The Rats In The Walls

Lovecraft was known for espousing notably racist beliefs, even for his time. Explore how pseudo-evolutionary theories such as phrenology impact this story. How do Lovecraft’s beliefs about racial categories complicate a modern reading of this story? How does the story express anxieties about racial purity?

“The Rats in the Walls” never reveals the titular rats. Delapore and the cats hear them in the walls, and everyone finds rat bones in the grotto. What is the story trying to say by keeping the existence and nature of the rats ambiguous? Consider negative connotations of rats, including disease, impurity, dehumanization, and fear. Explore what the rats represent in the story.

In his essay Supernatural Horror in Literature, Lovecraft says that “the oldest and strangest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” (H. P. Lovecraft, “Supernatural Horror in Literature.” 1927, p. 1). How does Lovecraft build tension in “The Rats in the Walls,” and how is the fear of the unknown used to convey a sense of dread? Use elements of the text like motifs, allusions, or themes to support your answer.

Was Delapore destined for his fate because of his family heritage, or was there something about him outside of his genetics, such as his temperament, that sealed his fate? To what extent was Delapore living out the inescapable narrative of his family? Examine these questions and use evidence from the text to support your answer.

By the story’s end, Delapore becomes an unreliable narrator. The ambiguity about the rats’ existence is one way Lovecraft explores the narrator’s state of mind. Explore how unreliable narration changes the story’s atmosphere. What questions does the ending raise about the other events in the narrative?

Lovecraft uses foreshadowing to build tension and intrigue in the story’s plot. Examine how his use of foreshadowing contributes to the story. What other literary devices have a similar impact? Use quotes from the text to support your answer.

The ending of the story is ambiguous. Did Delapore eat Norrys, or was it really the rats? Is Delapore experiencing mental illness, or has he simply reacted to the horrors that he witnessed? Discuss what you think really happened, using evidence from the text to support your argument.

Explore how Delapore’s emotional state changes throughout the story. At the beginning, he alludes to the death of his son only by saying that he “found [himself] bereaved and aimless” (Paragraph 6). How is he different by the end of the story? What does his emotional journey say about the broader themes of the story?