The Satanic Illusion | Literary Precedents

The Satanic Illusion Literary Precedents

Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World (1912; see separate entry) set the standard for adventures like "The Satanic Illusion." In The Lost World, Professor George Edward Challenger, narrator Edward Dunn Malone, and a gathering of misfits seek out a great plateau in South America where ancient life, particularly dinosaurs, may persist long after its extinction elsewhere. On the plateau, evolution is seen playing itself out, and every observation is based on the belief that evolutionary theory is true. Conan Doyle had in mind more than high adventure when he wrote The Lost World; the novel is a parody of a popular form of fiction called "boys' books." These were fantastic adventures that were supposed to show boys the important traits of manliness. Conan Doyle's novel is humorous and has fun with all sorts of supposedly manly activities, and the men in the narrative seem more like overgrown boys than...
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