Lovecraft’s story focuses on the limits of human knowledge and the belief that in a vast, indifferent universe, it is better for humans not to contemplate that which lies beyond their understanding. Venturing into the unknown, prehistoric, and occult is likely to take us beyond the edge of sanity and bring us to ruin.

The story announces its principal theme in the opening sentence: “The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents” (159). To establish this theme, Lovecraft spends much of the first act describing what “human knowledge” looks like. Thurston is a careful rationalist who relates his story in almost excessive detail. He provides exact dates—and even times—for the events of his story, as well as his uncle’s exact cause of death, as determined by his physicians.

We learn that Angell was just as careful as Thurston. He was a well-respected scholar; and the field of archeology is empirical, with findings being documented down to the last detail. In this vein, Angell’s notes reference scholarly texts, and his entries contain dates and addresses, for example, “1925—Dream and Dream Work of H. A. Wilcox, 7 Thomas St.