hpl: bigoted newt, or just misunderstood?

JJ Burke · Post by **JJ Burke** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 8:17 pm

so i read this old article on salon.com called 'the master of disgust,' speculating that hpl was not only a sexless mama's boy, but a stuck-up racist as well. does anyone here think this is accurate, or just an unnecessarily provocative spin? keeping in mind that he lived before the civil rights movement and sexual revolution, do you detect an extraordinary level of cultural insensitivity or prudishness in his writing?

here's the link
http://dir.salon.com/story/books/featur ... .html?pn=1

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:04 pm

I don't see any prudishness, but he was a sexless mama's boy okay. It doesn't seem ot show through in his writing that much.
The racism, I don't condone, but it wasn't too much above the normal level of the time.

Post by **Aleister** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:13 pm

Interesting article..

While some of his views were undoubtedly extreme at times, I do not think his overall tendencies for such language were that far from the norm in his day.

But who knows.. I do know that often times the manner in which one writes does not always accurately portray one's self, but since he was a writer by trade, it might have been fairly dead on.

Yog-Sothoth · Post by **Yog-Sothoth** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:20 pm

heh, women, if only this thing called "Womens Right to Vote" were dissallowed, things like this wouldnt happen. man i wanna live in germany...

Jehar · Post by **Jehar** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 12:50 am

I dislike both choices on the poll; I do not think he was perfectly innocent of racism\classism\sexism, the man had some definate views that to people today (including me personally) are not considered to be morally upright. I *do* think that many of these accusations are exaggerated and quite abrasive.

It is important to see how this man's views affected his work, but it is no way right to use them as leverage against him. The man is dead. Let it rest.

JJ Burke · Post by **JJ Burke** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:53 am

heh.. i wasn't being serious with the poll. honestly, these questions never occured to me until i read that salon.com piece. and once i did, i wondered if they were worthwhile questions to begin with, or just the writer's attempt to cut a novel niche in the subject. like jehar, i am left with a slimy taste in my mouth. just wanted to see how it registers with the community here.

Yog-Sothoth wrote:heh, women, if only this thing called "Womens Right to Vote" were dissallowed, things like this wouldnt happen. man i wanna live in germany...

wha? women can't vote in germany?

Stick · Post by **Stick** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 2:32 pm

There are a couple of passages that would give politically correct minded the wrong impression of HPL, particularly in The Ancient Track, but he seemed to be phobic of all races and cultures and sexes. At least it seems he wrote that way, anyhow.

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:58 pm

The only thing that really strikes me as him being racist is the poem "On the Creation of Niggers", but even then, that's one out of hundreds.

Post by **Aleister** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:34 pm

I thought 'no way..', until I looked it up..

Adrian · Post by **Adrian** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:01 pm

btw has anyone seen a full body shot of HPL? It's always his face that's been photographed. Maybe he was too sexy for his age and time and his nerd co-writers hated him and said he was a bigot?

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 2:32 pm

Aleister wrote:I thought 'no way..', until I looked it up..

It's actually almost quite funny if you look at it as a piece of history and not as a racist peice. It's in "The Ancient Track" if you want to find it, it's a collection of all Lovecraft's poetry.

nortonew · Post by **nortonew** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 6:11 pm

I noticed that in his story, "The Rats in the Walls", there was a black cat named "Nigger-man".

There are a lot of negative adjectives in HPL's writing applied to dark skinned and mixed-race people. I would say that by today's standards he would be considered rascist. However, by the standards of his day, his views were probably pretty mainstream.

Jehar · Post by **Jehar** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:34 am

Much as I support the guy, I don't believe that 'That's how it was at the time' is a good excuse for his standpoint; it rather seems like a cheap way out.

However, I believe as he aged, he was just finding some of his own thoughts, and not those influenced by his upbringing or childhood. He probably had a fairly regressed mind, and this finding of himself would have taken longer than it would have for other people.

I would have liked to have seen his opinions on the matter 5, 10 years from his death if he had lived instead.

Yog-Sothoth · Post by **Yog-Sothoth** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:56 am

listen, once we get H.G. Wells's Time Machine, we can go back and Ask him.

Adrian · Post by **Adrian** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 10:53 am

DAMMIT FULL BODY SHOTS OF HPL NOW!

*puts on Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty"*

I bet he was too hot for his age though that option wasn't included in the poll.