Name of HP Lovecraft's cat

[Canny McTin-Face]

It really caught my eye. Did he named it when slavery was normal or something?? Can someone give me some context about why he'd put that name on a cat?


(PS: Name of HP Lovecraft's cat is ♥♥♥♥♥♥ Man)

[crypt]

Well, he’s not entirely wrong. The cat’s fur was black.

[𝓒𝑨𝓢𝓢𝓲𝓔]

HP Lovecraft was a racist. That much is known.

[󠀡󠀡]

Lovecraft was racist. That should be understood and accepted by everyone. The name of his cat, when readers run across it in his biography or in "The Rats in the Walls," often strikes us as cartoonishly racist - but it should be understood in context. The name hits us today because we are more aware and less accepting of such casual use of racial slurs than they were in Lovecraft's lifetime; the same way people get upset when they read the N-word in a Mark Twain novel. As society has changed, the name has occasionally caused issued with reprinting "The Rats in the Walls"; some publishers chose to replace the cat's name with something that retains its sense but not its racial connotations - "Blackie" and "Black Tom" (Zest magazine 1956) are two examples.

The n-word still has the power to hurt people today. The fact that all evidence shows Lovecraft did not intend such a use in this case does not detract from that. Those who read Lovecraft today - either his fiction or about his life - should do so with the understanding of the context in which he lived and wrote. These are historical realities which all of us must come to terms with in their own way, and the use of a word may become more offensive over time than it once was. This is not in any way to attempt to downplay or excuse Lovecraft's racism - the actual things he said with prejudice or in anger and ignorance - but the name of his cat, as much as it may be as it might make a good meme for the shock value it has today, is not really a good example of it.

[Canny McTin-Face]

Originally posted by ᛋᚺᚨᚾᛞᛟᚱ:

Lovecraft was racist. That should be understood and accepted by everyone. The name of his cat, when readers run across it in his biography or in "The Rats in the Walls," often strikes us as cartoonishly racist - but it should be understood in context. The name hits us today because we are more aware and less accepting of such casual use of racial slurs than they were in Lovecraft's lifetime; the same way people get upset when they read the N-word in a Mark Twain novel. As society has changed, the name has occasionally caused issued with reprinting "The Rats in the Walls"; some publishers chose to replace the cat's name with something that retains its sense but not its racial connotations - "Blackie" and "Black Tom" (Zest magazine 1956) are two examples.

The n-word still has the power to hurt people today. The fact that all evidence shows Lovecraft did not intend such a use in this case does not detract from that. Those who read Lovecraft today - either his fiction or about his life - should do so with the understanding of the context in which he lived and wrote. These are historical realities which all of us must come to terms with in their own way, and the use of a word may become more offensive over time than it once was. This is not in any way to attempt to downplay or excuse Lovecraft's racism - the actual things he said with prejudice or in anger and ignorance - but the name of his cat, as much as it may be as it might make a good meme for the shock value it has today, is not really a good example of it.

so saying those stuff was normal back then?

[󠀡󠀡]

Originally posted by Canny McTin-Face:

Originally posted by ᛋᚺᚨᚾᛞᛟᚱ:

Lovecraft was racist. That should be understood and accepted by everyone. The name of his cat, when readers run across it in his biography or in "The Rats in the Walls," often strikes us as cartoonishly racist - but it should be understood in context. The name hits us today because we are more aware and less accepting of such casual use of racial slurs than they were in Lovecraft's lifetime; the same way people get upset when they read the N-word in a Mark Twain novel. As society has changed, the name has occasionally caused issued with reprinting "The Rats in the Walls"; some publishers chose to replace the cat's name with something that retains its sense but not its racial connotations - "Blackie" and "Black Tom" (Zest magazine 1956) are two examples.

The n-word still has the power to hurt people today. The fact that all evidence shows Lovecraft did not intend such a use in this case does not detract from that. Those who read Lovecraft today - either his fiction or about his life - should do so with the understanding of the context in which he lived and wrote. These are historical realities which all of us must come to terms with in their own way, and the use of a word may become more offensive over time than it once was. This is not in any way to attempt to downplay or excuse Lovecraft's racism - the actual things he said with prejudice or in anger and ignorance - but the name of his cat, as much as it may be as it might make a good meme for the shock value it has today, is not really a good example of it.

so saying those stuff was normal back then?

Indeed, it was. Things which are not possible/frowned upon/prosecuted nowadays were normal back then.

[…]

Originally posted by Canny McTin-Face:

It really caught my eye. Did he named it when slavery was normal or something?? Can someone give me some context about why he'd put that name on a cat?


(PS: Name of HP Lovecraft's cat is ♥♥♥♥♥♥ Man)

Lovecraft was a pretty racist and xenophobic dude. His views on some stuff was actually considered pretty backwards even for the time. A lot of his stories have themes of racism, for example people discovering they have “unfavourable” heritage. In fact, a lot of what he wrote is thought to have been influenced by his xenophobic views.

[lucent]

I don't know why he would be racist?

It's not like people back then walked around with their butt hanging out, holding their junk and humping the air in victory over an event?

You know what, lets just get over this racism thing. You all are ignorant.

[…]

Originally posted by lucent:

I don't know why he would be racist?

It's not like people back then walked around with their butt hanging out, holding their junk and humping the air in victory over an event?

You know what, lets just get over this racism thing. You all are ignorant.

He was racist. Saying otherwise is ignorant.

[lucent]

So what, a dead man was a racist.

[…]

Originally posted by lucent:

So what, a dead man was a racist.

Yeah, he was racist. I don’t personally care, it was fairly normal for the time, but I’m not gonna pretend that he wasn’t a racist because of that. I don’t dislike Lovecraft, but I don’t think we should glorify or downplay his views.

[Toast]

Well, decide for yourself. This is a poem by Lovecraft called On the Creation Of N...s

When, long ago, the gods created Earth
In Jove's fair image Man was shaped at birth.
The beasts for lesser parts were next designed;
Yet were they too remote from humankind.
To fill the gap, and join the rest to Man,
Th'Olympian host conceiv'd a clever plan.
A beast they wrought, in semi-human figure,
Filled it with vice, and called the thing a N...