ipl-logo

Lovecraft's Influence On Modern English Literature

3153 Words13 Pages

H.P. Lovecraft & Stephen King: deliria of horror geniuses. César Castellón Gort castellongort@gmail.com Abstract Many times has been discussed Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s influence on modern horror literature. However, little has been said about his specific influence on Stephen King. That is what I intend to discover in my work. To do so I will analyze one of King’s masterpieces It. This novel by King is filled with Lovecraftian elements. There are parallelisms between King’s entities and Lovecraftian gods, King’s characters and Lovecraft’s characters, King’s settings and Lovecraft’s settings, etc. Analyzing King’s work, one can see how …show more content…

To begin with, Lovecraft plays with the immensity of space and how the human being is only a very small part of it and that no matter what we do, existence makes no sense. In addition, out in space, according to Lovecraft, there are ‘things’ we should be afraid of, grotesque figures that can make the fearless human being run away in dread. As he says in the opening sentence of The Call of Cthulhu (one of his most famous works where he summarizes he’s view of humanity’s position in relation to the universe): "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents" (Lovecraft 45). Many authors have added stories to Lovecraft’s collection Cthulhu Mythos, all of them centered upon "the Great Old Ones who lived ages before there were any men, and who came to the young world out of the sky" (Lovecraft 59). And when “the stars. . . come round again to the right positions in the cycle of eternity” these gods will come alive. These “gods’” existence is ambiguous as they are “not composed altogether of flesh and blood” (Lovecraft 60) and their true forms are “not made of matter” (Lovecraft 60). Lovecraft adds that The Great Old Ones are in a grey zone, they are beyond human conceptions such as good and evil. That’s why …show more content…

Eventually in Pet Sematary it is suggested that the creature –the Wendigo- feeds on human pain, just like the entity in It does. Moreover, one of Pet Sematary protagonists says that the Wendigo’s “power goes through phases, same as the moon. It’s been full of power before, and I’m ascared is coming around to full again” (King 246). The influence from a cosmic cycle is very frequent in Lovecraft’s works and it definitely dominates It. Contrary to Pet Sematary where cosmic motif is only mentioned, It uses this as integral to its

Show More
Related

  • Stephen King's Impact On American Culture

    1548 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Impact of Stephen King on American Culture “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, sometimes, they win.” Stephen King is one of the most revered authors of the horror genre. He has around 130 works and has sold 350 million copies of his novels, making King very well known especially in pop culture.

    Read More

  • Literary Devices Create Suspense In Literature

    437 Words  | 2 Pages

    This article will examine how H.P. Lovecraft creates suspense using Narrator’s point of view and sensory language. I will be showing how the literary devices create suspense by using quotes and explaining the reasons why they create suspense. Understanding suspense and literary devices can help us read and understand the story. “Pickman’s Model” By H.P. Lovecraft tells

    Read More

  • Literary Techniques In Stephen King's On Writing

    487 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stephen King uses multiple literary devices in his novel On Writing to convey the feel of a fictional novel, though it is based on facts from his life. King effectively uses these devices to convey his theme of persevering through adversity to become a greater writer and person. A major technique used in his writing is imagery that comes in many forms, precisely in this passage. There was a sharp smell of alcohol. A clank as the ear doctor opened his sterilizer.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail

    563 Words  | 3 Pages

    Looking at this letter from King’s time period, one may seem to not understand where King was coming from because the issue was still fresh, but today his letter has lots of

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Tell Tale Heart And The Raven

    930 Words  | 4 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe’s frightening gothic style poetry and short novels about fear, love, death and horror are prominent to Gothic Literature and explore madness through a nerve-recking angle. The incredible, malformed author, poet, editor and novelist is recognized for his famous classical pieces such as “The Raven”, “Berenice” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”, pieces of work that mystically yet magnificently awakens readers with a gloomy spirit. Awakening the subject of madness through written work was viewed as insane during Poe’s times. Yet Poe published some of the worlds most magnificently frightening pieces of literature throughout history. In the following essay I will examine and cautiously analyze

    Read More

  • Analysis Of A Story That's All We Are By Thomas King

    1038 Words  | 5 Pages

    Knowledge is a common theme in most stories and each story holds its own. He writes in a way to not only tell a story, but to interest the reader in the story and then help them understand the lesson behind the story. An excellent example of this is portrayed when King tells the story of creation. He tells the story of Charm and all of the animals collaborating to create the earth (pg 20) and then compares it to the typical Adam and Eve story most American children are told. He shared this story to show the dichotomies portrayed throughout Western Society.

    Read More

  • Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis

    1042 Words  | 5 Pages

    King was a powerful speaker as well as an intelligent writer. His uses of metaphor put a vivid picture in reader’s eyes. For example in page 3 King used imagery and metaphor to describe the pain he felt when he had to explain to her daughter about the racism and inequality. “Ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky” (page 3).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Matthew Lewis The Monk And Ann Radcliffe's The Italian

    1270 Words  | 6 Pages

    Matthew Lewis’ The Monk and Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian are two of the most iconic Gothic novels of the Eighteenth Century, both written only a year apart and one in response to other. It is of no surprise that both novels have various subjects in common—one of these, the Supernatural. Ghostlike forces, specters, demons and locations are approached differently in The Monk and The Italian, one uses the supernatural deliberately—and in a much larger role—while the other uses the supernatural to heighten certain scenes of terror. Certainly, both novels use it as a shock factor, but furthermore both use it for different reasons in their novels.

    Read More

  • Parallelism In Letters From Birmingham Jail

    172 Words  | 1 Pages

    The sureness King presents in this quote both instills hope in the reader and allows them to relate to King’s passion. Parallelism, in the way King uses it, connects what seems like small problems to a larger issue. King says on page

    Read More

  • Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King Jr.

    957 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout King’s argument, he appealed his own ethos to his opponents by saying “I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth”. Dr.

    Read More

  • Stephen King Why We Crave Horror

    536 Words  | 3 Pages

    King wants to provide information to the normal human thoughts. To explain how all of this can come in through mind for some people. For example, murder that criminals do might have been influenced by someone or

    Read More

  • Red As A Motif In Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game

    1635 Words  | 7 Pages

    The first of these is stars, which frequently embody the emotions of Paali’s parents as they fight for him. As Manoharlal and his wife, Kaushalya, are journeying across the partition with the other refugees on lorries after they have lost Paali every one of their feelings is reflected in the stars. When they feel unsure about whether to stay or go “the shadows descended from the skies and the occasional star began to glitter beneath the unknowable heavens,” (Paali, 66) perfectly symbolizing their confusion at what to do now. As they approach the border the sky is described as “studded with innumerable stars,” and “looked unfathomable and mysterious,” (Paali, 67). This represents many feelings, how mysterious they must think their new home is, how lost they feel, and how small under this myriad of stars.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail

    874 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever” (4). Eventually, revolution was going to occur, and King is trying to show his readers that this revolution doesn't have to be a bloody one. “I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends” (7).

    Read More

  • Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: The Pursuit Of Knowledge

    1420 Words  | 6 Pages

    ENG-3U0 November 20 2015 Frankenstein: The Pursuit of Knowledge Throughout the course of their individual journeys, Victor Frankenstein’s extreme passion for gaining knowledge about creating life, Robert Walton’s curiosity to discover land beyond the North Pole and the monster’s eagerness to obtain knowledge about humans was the principal cause of each of their suffering. As such, In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the pursuit of knowledge is a dangerous path which leads to suffering. Victor Frankenstein develops a keen interest in discovering knowledge about living beings which ultimately results in his personal suffering as well as others suffering. To begin with, Victor embarks on an assignment through combining body parts and following various

    Read More

  • Udolpho Frankenstein Analysis

    1118 Words  | 5 Pages

    Have you ever read a story that causes chills or your emotionally invested in a character. The story’s Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The mysteries of udolpho by Ann Radcliffe are literature that are centered in fear. These story’s cause suspense or has ghost or some type of monster. A gothic is a great example of fear in literature. The settings, characters, and story line has a way of making the reader invested by hooking to their emotions.

    Read More

More about Lovecraft's Influence On Modern English Literature

Open Document