devil

I enjoyed the book, and as it's been mentioned in Merrick (and if  I remember correctly, at the end of Memnoch) it could have 
been a trick of some sort, and not actually the devil and god.

I could see Lestat freaking out over the "devil" comming to him.  In his entire exsistance, he was never powerless, except when 
he was made immortal, and at that point he was terrified too.  Memnoch made sure that Lestat was fully aware of the fact that he 
was powerless against him.  That no matter where he went, he could be found-  that he could make him lose touch of reality at 
any point, that no where was safe, and that he could be haunted like that for eternity.  I don't think it was because Memnoch 
claimed to be the devil... it was being aware that there was a creature that he was completely defensless against.  Feeling 
helpless.   It was mentioned in the book that he hated feeling the way he did, that he hated being cowerdly-  And if he was 
terrified in a human body being so voulnerable, just imagine feeling even more voulnerable being one of the most powerful 
creatures in exsistance- and having your powers completely dwarfed!

Then there's the "what if it is the devil?"  which would cross anyone's minds, even an athiest.  I know that I would be more than a 
little horrified if the devil came to me-  and I haven't been a blood thirsty killer for 2 centuries.  He did grow up as a mortal going to 
church, whether or not he actually believed in it is irrelevant when facing the devil.  The church ingranes in a person the total fear 
of the devil.  Lestat feels he's sinned... he's said it enough times, and the thought of being condemmed to an eternity in a river of 
flames is perfectly terrifying no matter who it is.

Even though Lestat is what he is... deep down he's really a guy who's had a messed up exsistance- he isn't as immune to fear as 
he claims.  He's a guy who can't let others see his fear, so he throws up a front of bravado.  And imagine the overwhelming 
feeling if someone brings you to heaven to meet god face to face?

In the books, it's noted that most mortals go mad when they discover that vampires are real.  Lestat had said that vampires were 
like a vision without  without a revelation, and a miricle without meaning.  What happens when a vision without revelation goes 
through what he went through?  Is shown what he was shown?  Just trying to figure out whether or not it was really god and the 
devil, or just a creature with god like powers idea of fun?  Either way, suddenly realizing that he is not untouchable like he 
believed for his entire exsistance.  That alone is enough to drive him over the edge.

Though I didn't like his going a bit mad at the end... and his silence in the other books... I felt that he was justifiably in a state of 
emmense shock.  It took 5 years for him to "snap out of it"  (at least that's the amount of time between Memnoch and Merrick)  
He needed to figure out all that he saw, re-examine his choices in life, and come to terms with it.  He might have just been unable 
to do that, and decided to withdraw and live other people's lives for a while, avoiding thinking of it all together in the books 
following Memnoch.

Lore