Marcela K. M.

Rocha
Mr. Owain Phillips
English 9A
20 September 2013
A Morbid Witchcraft
Witchcraft can be seen as the use of magical powers obtained especially from evil spirits.
Taking in consideration that it was written in the 1930's, it still strongly impacts today's readers,
even with all the technology seen in our daily lives. In the The Thing in the Doorstep by H. P.
Lovecraft, this definition definitely suits it because by analyzing the way the kinds of witchcraft
were exposed, we can know the characters have an evil goal. So, Lovecraft uses witchcraft to
enhance the plot, especially through the changing of bodies, hypnosis and spells.
The changing of bodies, between Ephraim, Asenath and Edward, depicts a categorically
evil side of witchcraft existing throughout the literary work. Therefore, Edwards body would
have been hers for good, she would have killed her own ex-body with me in it () just as she
did before (12). From there we suspect that Asenath is not really her at all, but old Ephraim
himself (12). This confirms that people can do anything for power, in this case eternal living.
Like when Ephraim got rid of his own daughter: not being Asenath who was stealing Edwards
body, but himself.
Hypnosis is another branch of witchcraft that also has an evil perspective, especially to
define Asenaths capabilities. She had a lot of influence over people: just by gazing peculiarly
at a fellow-student she would often give the latter a distinct feeling of exchange of personality
(4). Now it is noticeable that Asenath is not a common girl, but a genuine hypnotist (4),
showing that even hypnosis not being that common in witchcraft, it is strongly related to the
changing of bodies performed by Ephraim, and gives us a strong background image of what both
of them are.
Spells are the least malevolent of all three, because they actually helped Edward survive
for a while. Edward had some occult defenses that I never told you about (12) that were able to
withdraw Asenath temporarily from Edwards body. He had a spell or two that worked (12)
and because of these spells he was able to visit Dan and tell him the truth, even if he did not
believe in it. This time, witchcraft was actually benefitting Edward, but not permanently. If you
stopped reading there, you might even cogitate that Edward might stand a chance and survive,
when actually the spells did not have any use other than causing suspense for the plot.
H. P. Lovecraft uses witchcraft to enrich the storyline by the changing of bodies,
hypnosis and spells. Other authors like J. K. Rowling, also uses branches of wizardry to make
her books more interesting. She used, other than spells, wands, robes, hats, and she created
stories within the bigger plot, like the Tales of Beedle the Bard. So, authors normally dig
into their background for their story to be more believable, verosimil, and for them to really
know what they are writing about.