The Rats in the Walls by H.P. Lovecraft is an interesting tale about an aristocratic fellow named Delapore from the state of Massachusetts that purchases his ancestral land in England called Exham Priory. He purchases the land because of the colorful description his son's friend Norrys gave in letters to him and his family. Delapore jumped on the place and restored the entire building and fields around it, eventually uncovering an ancient, unprecedented evil (Hayden, McNeil.)

The piece of the story that I am analyzing is the last paragraph where Delapore is awaken by noises and decides to leave his chamber to check where the eerie noises are coming from (Hayden, McNeil, pg. 37.) Lovecraft makes full use of foreshadowing in this paragraph through his repetitive, yet subtle word choice. For example, words like down, descent, below, and direction are all similar in that they are paths that the author is taking us. In the first sentence, I interpret "Nigger-Man following at my heels" as a subliminal hint  --  the word heel. Heels are arguably the lowest part of the human body and the main character is about to adventure down into the depths of his castle. Lovecraft could have chosen to write this simple action in a variety of ways; such as, perhaps, 'following behind' or even 'staying close.' He chose to articulate the action of the cat in such a way that we must visualize a sudden drop from focus on Delapore down to his companion. Lovecraft is already making the reader sink so early in his tale. The second sentence in the paragraph, Lovecraft describes Delapore's cat as "vanished down the ancient flight" and how Delapore "descended" the stairs as well. Now the reason why I believe why the author means more than just what the characters are actually doing is because of the giant, sub cellar found below the thought to be believed sub cellar described in the story. Lovecraft's language are all elements of foreshadowing, subtly leading up to the discovery of the giant sub cellar. This is point in the story when suspense builds continuously and the way Lovecraft is pushing us in this downward direction is stacking on anticipation of these rodent noises down that flight of steps, as well as something deeper. "These creatures... were engaged in one stupendous migration from inconceivable heights to some depth conceivably, or inconceivably, below." This entire paragraph is one giant, anticipation filled, and metaphorical conglomerate. The author is making us question the authenticity of the narrator's story, whether or not the narrator already knows whether or not there is or is not something below. Lovecraft is practically giving us the ending of the story in this one sentence, how there is a mystery as to how deep the noises can get, because they can and do with the discovery of the super sub cellar. 

As well as foreshadowing the "twilit grotto-", Lovecraft subtly gives us what is inside the grotto. Delapore is described as hearing "sounds of a nature that could not be mistaken," putting the rodent noises in our head. He reestablishes his voice from a passive voice earlier in the work, opting for a more active, so I should say, alive, style. Delapore no longer is brushing off the previously minute details (such as his restless cats), using general and vague terms, but instead is humanizing his experiences and treating them with more care, using powerful actions verbs like "scampering" and "stampeding." Delapore hears his "oak-paneled walls alive with rats... milling." Lovecraft's word choice in relation to earlier in the passage is striking because it is so sudden, the paragraph immediately before this is so nonchalant and rather undescriptive. The first thing that strokes me is that he labeled the wall as wood, oak, specifically. The author is giving us a sense of life in this house. Wood comes from trees and trees are, at one point, living beings. He also mentions the rats of course, but hears them "milling around." Milling around's denotation  --  in reference to people or animals  --  is movement in a confused mass (Reference.) The grotto of human bones could very well be considered a confused mass; the creatures in the pit were found to be cannibalistic, and I see a definite connection between the milling of the rats and the milling of what had happened to these peoples in the past. More reason as to why Lovecraft is wanting us to know something living is down in the "inconceivable depth" is Delapore's cat behaving with a  "fury of a baffled hunter" as he flees down the staircase. Hunting is the act of killing and deceiving a living being, and being baffled means to be in a state of shock and confusion. It would be fair to say that the author fully willed using the word "baffled" to describe the cat as opposed to, let us say ferocious, vicious, or even timid. The choice of diction fully illustrates how we are expected to envision the behavior of the feline. In the story, Delapore has the genius idea to invite a collection of seven men to the cellar to find out what could possibly be pitted below the cellar. This is hunting. Every single one of the men that Delapore invited to excavate his cellar was indeed baffled with the discovery of the super sub cellar. The gentlemen "had their breaths snatched" from them; the psychic investigator fainted in another's arms. Norrys screamed inarticulately, and a fourth used the lord's name in vain: "My God!"  They are all in complete and utter bafflement! A connection is too blatant. 

The rats in the story, specifically the paragraph being read, can be viewed as a symbol of curiosity. There is a saying that applies purrfect to the selection: curiosity killed the cat. In this metaphor, curiosity is the noises of vermin plaguing his thoughts and Delapore himself is the cat. It is as if the noises of rodents sparked Delapore's curiosity and his very finicky felines only excited him even further to leave his chamber and eventually commit a cannibalistic homicide. 

The explicit and subtle references toward the end of the story within the selected paragraph (26) are purposeful moments of foreshadowing the conclusion of the story. The repetitive and synonymous diction used by Lovecraft as well as his metaphorical connections to living organisms are brilliant devices used to foreshadow his story from the very beginning, without the reader knowing what has even happened.
