Synthesis of: The Beast in the Cave by H. P. Lovecraft

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In this story written by H.P. Lovecraft there is a tension between the human and the nonhuman. The human is represented as the narrator, who in his reason and knowledge of his own death represents humanity. Death is already within him and he, as someone who has read, faces it calmly and blames no one but himself. However, it is in this story that another crucial aspect of being human appears in his behaviour. Despite their own rational thoughts’ indication that a swift death is a better fate that dying of starvation, he decides to attack and kill the mysterious cave-dwelling creature that threatens his life. This shows the irrationality that lies inside of human’s rationality. A mysterious side that only manifests until he feels truly threatened. It is in this instance that he brings the visceral instinctual behaviour that is only partially visible in the human psyche.

On the opposing side, the nonhuman is the creature, who fears no darkness and is not aware of its own mortality. This creature, similarly, to the unconscious side of mans rationality hides in the shadows. However, as the plot twist reveals, the creature itself was or is almost human. The rationality hidden within the irrationality when it attempts to speak moments before its death. It is its inverse; it is only human insofar as it once was human (just as humans are humans insofar as they were once nonhuman) It is uncanny because it is left in an unfinished state of humanity.

From these to elements we can the concept arises that the human mind is at odds with the nonhuman, both environment that shapes it and within itself. However it is only through the nonhuman that that the human can exist, and experience the weird, the uncanny, and the eerie.




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