# The Rats in the Walls explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by H. P. Lovecraft.

## What happens

The narrator, a descendant of the de la Poer family, restores the ancestral Exham Priory in England, only to uncover horrific secrets buried beneath its foundations. As he explores the subterranean pits filled with bones from countless centuries, he is driven mad by the scurrying of rats and the revelation of his family's cannibalistic history. The chapter culminates in a frenzied descent into the abyss, where he is found crouching over the half-eaten body of Captain Norrys, leading to his confinement in an asylum.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hereditary Curse and Fate

The de la Poer family is portrayed as cursed, with a history of cannibalism and demonic practices passed down through generations.

### Madness and Psychological Decay

The narrator's descent into madness is central, as he becomes obsessed with the rats and ultimately loses his grip on reality.

### Horror of the Unknown

The underground pits and the scurrying rats represent unknown horrors that drive the narrator to commit unspeakable acts.

### Decay and Fallen Grandeur

Exham Priory is a decaying ruin, symbolizing the fallen grandeur of the de la Poer family and their dark legacy.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The narrator, a descendant of the de la Poer family, restores Exham Priory and descends into madness as he uncovers the family's dark secrets.

### Walter de la Poer

The eleventh Baron Exham who fled to Virginia after a tragedy at the priory, founding the Delapore line.

### Capt. Norrys

A friend of the narrator's son who provides local legends and is later found dead, half-eaten, in the underground pits.

### Nigger-Man

The narrator's black cat that darts into the abyss and later attacks the narrator's throat.

### Nyarlathotep

Mentioned as the mad faceless god howling in the darkness at the center of the earth.

## Key lines

> On July 16, 1923, I moved into Exham Priory after the last workman had finished his labors.

The narrator took up residence in his restored ancestral home on July 16, 1923.

_Establishes the setting and the narrator's commitment to restoring the priory._

> It was the eldritch scurrying of those fiend-born rats, always questing for new horrors, and determined to lead me on even unto those grinning caverns of earth’s center where Nyarlathotep, the mad faceless god, howls blindly in the darkness to the piping of two amorphous idiot flute-players.

The narrator hears the supernatural rats and follows them into the depths of the earth, where the god Nyarlathotep dwells.

_Highlights the narrator's obsession and the cosmic horror element._

> That is what they say I said when they found me in the blackness after three hours; found me crouching in the blackness over the plump, half-eaten body of Captain Norrys, with my own cat leaping and tearing at my throat.

The narrator is discovered after three hours, crouching over Norrys's partially devoured body, with his cat attacking him.

_Climactic revelation of the narrator's madness and the horrific outcome._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_26_se/chapters/the-rats-in-the-walls
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_26_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_26_se/chapters