Repulsion of Unnatural Whiteness in Albino People
The narrator notes that whiteness loses its positive, glorious associations when applied to human albinos, whose all-over pale skin makes them an object of revulsion and shock even to their own family members, despite having no other physical deformities. This reaction, he argues, highlights the unnatural, unsettling quality of whiteness when stripped of its culturally sanctioned, familiar positive contexts.
Whiteness as a Marker of Supernatural Terror
The narrator points out that both natural forces and human malice use whiteness to signal and amplify terror: the “White Squall” of the Southern Seas takes its name from its pale, ghostly appearance, and the White Hoods of Ghent used white masks to amplify the horror of their violent rebellion when they murdered their bailiff in a public square, making their act feel even more supernatural and dreadful.
Pallor of Death and Spectral White Imagery
The narrator draws on common universal human experience to tie whiteness to supernatural terror: the pale pallor of a dead body is the most frightening feature of death, leading to the widespread tradition of white burial shrouds, and white is the color associated with ghosts, mist, and even the pale horse of the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, the personification of death itself.
Inherent Dread of Whiteness Without Positive Associations
The narrator concludes that even when whiteness is stripped of all positive, familiar associations, it still carries an inherent, instinctive dread for the human soul, calling up a peculiar, unsettling apparition in the mind that cannot be explained by rational analysis of its usual symbolic meanings.
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