Vicky

There's plenty in Outlast that is reminiscent of Cthulhu, especially in regard to Easterman. The Skinner Man is also a figure that exists in the Reagents' dreams, there's the tentacle aspect of both, the fact that to look at this "thing" is inherently frightening, can cause you to faint and to die. The fact that both figures can control you, make you worship them in a way.

It could be a hint towards what the Skinner Man is. Not some otherworldly being, but a figure from a nightmare. The Skinner Man was NOT a planned aspect of the Therapy. A "Doctor Skinner" appears to a man that was tortured by Easterman prior to Project LATHE, during his "studies" in Hong Kong. Easterman is the one to connect it to a Jungian archetype, giving it more life, and there's also the name being a reference to the "Skinner Box" conditioning experiment. If the Skinner Man has an origin point, it's Easterman's own mind. His love for these stories as a child doesn't feel accidental. Even if only subconsciously, Easterman's work is also his nightmare, and is exasperating his vulnerable mental state.

Next, we have a quote from Robert Frost's poem, The Death of the Hired Man. It's a poem about a husband and wife, farmers, and their old farmhand, Silas. Silas is not a useful man due to his age, and has returned to the farm during winter, a time he is both unneeded and unwelcome. Silas could've returned to his brother, but instead Silas returns to the farm. He returns to work, to die "useful." He is dead by the end of the poem.

It all sounds like a man we know.

"...nothing i can do but make the world for Murkoff. Weeds."

During the Escape event, Easterman lets go of Irene and of Stanley, his family, and solely devotes himself to work. Even when he knows there's really no good ending that's going to come out of it. Not even a legacy.

In the quoted section however, "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in," Easterman has placed himself as the husband, the farmer, deciding if "Silas" dies here or elsewhere. The farmer, while at first angry, does soften on the old man's plight, but a lot of that is due to the urging of his wife. Perhaps here, with no wife (and perhaps no "anima," if you want to follow Jung's theories), Easterman interprets the line even more cruelly than intended. "Amelia will die when we allow her to die.” The farmer doesn't control death or time or nature, but in the Trials, Easterman is playing as a god.

In both cases, someone's work leads to their death. I don't know what Dr. Wernicke has in mind for Dr. Easterman, but everyone is aware that Hendrick is as much patient as he is doctor.

(Considering the "mistake" line is also referenced by Knisely above, it seems like everyone major involved in Murkoff is somewhat aware of Dr. Easterman's dual roles.)

(Avellanos works closely with Dr. Wernicke. Knows the importance of lying to him and keeping him controlled, even when he's supposed to be "Project Lead.")

(Easterman also calls himself both, but he does end this entry thinking he's grown past those titles. He has not.)

It's intriguing to me that the Lovecraft entry is placed on May Day. May Day is about protesting against unsafe working conditions, and Easterman is both in charge of and stuck in some of the most unsafe working conditions imaginable. He has so far been poisoned, lied to, he's been attacked and bound. He's losing his sanity. He's not left Sinyala for a long time. Do we know if he's even getting a paycheck? (Silas from the Frost poem went unpaid. If Easterman is getting money, it isn't exactly useful to him now.) Mayday is also a sign of distress, specifically when facing life-threatening emergencies. Because it's Easterman, I do have to consider the double meaning.

Perhaps this is partly why he's so spiteful of the Escaped Reagents, of Amelia. If he can't dream of leaving, if this is all he has and is, why should his children dream of more? Why should they deny him the one bit of control and autonomy he's allowed to have?