The House on the Borderland · Chapter
XIX: The End of the Solar System explained
The narrator witnesses the sun's immense growth and the Earth's final orbit, culminating in the Earth falling into the sun.
What happens
The narrator witnesses the sun's immense growth and the Earth's final orbit, culminating in the Earth falling into the sun. The house, overrun by Swine-Things, bursts into flame and collapses into the subterranean pit. The narrator is lifted into space, observing the dead sun's approach to the Green Sun and contemplating the end of the solar system.
Themes in this chapter
Cosmic Entropy and the End of All Things
The chapter depicts the literal end of the solar system as the Earth falls into the sun and the dead sun approaches the Green Sun.
The Supernatural and the Unknown
The Green Sun, the Swine-Things, and the narrator's levitation into space evoke a supernatural and unknowable cosmic order.
Characters to notice
- The Recluse
Observes the end of the solar system from the house and later floats in space.
- The Swine-Things
Crawl over the house and disappear into the pit when the house collapses.
Key passages
“The sun was hugely greater than it had been, when first the Star lit the world. So great was it, that its lower edge seemed almost to touch the far horizon.”
The sun has grown enormous, its bottom edge nearly touching the horizon.
Describes the sun's expansion as the Earth approaches it.
“Then the Earth moved into the black shadow of the sun, and all was night—Night, black, starless, and intolerable.”
The Earth enters the sun's shadow, plunging into an absolute, oppressive darkness.
Marks the moment of total eclipse before the Earth emerges.
“I saw a fearsome sight—over its walls crawled a legion of unholy things, almost covering the old building, from tottering towers to base.”
The house is swarmed by a multitude of monstrous Swine-Things.
The Swine-Things have overrun the house entirely.
“The ground seemed to cave in, suddenly, and the house, with its load of foul creatures, disappeared into the depths of the earth, sending a strange, blood colored cloud into the heights.”
The ground collapses, swallowing the house and the Swine-Things into a pit, releasing a blood-red cloud.
The house and its inhabitants are consumed by the pit.
“Out from the sun's face, gushed an ever-growing tongue of dazzling flame. It seemed to leap, almost to the distant Green Sun—shearing through the emerald light, a very cataract of blinding fire.”
A massive tongue of flame erupts from the sun, reaching toward the Green Sun.
The Earth's impact with the sun triggers a colossal solar flare.