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Am I just stupid?


valdir

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I just read the short story Dagon by HP Lovecraft, and I have one question for Lovecraft fans:

 

What the _hell_ did I just read? I mean, I got zero percent comprehension from that. Ususally, I have 100% comprehension from the things I read, but this left me puzzled.

 

Anyone care to help out?

 

~Valdir

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My stab at the thing...

 

It actually is a suicide note. That much is certain. The man was forced into a small boat with limited supplies, and then, after some time, found himself in that part of the oceans of the Southern hemisphere -- the name and exact charachteristics of this area escape me at the moment -- where the tides and winds allow for a boat to stand motionless for a great amount of time. The sheer monotony of the unending sea drove him to madness, and his dreams -- to him -- became reality. Even after being rescued, he not only experienced recurring elements of said dream in his sleep, but persisted in thinking that dream to be reality. In time, he became addicted to morphine, and the sheer terror of his dreams eventually drove him to suicide.

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My stab at the thing...

 

It actually is a suicide note. That much is certain. The man was forced into a small boat with limited supplies, and then, after some time, found himself in that part of the oceans of the Southern hemisphere -- the name and exact charachteristics of this area escape me at the moment -- where the tides and winds allow for a boat to stand motionless for a great amount of time. The sheer monotony of the unending sea drove him to madness, and his dreams -- to him -- became reality. Even after being rescued, he not only experienced recurring elements of said dream in his sleep, but persisted in thinking that dream to be reality. In time, he became addicted to morphine, and the sheer terror of his dreams eventually drove him to suicide.

...Oh.

 

:rolleyes:

 

~Valdir

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Well, according to Lovecraft himself he was fascinated with things of a supernatural or unknown nature. He claimed ordinary people and ordinary human nature was something he could not write about, because he had no interest in that, and without interest there could be no art.

 

This is one of his earliest tales, but I'd say this springs from the same origin as most of the rest... Lovecraft has an affinity for mythical things... I'd say, not that MB's explanation isn't plausible, that Lovecraft is in fact leaving it up to the reader to decide whether or not the man saw what he saw. He is undeniably mad by this point, but whether he saw what he saw, and whether it was the god Dagon or a lost race hiding beneath the waves where mankind does not see... as always, a question left unanswered is the most memorable kind. :)

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