The Theme Of “Ancestral Sin” In H.P.Lovecraft's Novels

Howard Phillips Lovecraft(1890-1937)is a famous American horror novelist in the early 20 th century.As the successor of Gothic novels,he introduced serious literary techniques such as Poe's into the creation of popular horror novels,updated the literary level of horror novels,and presented a unique artistic style.His works have a great influence on contemporary popular culture.In literature,film,art,music,video games and other fields,we can see the great influence of Lovecraft.Nowadays,Lovecraft's research has become a great achievement in the foreign academic circles.Both thematic research and comparative research have achieved fruitful results.However,in the domestic academic circles,the research on Lovecraft is still in the initial stage with few achievements.Especially the research on the theme of "ancestral sin" in his works is insufficient.In Lovecraft's novels,"ancestral sin" is undoubtedly the main theme of his works.The great change of western culture in the 20 th century,the cultural background of "the death of God" and the author's tragic experience of his father's death in his childhood make Lovecraft's works present a strong "orphan complex".The author has been eager to establish the significance of his own existence by looking for the connection between himself and his ancestors.However,the existence of "ancestral sin" leads to the fact that this connection does not provide the meaning of life,but becomes the original sin that is hard to get rid of.Around this changing theme,Lovecraft established his unique narrative structure,ideological content and artistic style.Therefore,in order to study the literary achievements of Lovecraft,it is necessary to study and analyze the theme of "ancestral sin".This paper will combine the research results at home and abroad,through text analysis and combination of theory,to present the content in three different parts.In the first chapter,through the text analysis of Lovecraft's works,this paper finds the universal existence of the theme of "ancestral sin" in his works,and studies the internal logical connection between his works from "orphan complex" to "ancestralcomplex".The second chapter is divided into "Atavism" and "original sin complex".Through the study of the author's personal life experience and cultural background,this chapter presents different forms of expression of the theme of "ancestral sin" in his works."Atavism" mainly focuses on the pathological aspect of "aancestral sin",which is also the literary expression of genetic diseases of the Lovecraft family.The "original sin complex" is based on the Puritan culture of New England where Lovecraft lives.It is a cultural expression of "ancestral sin" and has a strong religious color.Through the study of these two different angles,this paper presents the diversity of the content of Lovecraft's works.In the third chapter,this paper changes the visual angle,from the choice of protagonist in Lovecraft's works,to study the specific strategies of dealing with the theme of "ancestral sin" in Lovecraft's works.Lovecraft's novels can be divided into pre works and post works.Due to the change of the author's thoughts caused by his personal life experience,the protagonist in his works has changed from resisting the "ancestral sin" to succumbing to the "ancestral sin",and finally returned to the "ancestral sin".This makes Lovecraft's later works present fatalistic pessimism and have a strong color of horror.This paper will explore the New England cultural background,Puritan literary tradition and personal experience of Lovecraft's novels to study the cause and expression of "ancestral sin".At the same time,through text analysis,this paper explores the evolution of the theme of "ancestral sin" in his works and its artistic effect,presenting the unique literary value of Lovecraft's novels.