[Some spoilers included.]
The story is told by the assistant to the titular Herbert West as he attempts to quite literally cure death. He developed a reagent that can revitalize humans, but in order to get the formula correct, he needs a constant flow of "fresh" bodies. This necessity is what leads this story to sink into the realm of madness.
West comes across as a sociopath that is dedicated to his work. He seems to believe in what he is doing to the bitter end. The only reason his associate stays with him is because of the belief that this really has some strong scientific significance. The problem is that the reanimated humans always come back acting more like animals rather than people.
"Reanimator" morbidly crosses every line of comfortability that exists. It shows how far science can go without regulation, and ultimately, this one ends up a horrific failure. But I still really like and admire people like this. I don't think he was doing anything wrong. He never killed anyone. He was just trying to cure death. No big deal, right?
The Mad Scientist genre is one of my favorites. I adore these men who break free of the rules and regulations of the world and strike out on their own to discover the strange truths of the universe. Although evil, they have more ambition than most, and that makes them so very interesting.
I do recommend "Herbert West--Reanimator." It takes about an hour to read and I found it on Kindle for $.99. Worth every penny.
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You read it just in time! Cancel Culture is trying to cancel H.P. Lovecraft, like it did Mark Twain a generation ago. Ironic that you read it now, during a pandemic. This story was inspired by the Spanish Flu pandemic. It was a fun story. Herbert West was always calm in his madness. The consequences were inconsequential to him if he could ultimately succeed. That is what made him especially interesting.
ReplyDeleteI can see how some people wanna cancel this. I read a number of things in it that people today would be uncomfortable with.
DeleteI like that the character Herbert West was completely obsessed with his own ambition to find a cure. Never did he consider boundaries and rules but instead pushed the limits of his own science. Indeed mad science is interesting, though evil a mad scientist is bothering to put his all into creating something new.
ReplyDeleteI adore mad scientist philosophies!
DeleteThis one seemed different from Lovecraft's other works. It is less of a gradual descent into madness, and more of a precipitous fall. When men play God, terrible things can happen.
ReplyDeleteYeah the problems were almost always instantaneous. The crazy thing was that they never stopped trying.
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