The supernatural cannot be explained by logic nor reasoning, neither can it be studied by science, since the intangible force that controls the supernatural cannot be measured or controlled by the intellect. Shirley Jackson expressed “interest in superstition, and the supernatural” as a child; her interest in the occult led Jackson to become a practicing witch, Lenemaja Friedman Professor of English Literature confirms this in her book Shirley Jackson (Friedman 19). Jackson critics, felt that her stories were the works of a twisted mind, because of this “Jackson downplayed the single real-life parallel to her fiction — her personal study and practice of witchcraft” in order to debunk the critics evaluation of her mind as brought to light by Charles Avinger in his essay Shirley Jackson Identities & Issues in Literature (Avinger). Shirley Jackson’s interest in superstitions, and delving into the supernatural influenced the writing of “Home”, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and The Haunting of Hill House.
The village people in “Home” have a superstitious belief that the Sanderson road is haunted when it rains. Ethel Sloan and her husband Jim Sloan have just recently purchased the old Sanderson place; when Ethel tells the store clerk, and the grocer she drove the Sanderson road to the village in the rain, they try to warn her of a mysterious danger in connection with the road. The villager’s superstitions, do not allow them to tell Ethel exactly why the Sanderson road should not be traveled in the rain; the clerk and the grocer only infer that they avoid traveling on the Sanderson road when it is storming, causing Ethel to believe that the road is not traveled because of its rough condition. The village people believe the ghos...
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...ious even to the point of demanding a family friend leave their home for criticizing her husband’s work believing he was “hexing” the chance of it selling to the New Yorker (Friedman 33). According to Stanley Edgar Hyman in Hall’s book Shirley Jackson, Jackson was “the only contemporary writer who [was] a practicing amateur witch,” her interest in the black arts gave her superstitious leanings and a window into the supernatural (Hall 104). Jackson tried to down play her involvement in the practice of the occult so as not to discredit her sensibility as a writer amongst her critiques. Superstitions and the supernatural influenced the context of “Home, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and The Haunting of Hill House. Jackson’s ability to intertwine the spirit realm with nature allowed her to create characters with realities detached from the world they live in.
Every story, every book, every legend, every belief and every poem have a reason and a background that creates them. Some might be based on historical events, some might be based on every culture´s beliefs, and some others might be based on personal experiences of the authors. When a person writes a literary piece, that person is looking for a way to express her opinion or her feelings about a certain situation. A good example is the poem “Southern Mansion” by Arna Bonptems. The main intention of “Southern Mansion” could have been to complain, or to stand against the discrimination and exploitation of black people throughout history. However, as one starts to read, to avoid thinking about unnatural beings wandering around the scene that is depicted is impossible. The poem “Southern Mansion” represents a vivid image of a typical ghost story which includes the traditional element of the haunted house. This image is recreated by the two prominent and contradictory elements constantly presented through the poem: sound and silence. The elements are used in two leading ways, each one separate to represent sound or silence, and together to represent sound and silence at the same time. The poem mixes the two elements in order to create the spooky environment.
As I interviewed Annie Filban about her personal experience with spirits, I found to my judgment that it seemed she based a lot of her belief in her story upon faith. Even though she believed something was in fact out of the norm, and was making peculiar movements and noise in her home, she was still skeptical with some of her statements. Filban responded on different occasions to “I don’t know” and “I guess,” which lead me to believe her belief is not based upon evidence as much as it relies on her faith.
Shirley Jackson was Extraordinary at writing marvelous novels, also known to be at competition with Stephen King. Especially for her book The Haunting of Hill House. Jackson created an amazing novel and even better characters, one of which is known as Eleanor. Jackson outstandingly creates this character isolated from society, which believes that hill house is her way out of isolation but finds herself to wanting a way out of Hill House.
Shirley Jackson, an American writer who was born on December 14, 1916, in San Francisco, CA and died on August 8,1965 in North Bennington, VT, she may be mostly known for her commended short story such as Charles, The Lottery, The possibility of Evil, The Lovely House and Louisa, please. She attended the University of Rochester from 1932 to 1936 and she later joined at Syracuse University. “Janice” a story about a student who tried to commit suicide was her first publication. After graduation from Syracuse University with a bachelor 's degree in English in 1940, she moved to New York and continued her writing life. Jackson was a creative essayist and considerable lots of her stories have mysterious nature.
Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco on December 14, 1916, a year prior to the U.S. entering World War I. It was a very tumultuous time in the world and especially influential in Ms. Jackson’s life as she developed through childhood. Events of the time that may have influenced Ms. Jackson’s view of society when growing up included the introduction of prohibition, the Roaring 20’s, women’s suffrage, and the advent of the Great Depression. Women were beginning to exercise their independence and more exciting opportunities to develop creativity as a female finally seemed a real possibility.
Noted by Darryl Hattenhauer, Shirley Jackson, an American gothic author, "ranked among America's most highly regarded fiction writers" during the "1940s, 1950s, and 1960s" (1). Jackson argued that “a good story must engage its reader, persuade him that he wants to belong in the story for as long as it lasts,” and if the author fails to provide such experience then they can consider their work a failure (Hall 113). The idea of authors providing an experience of enjoyment by involving them in the story, made Jackson a successful writer. She also believed that if an author is asked where their ideas come from they would simply “find [themselves] telling over, in some detail, the story of [their] life”, another reason why Jackson was a great writer (Hall 117). Jackson’s continuous refusal to agree with her mother’s beliefs about how women should portray themselves, repeated struggle against depression, and life as a wife/mother, influenced many of her stories.
People feared Shirley Jackson herself was a witch and thought she practiced voodoo. Jack Sullivan wrote, "Jackson's real witchcraft is her fiction" (71). Sullivan thought the comparison between Jackson and her heroines were prominent. Jackson’s female characters loathe their boring lives. These characters rise up against men and then are punished or even put to death for their defiance.
The Psychological World of Shirley Jackson Although Shirley Jackson had many psychological problems, she contributed greatly to society through her works. Shirley Jackson was a profound and ambivalent writer. She did not write to please the world, but she wrote to convey how she felt about society in the world. Her psychological problems did have an affect on her writing and it greatly connected with her life. Shirley Jackson was a very unwelcome writer in her time, and that is because many readers did not want to believe that what she wrote was true.
Fear brings forth a certain atmosphere which compels us to act upon it. The era in which the book was published allows us to see how common these fears were. Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is an excellent portrayal of how fear controls the human mind by using the characters as examples. In the book Eleanor, Theodora, Luke, and Dr. Montague have all been influenced by fear in the story, whether it be the fear of love, the unknown, family, rejection, expression, or loneliness. These different types of fear plagued their minds causing their actions to reflect upon them. Jackson explores the theme of fear in The Haunting of Hill House by creating a cast of characters that in turn are manipulated by the inner workings of their minds and the
Paranormal activity better known as parapsychology is a non-fictional idea. Parapsychology is the scientific study of interactions between living organisms and their external environment that seem to transcend the known physical laws of nature. (Teresi, 2000) The Society of Psychical Research was established in London in 1882 (Teresi, 2000). Major parapsychological studies had not begun appearing in mainstream scientific journals until the sixties and early seventies (Teresi, 2000).“Furthermore, groups such as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) which publishes the Skeptical Inquirer and the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) have been formed to disseminate credible information on the paranormal. Credibility should be less of a problem in the future” (Teresi, 2000).
Bacon, Elizabeth E. “Witchcraft.” Encyclopedia Americana. Volume 29. Pages 83 – 84. Connecticut: Grolier Incorporated, 1999.
The Fayreweather family spent the first few nights after the tornado in their home, making do with their camping gear. Unable to live in their house, while their house was being repaired, they moved into the Tumbleweed Inn. The Tumble Inn, as some people called it, was much larger a hotel than would usually be found in a town the size of Tributary. But, Scholarton University was nearby, and the accommodation was very often booked by families visiting the students who attended. After the big storm, so many residents of Tributary Town moved into the Tumbleweed, it really seemed they had tumbled in!
Everyone has a slightly different interpretation of the supernatural but the interpretation which we can start with is Shakespeare’s. Everyone of Shakespeare’s time found the supernatural fascinating. Shakespeare interpreted the supernatural as witches, magic, unnatural and evil and he expressed his beliefs in the play, “Macbeth” very clearly, as he portrayed the three deformed women with control over the weather and the ability to predict the future. These three evil witches with magical powers were the creation of Shakespeare’s interpretation of the supernatural. Shakespeare’s contemporaries believed in the supernatural very strongly and a majority of them were frightened of it, including the king of that time, King James I of England.
The works of Shirley Jackson tend to the macabre because she typically unveils the hidden side of human nature in her short stories and novels. She typically explores the darker side of human nature. Her themes are wide-ranging and border on the surreal though they usually portray everyday, ordinary people. Her endings are often not a resolution but rather a question pertaining to society and individuality that the reader must ask himself or herself. Jackson's normal characters often are in possession of an abnormal psyche. Children are portrayed as blank slates ready to learn the ways of the world from society. However, adults have a hidden side already formed and lurking beneath the perceived normality of the established social order. We see this best in Jackson's most famous short story, The Lottery. Jackson's uses many elements of fiction to demonstrate how human nature can become desensitized to the point of mob murder of a member of their own community. One of the ways she does this is through character. While the shocking reason behind the lottery and the gruesome prize for its winner are not received until the ending, the characters come back to haunt us for their desensitized behavior earlier in the story. For example, the children in the beginning of the story innocently gather stones as normal children might, yet their relish in doing so becomes macabre once we find out the purpose for which that are collecting them "Bobby Martin hard already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroy...eventually made a great pile of stones in one ...
... It has almost become a friend. The paranormal encounters and psychological effects of the house made her almost, insane. Dr. Montague and the others all agreed that she needed to be home. It was for her own safety. The morning that Eleanor was scheduled to leave was like any other. Mrs. Dudley set out their breakfast, and all in all, it seemed like a normal day. Everyone gave their good-byes, and Theo was especially sad to see Eleanor go. Eleanor got into her car, but something wasn't right. Her mind was telling her that Hill House belonged to her. How dare they tell me to leave, and what gives them the right to make the rules? Hill House was HER house. In an act to save her dignity, Eleanor presses the gas. She turns the wheel and crashes straight into a tree. Her life had ended. After an ending like this, you begin to think. Was Hill House really haunted? Or was it the psyche of Eleanor Vance that caused these encounters? All in all, Eleanor was never accepted, and she finally found someone that accepted her for what she was. That someone was Hill House. This story became one of my favorites after reading it. I would recommend this book to any person who has been the outcast.