The
racist,
classist and
sexist themes in much of Lovecraft's writing evoke strong reactions in many modern readers. Lovecraft was an avowed Anglophile, and held English culture to be the pinnacle of civilization, with the descendants of the English in America as something of a second-class offshoot, and everyone else below them (see, for example, his poem "An American to Mother England). Lovecraft's writing showed a distinct disinclination towards mixing with other ethnic groups, reverence for birth-issued social status, and a preference for traditional social roles for women.
Racial, ethnic, class, and sexual stereotypes are frequently encountered in Lovecraft's work. A typical example of this sentiment is found in the name of the black cat "Nigger-Man" in his tale
The Rats in the Walls, which was actually the name he gave to his real-life cat. The narrator in "The Rats in the Walls" expresses sentiments which could be considered hostile towards Jews (although several of Lovecraft's closer friends and correspondents were Jewish), Italians, and Poles. Racist views can also be found in his poetry, particularly in
On the Creation of Niggers, and
New England Fallen (both 1912).
Contemporary critics have decried Lovecraft's presumed white supremicism, particularly in the treatment of immigrants and African-Americans. However, Lovecraft does not spare even northern European ethnic groups from his onslaught of negative ethnic stereotyping. The degenerate descendants of Dutch[ immigrants in the Catskill Mountains, "who correspond exactly to the decadent element of white trashin the South," (
Beyond the Wall of Sleep, 1919) are common targets.
The Temple presents a stereotypical arrogant and coldly murderous Prussian aristocrat U-boat captain from World War I who makes frequent references to his "iron German will," supremely rational Prussian mental powers, and the insignificance of human life compared to the need to glorify the Fatherland.
Perhaps the best example of his classist views can be found in the short story
Cool Air (1926): the (presumably Anglo-Saxon) narrator speaks disparagingly of the poor Hispanics of his neighborhood, but he worshipfully respects the wealthy and aristocratic Spaniard Dr. Muñoz, "a man of birth, cultivation, and discrimination."
Lovecraft drew upon the history of his own ethnic group for the environment of much of his work, and his love for Anglo-Saxon history and culture is often-times repeated in his work (such as King Kuranes' nostalgia for England in
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath). Characteristically, this history is viewed sardonically.
A major Lovecraftian theme is the individual who finds that his lineage is accursed or interbred with a non-human strain. Important examples are
Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family (1920),
The Rats in the Walls (1923), and
The Shadow over Innsmouth (1931). This theme may represent concerns relating to Lovecraft's own family history, particularly the death of his father due to what Lovecraft must have suspected to be a syphilitic disorder.
Lovecraft expressed racist and ethnocentric beliefs in his personal correspondence and he gave a thorough summary of his views on race and culture in a letter to J. Vernon Shea written September 25, 1933. This letter, 648, can be found in the book
Selected Letters IV published by Arkham House.
Women in Lovecraft's fiction are rare, and the few leading female characters in his stories often turn out to be agents of some evil, alien force. Paradoxically, Lovecraft married a Jewish woman of Ukrainian ancestry, Sonia Greene. The marriage failed, and some commentators believe that the cause may have been shame felt by Lovecraft over his wife being essentially the breadwinner. It is often thought, however, that the women in Lovecraft hold traditional roles because he was surrounded by such women growing up.
While the unapologetic frankness with which Lovecraft reveals his beliefs on race, class, and sex can often seem quite shocking to the early 21st century reader, the modern reader must bear in mind that these attitudes were not at all unusual during Lovecraft's lifetime. The eugenics movement, for example, was quite mainstream in the United States and most of Europe before World War II, to the point where harsh eugenics policies were actually written into the law in many states. Racial segregation was still legally enforced throughout much of the United States. Very many prominent and powerful individuals in these times openly avowed attitudes similar to or even harsher than Lovecraft's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.P._Lovecraft#Race.2C_Class.2C_and_Sex
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