Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Book Review

📌Category: Books, Shirley Jackson
📌Words: 538
📌Pages: 2
📌Published: 21 January 2022

Humankind finds solace in being the only “aware” beings of our world. When something other than human displays sentience, this peace is disrupted, and fear is created. Shirley Jackson’s “Haunting of Hill House” establishes an atmosphere of fear through the characterization of the House and its description as a setting, along with her use of elements of gothic literature. 

The first thing Jackson does in her story is list off her characters. The paranormal-obsessed Dr. Montague, lonely Eleanor, charming Theodora, and mischievous Luke are all included in this list. But before all of them, Jackson describes Hill House as, “not sane” and, “holding darkness within” (Jackson 1). Jackson clearly establishes Hill House as one of her characters, and even implies its sentience. When Eleanor sees the house for the first time she sees that, “the face of Hill House seemed awake, with a watchfulness from the blank windows and a touch of glee in the eyebrow of the cornice” (Jackson 35). Humans are only aware of their own “existence,” and they only know what it is like to be living, as human. This is why it is so easy for humans to dismiss the fact that other creatures have emotions or thoughts. So when we learn that something else exhibits emotion or thought, in this case Hill House, we are instantly alarmed, because the unknown creates fear. 

Describing Hill House as a character also effectively gives the reader a deeper understanding of the setting. When Eleanor gazes at Hill House, she sees that it, “is vile, it is diseased” (Jackson 34). Eleanor also gets a room that, “had an unbelievably faulty design which left it chillingly wrong in all its dimensions” (Jackson 42). When the readers learn these disturbing traits about Hill House as a setting, they also get a view of the dark personality of the house. It also works vice versa. When the readers learn about Hill House through its frightening personification, they also can imagine what the other characters experiences are having to live inside of this house.  Jackson establishes Hill House as a distinct character and setting. This allows the reader to experience Hill House in two diverse ways, letting the horrors within it be expressed twice as much. 

Jackson also uses classic elements of gothic literature and horror to make her story even more terrifying. Some elements often seen in gothic writing include the usage of intense emotion, tormented narrators, and of course supernatural beings such as ghosts (Pearson “Analyze Craft and Structure: Gothic Literature”). These elements are most clearly seen through Eleanor, who has “never been wanted anywhere” (Jackson 230). Eleanor is lonely and often singled out from the others in the story, which is mainly caused by her odd behavior once Hill House starts haunting her. Eleanor’s experiences of extreme emotion occur at the climax of the story, when Eleanor has, “broken the spell of Hill House” (Jackson 256). Eleanor is the optimity of Hill House’s influence on the other characters, and of Jackson’s use of elements of gothic literature. She has become the ghost that haunts the other characters by the end of the story.  

Hill House is main character and setting of the story. It is experienced by all characters who enter and interact with it, just a like a real person. “Haunting of Hill House” effectively creates an atmosphere of fear through the characterization of the House and its description as a setting, along with her use of elements of gothic literature.

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