For Robert E. Howard fans these last words have become
famous:
All fled - all done, so lift me on the pyre -
The feast
is over and the lamps expire. [i]
Howard ended his life but his fiction remained.
The popularity of his fiction sparked a renewed interest in his life
and no single aspect of his life remains more controversial than his suicide.
Howard’s
father, writing to author H. P. Lovecraft on June 29, 1936 describes the
suicide: “[…] after three weeks of vigilant watching at his mother’s
bedside, on the morning of June 11, 1936, at eight o’clock, he slipped out
of the house, entered his car which was standing in front of the garage,
raised the windows and fired a shot through the brain.” [ii]
Howard
biographer, Rusty Burke says, “It is doubly unfortunate, in Howard’s case,
that his action coincided with his mother’s death, which has led to the
inevitable, but in my view simplistic notion that he killed himself out of
despondency. This has, in turn,
led to the supposition – without any compelling evidence – that he was
‘unnaturally’ close to or dependent upon his mother.”
[iii]
Burke
goes on to quote psychology professor and Howard fan, Charles Gramlich, to
disprove any notions of Howard being clinically disturbed.
Charles has since written of his own theory of “reactive
depression” for Howard’s suicide. It
veers from Rusty’s view of Howard not killing himself out of despondency but
agrees with the view that Howard wasn’t clinically disturbed.
Charles says, “At the end of his life Howard may well have been
experiencing a severe depression. His
mother was dying. To add to this
was his final separation from Novalyne Price, who he had dated. And his own belief that his career was not going well.
This kind of depression is very natural and is not typically classified
as a mental disorder. It is called REACTIVE DEPRESSION, not CLINICAL DEPRESSION.
[…] Clinical is far more of a biological disorder.
Something inside the person is not working right, and it is a chronic
problem.”
[iv]
An
interesting exchange between Howard fan and Howard acquaintance appears in an
interview conducted by Rusty Burke with Novalyne Price.
Novalyne gives her opinion on the suicide, “[…] I feel that Bob
felt that friends had deserted him, his life was torn up completely, and he
had an over protectiveness of his mother that few people have.
But at that time, keep in mind, people expected to take care of their
mothers, […]. I don’t know why it made me so angry and so turned off when
he told me that he changed his mother’s nightgown three times during one
night. That nearly killed me.
Because I didn’t think it was his place – that was one thing.
Here is the son doing what I thought the father should have done. […] He had all those things – the heartache of his
mother’s illness, the frustration that he felt, and what he considered a
lack of friends. He didn’t see
anything to live for.”
[v]
Rusty
Burke responds later in the interview, “Now, my own feeling about it is that
there may have been some sadness, but in a sense some defiance, too, that he
didn’t want to live to be old […].” [vi]
In
a speech reprinted with the interview, Novalyne says, “Bob did say that he
didn’t want to live after his mother died; he said it a few times to me when
he was in a depressed mood. Usually,
he added that “for life to be worth living a man had to have a great love or
a great cause, and he had neither.” I
always interpreted that statement to mean he felt he had a responsibility to
his mother, and when that responsibility ended, he didn’t want to live in
what he felt was a decaying, rotten civilization.”
[vii]
She
sums up her beliefs, “The spring of 1936 was so full of stress that Bob was
overcome. With his pessimistic
view of life, his lack of self-confidence, his many problems, his lack of
sleep…stress did not permit him to look beyond these crises to hope they
would pass and that life would be worth living.
He could not hope. He
could not believe.” [viii]
Novalyne and Charles both suggest an element of
despondency, of extreme depression, as a reason for Howard’s suicide.
Rusty resists the despondency idea for Howard’s suicide, perhaps
because the despondency could still be said to be primarily about his
mother’s impending death. Rusty
seems determined to make any oedipal associations disappear, even going so far
as to suggest that Howard’s suicide was a well thought out rational
philosophical act. Here is a
recent comment on the suicide from Rusty.
“[Howard says] that it is the will to live that is irrational –
that if we were rational we would kill ourselves – or at least not fight
against dying. (Isn’t that pretty much what Sartre said?)”[ix]
Frank Coffman, publisher of the Howard journal, “The Dark Man”
joins Rusty is this view. Frank, in the third issue of his on-line fan magazine, “The
Shadow Singer” suggests that Howard fans should consider the suicide to be a
“reasoned choice.”
[x]
One can only hope that it is simply rhetoric and not a true reflection
of any action they are liable to take in their own lives.
Rusty’s
view does have the advantage of applying to Howard’s entire life though.
Charles’ and Novalyne’s theories are pretty much isolated to 1936.
Tevis
Clyde Smith believes Howard fascination with suicide started as early as age
17. “At the period of which I
write, Bob was a Senior and I was a Sophomore.
One of his classmates killed himself a few weeks before graduation.
Bob was 17 at the time, and I was 15.
The suicide had an impact on him, and, as the years went by, he became
more constant in defending the right of self-destruction, dropping hints of
the value of such an ending.” [xi]
This
could be the start of a worked out philosophy or the first indication of
clinical or reactive depression. Another
challenge for Bob came when Patches, his dog, was terminally ill.
Bob chose to go to Brownwood for a couple of days making his parents
take care of the ailing dog and burying him.
[xii]
Tevis Clyde Smith says when Patches impending death was near, “[…]
Bob made the statement that he would do away with himself if it were not for
his Mother.”
[xiii]
In
a November 1930 letter to Harold Preece, Howard wrote, “I am haunted by the
realization that my best days, mental and physical, lie behind me.
And God knows my past life has not been so happy that I can look upon
the future with any hope.”
[xiv]
Howard’s loss in a boxing match seems to be the cause for depression.
In
a letter to August Derleth written in May 1936, Howard wrote: “When a man
dies young he misses much suffering, but the old have only life as a
possession and somehow to me the tearing of a pitiful remnant from weak old
fingers is more tragic than the looting of a life in its full rich prime.
I don’t want to live to be old.” [xv]
Howard’s mother’s lingering sickness is affecting him here.
Howard’s
father writes in a June 1944 letter to E. Hoffman Price, “[Robert] was so
sensitive to things of a depressing nature that his mother and I never
mentioned anything of a depressing nature in his presence.” [xvi]
Whether
all these instances of Howard slipping into depression and suicidal thought
are the result of clinical or reactive depression is pure guesswork.
The pattern does show, as Rusty says, a pro-suicidal outlook being
developed. Further evidence is
suggested by Howard’s poetry. “As
much as a decade earlier, Howard’s poems cried out: “Life is a liar and a
drear eyed whore…”; “Jets of agony lance my brain..”; and “The years
are as a knife against my heart.” […] In The
Tempter, Howard practically shouted his intention [of suicide].” [xvii]
Despite
an apparent fascination with suicide, Howard remained functional and aroused
no concern from family or friends until 1936.
When his mother’s lingering illness became much worse and death was
near. At this point it is
tempting to accept a synthesis of Rusty’s and Charles’ view. Howard had a worked out pro-suicide philosophy and the events
of 1936 caused a severe depression in Howard.
The combination of both makes his suicide almost inevitable.
Case closed.
But
re-examination shows the pro-suicide philosophy to be a long-standing plan not
to outlive his mother, and the severe depression of 1936 was a result of his
mom’s lingering death. Robert’s
mother cannot be easily removed from any equation.
Novalyne,
despite her later interviews, gives cause for speculation in her memoir.
She remembers a conversation she had with her physician, Dr. Daughtery,
when she was ill at age 27. Dr.
Daughtery warns her against a relationship with Robert.
“He seems very attached to his mother.”
She replies, “I don’t think it’s all affection.”
She tells the Doctor about the “almost fanatical way” Bob takes
care of her. The Doctor gives
“a low whistle” and says, “You may be right,” nods and repeats, “You
may be right.” [xviii]
The
first modern mention of Howard suffering from an Oedipus complex probably
comes from Howard biographer, L. Sprague de Camp.
One of de Camp’s first attempts at a lengthy Howard biography states,
“The mutual devotion between Howard and his mother is a classical case of
the Oedipus complex.” [xix]
Any
term as loaded as “Oedipus complex” will suggest different levels to
different people. The dictionary
defines it as, “libidinous feelings toward the parent of the opposite sex,
often also involving rivalry with the parent of the same sex: especially
applied to males and considered normal in young children.” [xx]
De
Camp backed off of this a bit in a revised version of the same article,
“[Howard’s] suicide has long been a subject of amateur psychological
speculation. Suggestions include
Oedipism, paranoid schizophrenia, and latent homosexuality.
All are guesses.” [xxi]
In
the next revision de Camp says, “It seems obvious that the dominating factor
in Howard’s life was his devotion to his mother, which answers to the
textbook descriptions of the Oedipus complex.
[…] however, […] posthumous psychoanalysis is at best a jejune form
of speculation.” [xxii]
In
the final full-fledged biography, de Camp sums it up this way.
“[Howard] suffered from pathological dependence on his mother, from
delusions of persecution, [and] from a fascination with suicide.” [xxiii]
A
person who met Howard, but was not a Cross Plains resident, is E. Hoffman
Price, a fellow writer. He
visited Howard years before the suicide.
Price, through Howard, was aware of some of the Cross Plains town
gossip; but it is safe to say he formed his own and unique opinions about
Howard.
Price
describes Howard as, “A complex and baffling personality one can’t –
couldn’t – get all at once. An
overgrown boy – a brooding anachronism – a scholar – a gripping,
compelling writer – a naďve boy scout – a man of great emotional depth,
yet strangely self-conscious of many emotional phases […].[xxiv]
In
another letter, Price writes: “[…] REH had, in a way of speaking, the
5-year old's crying need for escape, and the grown man’s stern resolution.
He was a strange blend of the rugged, the grim, and the highly
emotional, the sensitive, and the super-sensitive.” [xxv]
He
sums up near the end, “[…] I repeat what is my conviction: that it was the
act of a 5-year-old’s emotion driving a grown and rugged man accustomed to
firearms and violence […].” [xxvi]
Price’s
view of Howard as an emotionally insecure man covers some of the same
territory as de Camp but avoids an undue emphasis on Howard’s mother.
It seems a better synthesis of the reactive depression, fascination
with suicide, and dependency on his mother arguments.
The
most recent attempt at a short biography written by a Texas journalist who
interviewed residents of Cross Plains says, “And then there was Howard’s
Oedipus-like relationship with his long-ill mother who lavished every ounce of
her protective attention on him. To
those who knew the family, it was obvious that Hester Howard was closer to her
son than she was to her husband.” [xxvii]
Rusty
is correct to say it is unfortunate that Howard chose the impending death of
his mother for his suicide. It is
so unfortunate on so many levels. But
there is evidence for a belief in Howard’s despondency and dependence with
his mother. Whether it is
“compelling” or not will depend on the individual.
Howard
fan’s can argue forever about de Camp’s view, Rusty’s view, Charles’
view, Price’s view, and any other view and never reach a satisfactory
conclusion. The facts are buried
with the Howard family. But
proponents of whatever view continue to enjoy the fiction of Robert E. Howard.
[i] Howard, Robert E.,
The Howard Collector, Ace Books, New York, NY, 1979, p. 209.
[ii] Howard, Robert E.,
The Howard Collector, p. 206.
[iii]
Burke, Rusty. A Short Biography of REH, Cross Plains Comics, New York, NY,
1999.
[iv] Gramlich, Charles.
Razored Zen 53, included as part of REHupa 170, August, 2001.
[v] Price, Novalyne.
Day of the Stranger, Necronomicon Press, West Warwick, RI, 1989, p.
13.
[vi] Price, Novalyne.
Day of the Stranger, p. 13.
[vii]
Price, Novalyne. Day of the Stranger, p. 43.
[viii] Price, Novalyne.
Day of the Stranger, p. 47.
[ix] Burke, Rusty.
REH Inner Circle
Group, March 6, 2002, post #15811.
[x] Coffman, Frank.
The Shadow Singer
#3, www.robert-e-howard.org
[xi] de Camp, L. Sprague.
Dark Valley Destiny, Bluejay Books, New York, NY, 1983, p. 168.
[xii] de Camp, L. Sprague.
Dark Valley Destiny, p. 236.
[xiii]
Smith, Tevis Clyde.
Report on a Writing Man, Necronomicon Press, West Warwick, RI, 1991, p.
14.
[xiv] Lord, Glenn (editor).
Selected Letters, Necronomicon Press, West Warwick, RI
[xv] Lord, Glenn (editor).
Selected Letters, Necronomicon Press, West Warwick, RI
[xvi] Bacon, Jonathan (editor),
Runes of REH, Lamoni, IA, 1976, p. 23.
[xvii] de Camp, L. Sprague.
Dark Valley Destiny, p. 345.
[xviii] Price, Novalyne.
One Who Walked Alone, Donald M. Grant, West Kingston, RI, 1986, p.
190-191.
[xix] de Camp, L. Sprague.
“Skald in the Post Oaks” Fantastic, June 1971, p. 103.
[xx]
Webster’s College Dictionary, Random House, New York, NY, 1991.
[xxi] de Camp, L. Sprague.
The Miscast Barbarian, Gerry de la Ree, Saddle River, NJ, 1975, p.
35.
[xxii] de camp, L. Sprague.
Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers, Arkham House, Sauk City, WS, 1976, p.
155.
[xxiii] de Camp, L. Sprague.
Dark Valley Destiny, p. 366.
[xxiv] Howard, Robert E.,
The Howard Collector, p. 201
[xxv] Howard, Robert E.,
The Howard Collector, p. 223
[xxvi]
Howard, Robert E., The Howard Collector, p. 224
[xxvii]
Stowers, Carlton. Doc Howard’s Boy, X-Press Copy & Printing, DeSoto, TX, 2000, p. 6.
Gary
appreciates receiving feedback on all his articles. You can
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