Page "Robert E. Howard" Paragraph 6

Other themes began to appear at this time which would later seep into his prose.

Although he loved reading and learning, he found school to be confining and began to hate having anyone in authority over him.

Experiences watching and confronting bullies revealed the omnipresence of evil and enemies in the world, and taught him the value of physical strength and violence.

Being the son of the local doctor gave Howard frequent exposure to the effects of injury and violence, due to accidents on farms and oil fields combined with the massive increase in crime that came with the oil boom.

Firsthand tales of gunfights, lynchings, feuds, and Indian raids developed his distinctly Texan, hardboiled outlook on the world.

Sports, especially boxing, became a passionate preoccupation.

At the time, boxing was the most popular sport in the country, with a cultural influence far in excess of what it is today.

James J. Jeffries, Jack Johnson, Bob Fitzsimmons, and later Jack Dempsey were the names that inspired during those years, and he grew up a lover of all contests of violent, masculine struggle.