The Inescapable Void and Ex Oblivione No splendid paradise, no eternal torment, no divine deity; only oblivion and an inescapable void. This is H.P. Lovecraft’s Ex Oblivione prose poem’s main message, but horror enthusiasts are left wondering why he chose to convey this message in particular. Some might say that this was meant to be a work of pure fiction; a poem that does not parallel Lovecraft’s life in any way. Others might say that this poem is a commentary on Lovecraft’s beliefs on humanity and attitude about death. Further analysis of this work reveals that it is a somber poem highlighting Lovecraft’s forlorn character, atheism, and copious amounts of depression. We can see Lovecraft’s disbelief of the world and extreme cynicism being
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They are the most preposterous and unjustified of all the guesses which can be made about the universe, and I am not enough of a hair-splitter to pretend that I don't regard them as arrant and negligible moonshine. In theory I am an agnostic, but pending the appearance of radical evidence I must be classed, practically and provisionally, as an atheist. (Letter to Robert E. Howard p. 57)
Lovecraft has been a well-known individual for his atheist beliefs and it should come to no surprise to anyone that those beliefs are present in the Ex Oblivione. He did not include those situations mentioned above precisely for this reason. His belief that there is no God or gods is reflected in that part of the poem; his atheist beliefs meant the narrator met with a fate where he dissolved into the nothingness of oblivion rather than any other interpretation of the …show more content…
Lovecraft at the time of writing this poem had something incredibly devastating happen to him. His mother had passed away because of complications regarding a gallbladder surgery. Lovecraft has stated in a letter to Frank Belknap Long that “all life is fundamentally & inextricably sad” (p. 291). It would not be a stretch to argue that Lovecraft began to deal with depression at that time, maybe even for the rest of his life. The reason that Lovecraft included that part of the poem was not to show an experience from taking a drug, but rather as a tool in the narrative to showcase just how much the narrator wanted an escape from reality to escape his depression. This is paralleled in his real life and the following gloomy lifestyle was reflected onto his works. Although Lovecraft did not use drugs, it still does not overshadow the main message of that part of the poem; the monotony of everyday life and the longing for an escape from
They are the most preposterous and unjustified of all the guesses which can be made about the universe, and I am not enough of a hair-splitter to pretend that I don't regard them as arrant and negligible moonshine. In theory I am an agnostic, but pending the appearance of radical evidence I must be classed, practically and provisionally, as an atheist. (Letter to Robert E. Howard p. 57)
Lovecraft has been a well-known individual for his atheist beliefs and it should come to no surprise to anyone that those beliefs are present in the Ex Oblivione. He did not include those situations mentioned above precisely for this reason. His belief that there is no God or gods is reflected in that part of the poem; his atheist beliefs meant the narrator met with a fate where he dissolved into the nothingness of oblivion rather than any other interpretation of the …show more content…
Lovecraft at the time of writing this poem had something incredibly devastating happen to him. His mother had passed away because of complications regarding a gallbladder surgery. Lovecraft has stated in a letter to Frank Belknap Long that “all life is fundamentally & inextricably sad” (p. 291). It would not be a stretch to argue that Lovecraft began to deal with depression at that time, maybe even for the rest of his life. The reason that Lovecraft included that part of the poem was not to show an experience from taking a drug, but rather as a tool in the narrative to showcase just how much the narrator wanted an escape from reality to escape his depression. This is paralleled in his real life and the following gloomy lifestyle was reflected onto his works. Although Lovecraft did not use drugs, it still does not overshadow the main message of that part of the poem; the monotony of everyday life and the longing for an escape from