Category: At The Mountains Of Madness, VI to IX

“There were the Great Old Ones that had filtered down from the stars when earth was young-the beings whose substance an alien evolution had shaped and whose powers were such a this planet had never bred. And to think that only the day before Danforth and I had actually looked upon fragments of their millennially fossilized substance….and that poor Lake and his party had seen their complete outlines…”

 

This paragraph connects to Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and his description of the origins of count Dracula. Dracula was the one that fought against the Turks in a bloody battle with great strength and tenacity brining victory to his people. Such strength and power was not seen by anyone and perceived as supernatural given to him by a higher being.

Lovecraft’s idea of horror and terror is defined as psychological manipulation. In chapter 6 the story starts off with the narrator and his team inside the unknown creatures’ territory. Finding themselves in this situation the narrator points out how he feels somewhat obsolete in this town they made. “The Cyclopean massiveness and giganticism of everything about us became curiously oppressive, and there was something vaguely but deeply unhuman in all the contours, dimensions, proportions, decorations, and constructional nuances of the blasphemously archaic stonework. We soon realized from what the carvings revealed that this monstrous city was many million years old.” Now how this connects with his idea of history and science is that what I believe is his interpretation of how much history has done and how much time has changed with the representation of the city that the creatures made. Even with today how we question things such as the pyramids or landmarks and how they got there. So I believe H.P Lovecraft’s idea of history and science is sort of questioning the proof.

The walls were—in available spaces—boldly sculptured into a spiral
band of heroic proportions; and displayed, despite the destructive weathering caused by the
openness of the spot, an artistic splendour far beyond anything we had encountered before. The
littered floor was quite heavily glaciated, and we fancied that the true bottom lay at a
considerably lower depth.page 60

This para can be compared to the fantastic hesitation as the author could not understand what this maybe. It can also be related to the uncanny as they know it is Ice but the way it is sculptured and presented is hard to tell if it really is or not. This can be related to the scene of The Falling House of Usher where the narrator sees the house and he knows it is the house but it seemed so off that he compared it with a human and their features. It’s like they know what it is but they could not exactly give it an explanation of why this might be that way. Obviously we know the house was haunted in the Falling House of Usher and so the narrator felt that way. When we think about this story we can also say the mountains maybe haunted but not by spirits or ghosts but by unknown mysteries creatures which can be related.

“The Cyclopean massiveness and giganticism of everything about us became curiously oppressive; and there was something vaguely but deeply unhuman in all the contours, dimensions, proportions, decorations, and constructional nuances of the blasphemously archaic stonework. We soon realised from what the carvings revealed that this monstrous city was many
million years old” (40)I wanted to show how massive this ice kingdom is compared to the scientists. As they continue on with their expediton, they see how technology advanced these creatures are. The creatures are capable of creating gigantic and eye catching archaic stonework, driving the scientists to discover more. It is questionable how these creatures can survive and thrive for so long without being discovered by humans all this time.

Group 2: Post a Create, Clue, or Connect critical response by 11 am Tuesday.

The post should focus on the contents of 1 particular paragraph.

The Create post should involve either a visual representation (in the form of an uploaded JPG) or a creative writing elaboration (fiction or poetry).

The Clue and Connect posts should both go beyond summary and analyze how specific literary elements (e.g. plot development, setting details, character choices) might articulate broader themes. Some of these may include:

-Abjection

-The sublime

-The uncovering of secret revelations that destabilize identity

-The subversion/challenging of race, class, or gender norms

-The symbolic significance of “ruins” or abandoned architectural spaces.

Clue posts should speculate how the passage might provide a clue as to Lovecraft’s philosophy or outlook on history + science.

Connect posts should try to compare/contrast the paragraph with another text we’ve read this semester.