2.What is the philosophy of cosmicism and how is it used to convey a sense of dread in both The Shadow Over Innsmouth and The Colour out of Space?
The philosophy of cosmicism is that there is no such thing as the divine being, such as the Gods, that we can recognize in this universe, and that humans are not particularly significant on a vast scale at the intergalactic level. So in Lovecraft’s Cosmic Horror, humans face a vast universe that is incomparable to them. As a result, they fail to accept their meaninglessness and become terrified and insane. “At first glance ‘‘cosmic’’ seems to be used here merely as a replacement term for ‘‘supernatural,’’ but the substitution also implies a particular psychological attitude to the supernatural. The text refers to ‘‘that most terrible conception of the human brain—a malign and particular suspension of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguards against the assaults of chaos and the daemons of unplumbed space’’(Stablefold, 2006). Also, cosmicism tends to emphasize the meaninglessness of human being itself and all human actions. In Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythology, it is only cosmic beings who can leave a significant mark, and humans can never understand the meaning or intention contained in their actions. So it maximizes the fear of humans.
This philosophy of cosmicism is faithfully reflected in The Color Out of Space. The merits of this movie are visualized tension, which expresses the sudden presence of the unexplored universe and the fear of human beings exposed to death unprotected. As Lovecraft(2013) said, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”, the work expresses the unknown from the transcendent existence of the universe in color, showing human fear of it and human helplessness toward destruction and endings.
These cosmicism philosophies also appear in The Shadow over Innsmouth. Lovecraft’s works tend to arouse readers’ fear of something else, often describing unknown as a terrible threat to the rest of humanity. In The Shadow over Innsmouth, the main character learns the truth about Innsmouth and runs away, but finds out that there is Insmmouth blood in his bloodline, and as the day goes by, he feels that he is turning into something other than himself. It shows a sense of dread that a human being turns into an unknown identity, a monster. So this is linked to cosmicism in that it shows the futility of man and the fear of being unknown.
References
Lovecraft, H. P. (2013). Supernatural horror in literature. The Palingenesis Project (Wermod and Wermod Publishing Group).
Stableford, B. (2006). The cosmic horror. Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, 1, 65-96.
Stanley, R. (Director). (2020). Colour Out of Space [Film]. SpectreVision.
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