Analysis of Lucille Fletcher's The Hitchhiker Essay Example

Do you enjoy thrilling ghost stories with surprising twists that keep you guessing? Do you want to feel a shiver go down your spine? Lucille Fletcher’s short story “The Hitchhiker,” does exactly that and is about a man named Ronald Adams who goes through manifold absurd events. He plans to travel across the country from New York to California on a road trip to go to Hollywood. However, along the way, he seems to be followed by a phantom Hitchhiker. He first spotted this mysterious man on the Brooklyn Bridge at the beginning of his journey, and continues glimpsing him across the country. As time goes on, this Hitchhiker increasingly irritates Ronald until he attempts to kill him. In the short story “The Hitchhiker” by Lucille Fletcher, mood is created by the use of repetition, surprising statements from the characters, and mysterious events. 

To begin with, repetition is used by the author to create mood. Over the course of the story, the recurring event of Ronald Adams sighting the Hitchhiker builds the mood. In numerous paragraphs and parts of the story, Fletcher writes, “I saw him again” (Fletcher 95). The constant recurrence of this man adds to the mood, because Ronald’s fear builds each time he sees the Hitchhiker. Over the course of the story, Ronald spots this individual in various locations including the side of the road and bridges, and each time his fear escalates. Eventually Ronald becomes so frightened he does absurd things. The feeling of fear plays a part in building the mood because Ronald’s fear becomes the reader’s own. By having Ronald become scared and fearful of the Hitchhiker, the reader, in turn, becomes fearful for Ronald and what might happen to him. Although this fear is also important to the story as a whole because it keeps it moving while keeping the reader interested long enough for the author to surprise them again. 

Additionally, the characters are frequently saying surprising statements that add to the mood. The author constantly writes startling statements for the characters, such as when the girl told Ronald she couldn’t see the Hitchhiker, despite Ronald just having seen him. Fletcher wrote that when Ronald tried to show the girl the Hitchhiker, the girl responded, “No. I didn’t see him that time” (Fletcher 99). The girl, not being able to see the Hitchhiker, forces Ronald to question himself about his seeing this guy. Throughout the story, Ronald constantly notices this man, and he was under the fallacious belief that others could view him too. Therefore, he tried to show others the strange man only to realize they couldn’t, which caused him to appear a lunatic. The madness the girl sees in Ronald contributes to the mood, since it forces the reader to question if Ronald is deranged and hallucinating. It opens the possibility that Ronald isn’t sane and that his account is a story made by the mind of a madman. An element of mystery is created as well, because the Hitchhiker is compelled into an even more mysterious character that the reader wants to learn more about. 

Finally, mood is created by the constant occurrence of mysterious events. In the story, there are plenty of mysterious events that are never fully explained, such as the death of Ronald Adams. Fletcher writes, “It’s all taken place since the death of her oldest son, Ronald” (Fletcher 101). This line alone creates mystery, because it forces Adams to question who he is and what happened to him. He had called his mother for comfort over his strange circumstances only to be confronted with an incredibly startling statement from an unknown woman named Mrs. Whitney. It’s obvious that he doesn’t remember dying, but this woman claims he’s dead. Therefore, to learn that he died days ago makes him wonder who he is and it makes him feel alone because everyone believes he’s dead. The revelation of Adams being dead is important as well because his loneliness causes the reader to pity and relate to him. Countless people have gone through the feeling of being lonely, so a connection is made, drawing the reader further in.  

Ultimately, there are several things that create mood in this story from the repeating event of the Hitchhiker’s appearance, to the part when Adams realizes the Hitchhiker is a phantom and that he died days before. The creation of mood in this story is important because it draws the reader further into the story and it makes them want to find out more. Adding elements such as fear and doubt gets the reader to become more involved with the story. Therefore, if you are in the market for creepy, chilling stories, “The Hitchhiker” is for you because it will definitely send a shiver down your spine.