




“Rats in the Walls”, written by H.P. Lovecraft, is a brilliant example of how literary devices and the correct word choice can turn an ordinary text into something that a reader will never forget. Picture this text as a loaded baked potato. The potato itself is a rather bland vegetable but can be enhanced immeasurably with the right toppings. The toppings that make this baked potato delicious are butter, sour cream, cheese, and bacon bits. The butter, sour cream, cheese and bacon bits represent Lovecraft’s word choice and use of literary devices such as: imagery, foreshadowing, and narration. All of these toppings contribute to a wonderfully grotesque tale of a man who learned that sometimes curiosity does kill the cat. 

While Delapore is recounting his journey to the twilit grotto, he states “I must be very deliberate now, and choose my words” (Lovecraft 86). This quote pertains not only to Delapore, but to Lovecraft as well. The whole short story contains adjectives and verbs that were deliberately chosen to enhance the reading experience. Lovecraft chooses to use phrases such as “new pit of nameless fear” (Lovecraft 85) and “hapless rats that stumbled into such traps amidst the blackness of their quests in this grisly Tartarus” (Lovecraft 88) rather than just saying “the next sublevel” and “the rats that fell into the holes”. The select words chosen allow the reader to not only be able to picture Exham Priory, but feel all of the horrors it is hiding as well. 

As well as exercising his ghoulish vocabulary to enhance this text, Lovecraft also utilizes literary devices. One device used by Lovecraft is foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is used throughout the piece to hint at the cannibalism that took place in the grotto. During one of Delapore’s dreams, he sees “a Roman feast like that of Trimalchio, with a horror in a covered platter” (Lovecraft 85). It appears as though Lovecraft wanted the reader’s imagination to venture into to dark and disturbing places before the story physically took the reader there. The use foreshadowing was incredibly effective as the horror covered by the platter nor the horror in the English building that Norry ventured into were ever directly stated but there is no room for doubt that the inhabitants of the grotto partook in cannibalism.

Another literary device used by Lovecraft is imagery. The imagery stimulates all of our senses as Delapore descends into the grotto. The rats can be heard “slithering” as the cats “snarl[] and hiss[]” (Lovecraft 81).  The majority of the readers are able to associate known sounds with the verbs chosen. As well as stimulating the reader’s senses, the imagery used also allows the reader to be able to picture the events of the tale as if they were exploring the grotto below the house along with Delapore. His overly expressive descriptions take the reader into the “twilit grotto of enormous height, stretching away farther than any eye could see” (Lovecraft 86). They  can see the “subterraneous world of limitless mystery and horrible suggestion” (Lovecraft 86) right alongside of Delapore and the others who accompanied him. If Lovecraft had not gone to such lengths to describe the scenery, the reader may not have experienced the horror that he wished they would.

In addition to the previous literary devices, Lovecraft uses the idea of descent to describe the strange occurrences that took place at Exham Priory. While he is literally descending into the sublevels and eventually the grotto beneath his ancient family home, his language descends through history as well. Delapore’s vocabulary devolves from modern english to the grunts of the earliest humans. His language transforms from  “Why shouldn’t rats eat a de la Poer as a de la Poer eats forbidden things?...The war ate my boy, damn them all” (Lovecraft 88) to “Magna Mater!...Atys...Dia ad aghaidh ‘s ad aodann” (Lovecraft 89). The devolution of the language represents not only the descent to the depths of the grotto, but also Delapore embracing his ancestry. Delapore’s true nature was found deep under the Priory. He never wanted to leave the terrors that he had discovered deep under his ancient family home, he only wanted to continue deeper. When Nigger-man ran past him, he followed “for there was no doubt after another second” that it was the rats he was chasing  (Lovecraft 88). The descent he physically took also represented the descent in his mind into a cannibalistic beast similar to those his family had kept. 

As well as the aforementioned “toppings”, the first person narration and narrative time used in this story both add to the text. The narration is very unique because, while it is in first person, it is all recounted after the events took place. Delapore himself does not recall the events that took place in the Priory and grotto and only knows what “they say [he] said when they found [him]” (Lovecraft 89). Also, knowing that Delapore is being held in a “barred room at Hanwell” places a layer of doubt over the whole text (Lovecraft 85). Delapore does not believe the he killed Norry and claims it was the rats. The whole tale could have very well been a figment of Delapore’s imagination. Lovecraft purposely withheld all of this vital information until the last paragraph so that the reader would not question the events before they finished reading. The mystery of what the true events were add to the intrigue of the story.

All of the elements used by Lovecraft contribute to creating the wonderful loaded baked potato that was “Rats in the Walls”. This text is a wonderful demonstration of how utilizing the correct tools when writing can be invaluable. Without Lovecraft’s thoughtful word choice, use of literary devices, and the first person past tense narration,  the story would have left a rather bland taste in the reader’s mouth. But due to the previously mention “toppings”, the flavor left behind was savory and delicious. It was a tremendous task that Lovecraft undertook to turn this plain potato into such a tasty baked potato and he succeeded. 



