At the Mountains of Madness: Post 1

For this project, I have undertaken the reading of H. P. Lovecraft's novel At the Mountains of Madness. I am approximately half way through this novel, and one of the things the strikes me is the way in which it departs from the typical horror trope of building suspense that will be released in an unknown fashion. In this work, it is made clear fairly early that the primary source of terror is from 'the elder ones,' a race of prehistorical, hyper-advanced alien creatures that built life on Earth. In this setup, the horror is seen more in the vivid accounts of the characters and their thoughts as they stumble in situations which the reader knows must end poorly for those who are involved. The issues that these characters face is not in trying to establish what the source of their conflict is, but more in regards to their attempts to try to understand it. It is through the curiosity of Dyer and Danforth, that they encounter many of the existential and real horrors of the novel. Additionally, it is made clear through numerous quotes given by the narrator, that the general knowledge of the events that occur in this book are the greatest source of fear, and not the actions themselves. The narrator, Dyer, is forced to speak only when it has become necessary in order to prevent others from making the same trip to Antarctica that he did. Dyer appears to be of the opinion that not all knowledge ought to be known, for some of it can be dangerous to try to comprehend. This sounds very similar to the tactics taken by autocratic governments when they wish to suppress free speech and improve propaganda programs. At this point I cannot tell if this line of thinking will be dealt with or expanded upon, though.
So far I am considering research on the topic of the suppression of thoughts or disagreements, either internally or externally. It seems that these would mesh well with the narrators assertions that some things are better left unknown. The other option is that I research the idea that there are actually things that cannot be known, and to try to do so would be fruitless. In order to make a distinction between these two paths, I will need to continue on and learn what process leads the characters of this work into their tribulations.