The Supernatural in H.P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider Essay -- Lovecraft

The Supernatural in H.P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider One of H.P. Lovecraft’s many short stories, â€Å"The Outsider† has been praised since its publication as his most profound and meaningful. This story has been interpreted many different ways, varying from an autobiography of Lovecraft himself to several different philosophical analyses. One such interpretation, by Dirk Mosig compares the plot and settings of â€Å"The Outsider† to Lovecraft’s own doubtful views of religion and an afterlife. Mosig supports his interpretation with many facts from the story, I believe he pinpoints one very possible meaning of the story. His argument successfully uses the plot and details to convince the reader that his hypothesis is correct. In order to understand Mosig’s interpretation, one must first understand â€Å"The Outsider† and its general themes, from an unbiased viewpoint. The story begins with the narrator explaining his origins. He, a nameless creature, tells of his environment: a dark, decaying castle amid an â€Å"endless forest† of high, lightless trees. (Lovecraft) He has never seen light, nor a single living human being. He lives among crypts lined with decomposing bones and rats. He never mentions eating, but lives alone, with only the thousands of books that the castle holds as a mental way to escape from the boredom of his prison-like home. Everything he know has come from his reading of the â€Å"antique books† that line the walls of his castle. (Lovecraft) There is no escape from his world save one tall tower which seems to reach above the soaring treetops. He explains that he had once tried to escape through the forest, but became scared in the endless woods and returned before he became lost. He has... ... It seems strange that H.P. Lovecraft, who made his fortune from stories about the supernatural, would be seen as not believing in the subject which made him famous. This may subtract from Mosig’s arguments. Also, other sources suggest that this should be read as a horror story; not just for the people who saw the outsider, but also for himself, when he realized his own fate and past. Dirk Mosig’s arguments are convincing however, and his interpretation makes good sense with the complex story that is â€Å"The Outsider.† Works Cited Lovecraft, Howard Phillips. â€Å"The Outsider.† H.P. Lovecraft Library. 1921. 6 Nov. 2002 . Mosig, Dirk W. â€Å"The Four Faces of The Outsider.† Discovering H.P. Lovecraft. Ed. Darrell Schweitzer. Mercer Island, Washington: Starmont House, 1987. 6754