Line #4 Literature/TheWhitePeople


1	[[quoteright:295:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pdf_ed8e7a76_5538_11e5_97e2_7599fd12bc25.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:295:Adaptation by [[http://ibrahimrineke.blogspot.com Ibrahim R. Ineke]]]]
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4	A horror short story by Creator/ArthurMachen, published in 1904.
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6	A couple of youths discuss with a spiritual hermit called Ambrose about the nature of evil, upon which he presents to them a mysterious Green Book.
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8	This turns out to be the diary of a young girl, in which she describes her strange impressions of the countryside in which she lives as well as conversations with her nurse, who initiates her into a secret world of folklore and black magic. Throughout, the girl makes cryptic allusions to such topics as [[TheFairFolk "nymphs", "Dôls", "voolas,"]] [[RitualMagic "white, green, and scarlet ceremonies"]], [[RunicMagic "Aklo letters"]], the [[BlackSpeech "Xu" and "Chian" languages]], and a [[NudeNatureDance game called "Troy Town"]][[note]] the last of which is a reference to actual practices involving labyrinths or labyrinthine dances[[/note]]. The girl's tale gradually develops a mounting atmosphere of suspense, with suggestions of witchcraft, only to [[ThatWasTheLastEntry break off abruptly just at the point where a supreme revelation seems imminent]].
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10	In a return to the frame story, Ambrose reveals that the girl's body was later found dead near a seemingly pagan statue in the woods. He adds that she had "poisoned herself—in time", making the analogy of a [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow child finding the key to a locked medicine cabinet.]]
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12	Creator/HPLovecraft was a big fan of ''The White People'', and would adopt many of the techniques and terminology used here to help develop his own Franchise/CthulhuMythos stories. Creator/UrsulaVernon's 2019 novel ''Literature/TheTwistedOnes'' takes place in the same continuity, although the setting is moved to [[SouthernGothic North Carolina]].
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15	!!"The White People" provides examples of:
16	* AmbiguousInnocence: The girl reacts cheerfully and enthusiastically to the dark arts and disturbing circumstances.
17	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Ambrose poses a downright alien view on good and evil, suggesting that true evil is the desecration of natural law. By his standards, a girl's messing with TheFairFolk is more evil than a murderer.
18	* EldritchLocation: The land of the white people, "Deep Dendo". Its a dim yet completely white place with a swirling sky and monuments depicting horrible things.
19	* EvilMentor: The nurse, who taught a child to perform bizarre and dangerous magic.
20	* TheFairFolk: It's right in the title. 'Fair' used to mean 'pale' or 'white'.
21	* HarmfulToMinors: Teaching the dark arts to a child is one thing. But one of the magical tricks the nurse teaches the girl is to create a clay figurine that she implicitly has sex with. The girl's trip to the land of the white people also includes stones depicting graphic and disturbing acts.
22	* HaveAGayOldTime: No, this is not a story about rednecks.
23	* LightIsNotGood: The titular [[TheFairFolk white people]] are pale and live in a shiny land of silver, but they are evil.
24	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Ambrose considers the girl's fae to be a metaphor for the world's unknown processes.
25	* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: The girl whose journal makes up most of story doesn't really seem to get how bizarre the things she's talking about are, or the deeper implications of the stuff she's seen.

Context Literature / TheWhitePeople