One possibility is that it's a reflection of Lovecraft's bigotry.
Lovecraft writes all his non-WASP characters as inferior. Blacks are either servile or subhuman; foreigners and Catholics are superstitious; mixed breeds are untrustworthy. With a world view like that, it's obvious that Real People won't be the ones worshipping demons—and, indeed, the cultists trying to raise Cthulhu are all the lowest sort.
But it then follows that the cultists can't possibly be competent, because they aren't Real People; so they get caught and fail to have any effect.
The exception that proves the rule is "The Case of Charles Ward", in which a good young man, a New England intellectual from a good family, loses. The first main difference is that he doesn't intend any wrongdoing; he learns a way to raise his Colonial ancestor from the grave, and tries it because he's fascinated with history. The second main difference is that the evil is also a Real Person, a well-off New England merchant; and his trafficking with dark powers has brought him wealth and long life. So it's not a case of a Real Person losing to the dark; it's just a case of old age and treachery beating youth and inexperience.
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Lovecraft and bigotry
Date: 2009-09-12 10:32 pm (UTC)Lovecraft writes all his non-WASP characters as inferior. Blacks are either servile or subhuman; foreigners and Catholics are superstitious; mixed breeds are untrustworthy. With a world view like that, it's obvious that Real People won't be the ones worshipping demons—and, indeed, the cultists trying to raise Cthulhu are all the lowest sort.
But it then follows that the cultists can't possibly be competent, because they aren't Real People; so they get caught and fail to have any effect.
The exception that proves the rule is "The Case of Charles Ward", in which a good young man, a New England intellectual from a good family, loses. The first main difference is that he doesn't intend any wrongdoing; he learns a way to raise his Colonial ancestor from the grave, and tries it because he's fascinated with history. The second main difference is that the evil is also a Real Person, a well-off New England merchant; and his trafficking with dark powers has brought him wealth and long life. So it's not a case of a Real Person losing to the dark; it's just a case of old age and treachery beating youth and inexperience.