Fear has a special place in the minds and hearts of all humankind.
Fear is a motivator. In August Derleth's short story "The Lonesome Place" fear is an essential element to the story. Derleth uses his story to show how common fear is in all our lives, and also to show how possibly our greatest fear of all, even as small children, is of being alone. He titles the grain elevator "The Lonesome Place" He could have called it any spooky name, but he chose to call it lonesome because that's where his fear really comes from. He writes, "We were never afraid to go past the lonesome place together."I think this is because their fear stems either from being attacked while alone, or from just being on their own. They are only seven, which the narrator says to his mother is not very old. They could be afraid to go anywhere in the dark alone. Or they don't fear that place when they are together because they wont have to fight alone.
Either way, the narrator uses this childhood fear to explain a guilt he has about a small childs murder many years later. He says he is guilty of it even though he didn't do it himself. This story is to explain how he eventually ignored his fears, yet they came back years later with harsh consequences. He feels that because he didnt do anything about these fears, he is responsible for what happened. Fear is an explanation for that feeling he has of guilt.
Fear is a motivator. In August Derleth's short story "The Lonesome Place" fear is an essential element to the story. Derleth uses his story to show how common fear is in all our lives, and also to show how possibly our greatest fear of all, even as small children, is of being alone. He titles the grain elevator "The Lonesome Place" He could have called it any spooky name, but he chose to call it lonesome because that's where his fear really comes from. He writes, "We were never afraid to go past the lonesome place together."I think this is because their fear stems either from being attacked while alone, or from just being on their own. They are only seven, which the narrator says to his mother is not very old. They could be afraid to go anywhere in the dark alone. Or they don't fear that place when they are together because they wont have to fight alone.
Either way, the narrator uses this childhood fear to explain a guilt he has about a small childs murder many years later. He says he is guilty of it even though he didn't do it himself. This story is to explain how he eventually ignored his fears, yet they came back years later with harsh consequences. He feels that because he didnt do anything about these fears, he is responsible for what happened. Fear is an explanation for that feeling he has of guilt.
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