30 pages • 1 hour read
H. P. LovecraftThe Rats In The Walls
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1924A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Rats
Rats are the most prevalent and important motif in “The Rats in the Walls.” Delapore and the cats are the only ones who can hear the rats. In reality, the rats are no longer there; Delapore is probably hearing supernatural echoes of the hordes of rats that used to live under Exham Priory. The rats fled when they no longer had continuous access to food.
Thornton explains to Delapore that his nightmares are telling him something, and the same is true of the rats. They are guiding Delapore to his inevitable discovery of the truth about his family and about himself. Rats connect to the theme of Family History and Identity. They are a supernatural or subconscious manifestation of the truth about the de la Poers. Even after the narrative’s climax, Delapore still says that he can hear rats in the hospital walls. This suggests that since he now knows the truth about who he is, he cannot return to the person he was before.
Cats
Along with Delapore, only the cats can hear the rats in the walls. Delapore’s cats, particularly Black Tom, are symbolic of truth and innate knowledge. Black Tom behaves like any cat that can hear prey. He scratches at the walls, chases after phantom noises, and darts off into the dark in search of rats. Unlike Delapore, Black Tom does not seem to be driven to mental illness by the noises. When he describes the visit to the grotto, Delapore says, “Through all this horror my cat stalked unperturbed” (Paragraph 48). Delapore uses Black Tom as a guide, one leading him deep into the priory to uncover his family’s truth.
Like the rats, the cats connect to the theme of Family History and Identity because they have an implicit understanding of Exham Priory’s history. Without the cats’ help, Delapore might have been less likely to trust his own perception of events. He might also have struggled to get others to assist him in his investigations. Delapore suggests that Black Tom has some understanding of the situation; in the grotto, Delapore looks at his cat and “wonder[s] at the secrets that might lie behind his yellow eyes” (Paragraph 48). After Delapore is committed, his principal regret is the loss of Black Tom, even though his beloved cat turned on him in the grotto’s final scene.
Architecture
Architecture plays a significant role in “The Rats in the Walls.” Exham Priory is unusual because it was built using several architectural styles. The priory has “Gothic towers resting on a Saxon or Romanesque substructure” (Paragraph 2), and its foundations are Roman or even pre-Roman. This blend of styles points to the priory’s exceptionally long history. The grotto also features “monoliths, a low-domed Roman ruin, a sprawling Saxon pile, and an early English edifice of wood” (Paragraph 43), suggesting that the underground city has existed for thousands of years.
The story’s use of architecture connects to the theme of Phrenology and Pseudo-Evolutionary Theory. The actions of the people who ruled the underground city have gone on for so long that their captives have essentially devolved. The operation’s longevity is part of its horror: This is an entire civilization, not the work of a single depraved individual or even a single family. Lovecraft also suggests that Delapore’s dark lineage is just as enduring as the structural integrity of the priory.
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By H. P. Lovecraft
