Lovecraft Country

Books play a multi-faceted role in Lovecraft Country, serving a number of important symbolic roles. One of the most important of these is to function as repositories of both knowledge and pain. Books of magic such as the books written by Hiram Winthrop contain an amazing understanding of the universe which goes beyond anything else available to the characters, but also contain the capacity to inflict pain and misery on others. Similarly, the books written by H. P. Lovecraft have the power to entertain Atticus and others, but Montrose demonstrates how the author’s racism infects all of his work. For all of the potency and power of books, they are a double-edged sword. As a result, books symbolize the way in which power and knowledge can hurt as much as they can help. The same power which allows Hippolyta to travel to another world has also been used to trap Ida on the distant planet as a form of torture. The same power used to heal Montrose’s bullet wound is used by Lancaster to torture Horace. The same power which Caleb uses to protect himself from harm Atticus later uses to defeat him. All of these powers are symbolized by the magical books in the novel, illustrating the way in which books (and, by extension, knowledge itself) can be used to help as well as harm.  

The symbolic power of books extends to the people who write them. Horace is an aspiring comic writer who uses his work to portray underrepresented characters. The Interplanetary Adventures of Orithyia Blue is a science fiction story about an African American woman who travels the galaxy, allowing Horace to portray women like his mother as a powerful, conquering force. The comic is a reaction to the society in which the author lives, so functions as a symbol of the oppressions Horace recognizes in the world. The powers he gives to Orithyia Blue are the powers he wishes he could give to his mother. He wishes that she could satisfy her childhood ambition to explore the stars, that she did not have to worry about the police, and that she could emerge victorious in a society which constantly seeks to oppress her. Horace’s books symbolize the change he wants to see in the world, while the discrepancies between the comic and the reality he inhabits symbolize the progress which still needs to be made before racial equality is achieved.

Adah’s book is another important symbol. Whereas Horace’s comics look to the future to envision a world in which racism is exterminated, Adah’s book is a careful documentation of the past. Adah documented every pain, trauma, and punishment she suffered during her enslavement. She adds up all of the costs she believes she is due and then leaves the book for her children. Her story is a book of accounts, symbolizing the debt which was left unpaid. Adah was never able to seek compensation for the trauma she endured, so the book becomes a symbol for her family. It allows them to remember her pain and her suffering, functioning as a symbol of the greater debt left unpaid by an inequal, unforgiving society. Adah’s book represents the pain of the past and the amount owed symbolizes the failures of society to address the centuries of oppression faced by African Americans.