Cultural Context of "The Lonesome Place"

The story “The Lonesome Place”, written by August Derleth, is about these two children, named Steve and Johnny, who are around the age of seven. The story starts off with Steve, the narrator, confessing to the readers that he has committed a murder. The boys then start talking about their fear for the darkness and this place they call the Lonesome Place. The Lonesome Place is an old grain elevator surrounded by nothing but trees, sheds, and lumber piles. There are no houses nearby making it very lonely and dark at night. The Lonesome Place was a different place during the day than it was during the night. During the day, it was surrounded by maple and oak trees, sheds and lumber piles that were never bothered, and most importantly, it was not a scary place because of the light. During the night, it was dark, lonely, away from sound and light, and it had a strangeness that terrified the little children. Johnny and Steve were convinced there was some kind of monster, or “Thing”, living in the Lonesome Place. At night, they would run as fast as they could past the place and the next day they would share their stories of the Thing. Although neither one of them had actually ever seen the Thing, they described it as having big, clawed feet, ugly, sharp, and soft claws, scales, a long tail, and no face. As they got older, they forgot about the Lonesome Place altogether until one night when a little boy is found dead in the Lonesome Place. They are convinced it was their fault because they kept the Thing a secret from the village.

I think the cultural context of this story is the fear of darkness. The narrator compares the Lonesome Place during the day and during the night. During the day, the boys are not afraid of it and have no problem walking past it. However, during the night, they sprint as fast as they can past it because of the darkness that surrounds it. At night, their imaginations run wild and they create this monster in their heads. Steve’s mother always makes him run errands at night and he pleads and begs her to let him go in the morning. He even asks his mom to make his little sister go instead of him. Steve describes how he would walk slower and slower just to stay in the light longer and once he got to the Lonesome Place he would run as fast as he could past it until he reached the light again. In the story, only the little children are afraid of the dark. While Steve argues with his mother every night about not wanting to go to the store, she does not see that he is afraid to go out into the night. When he comes home all out of breath and pale, she tells him not to rush home and does not even bother to find out what exactly he is running from. When Steve tells his mom that one night he will not be back because of whatever is out in the darkness, she calls him “silly” and tells him the booger-man was caught. Even his little sister can tell that he is afraid of something when she calls him a “fraidy cat”. On his way to the store there is usually some light left and there are still little children out playing, but on his way back there is no more light and all the children are locked in their houses.