Unseen Monsters: The Horla by Guy de Maupassant
Unseen Monsters: The Horla by Guy de Maupassant

Summary/Abstract: As fear is a common trope that dominates the Gothic genre, it embodies subconscious manifestations of anxieties, relationships, and beliefs. There is a resistance against the simplification of fear, as the intimate workings of the mind provide a unique insight onto this trope. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the infiltration of a monster into the life of an unnamed man, driving him to suicide. Taking on the short story, The Horla by Guy de Maupassant, and focusing on how the balance between real and unreal is created, the present study aims to will prove that fear can influence the emotional and mental state of an individual, bringing upon hallucinations, paranoia, and extreme actions. Even more so, taking into consideration the author’s personal struggles with mental health will help provide an extra layer of understanding the narrator of the short story, as the real-life experiences of the author are mirrored in the tale.

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