The Haunting Of Hill House Essay

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In The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, there are a lot of various occurrences within the walls of Hill House. Dr. Montague, Eleanor, Theodora, and Luke are staying at the believably haunted house as a part of Dr. Montague’s experiment to see if there is scientific evidence behind paranormal phenomena. As a matter of fact, they end up being the targets of all the happenings in the house. I believe that everything going on in the house is peculiar, but when you look deeper, there is some logic behind it all.
I suspect that the house, or a spirit specifically attached to the house, is responsible for the paranormal phenomena. The house has a very sketchy past, and I think that coincides directly with the strange things going on. Dr. Montague says “‘Hill House has an impressive list of tragedies connected with it, but then, most old houses have. People have to live and die, somewhere, after all, and a house can hardly stand for eighty years without seeing some of its inhabitants die within its walls’” (page 57). More specifically, I think that the spirit of Hugh Crain or his daughter is what is haunting the house. Both characters were attached to the house emotionally, so I think that it could logically be either of their ghosts …show more content…

I think that if the things that occurred were only delusions, then not everyone would see them the same way or be affected similarly. For example, when Luke finds Eleanor’s name written on the walls, he is not the only one who can see it; all four guests in the house are able to see the writing. “‘It’s﹣writing?’ Eleanor asks, pressing closer to see. ‘Writing,’ Luke said...‘Chalk,’ the doctor said, stepping forward to touch a letter with the tip of his finger. ‘Written in chalk’” (page 106-107). The fact that they are able to touch the chalk and physically see evidence of it being there enhances the thought that the events at Hill House are very

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