Exham Priory, the de la Poer family, and ancient traditions, they all scream the Gothic horror archetype. When the reader finally discovers the horrifying secret beneath the Priory estate, the supernatural seems to have left completely. However, that incessant scampering sound of rats still protruded in the end of the story, suggesting that there still may be supernatural powers at work. It is also possible that because the main character was locked in an insane asylum, that he may have had a mental breakdown due to discovering his ancestry. His family has a past of eating human flesh, perhaps he does too. This breaks the looming supernatural horror and returns the reader to a more logical one; the main character hears scampering of rats as he nears a crack in his mental state.
The Rats in the Walls took the saying "skeleton in the closet" to a whole new level. When I first got to the discovery of the ancient city below Exham Priory, I immediately thought of this. I thought it was pretty funny how literal the saying could be taken.
Post arguments, interpretive questions, or engaging responses concerning the week's texts.
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