A Ghost Story Analysis

Naïveté

“A Ghost Story” by American author Samuel L. Clemens (also known as Mark Twain) is a short story that “departs sharply from the views sanctified by critical condition. [Twain] opposes a studied perfection of plot, favors instead a loose, spontaneous development of narrative” (Feinstein 1). The story opens in an abandon building in New York, the narrator describes his flight up the stairs with creepy detail and allows the reader to simultaneously reach a sensation of relief as he arrives to his room. Here, he sits by a fire and listens to the sounds of the city fade away, which enables him to fall into a deep sleep. After a brief while, the gentleman awakens to a faint tug of his sheets and the sound of an elephant- like footstep tiptoeing around the hallways. The man with a “shuddering expectancy” of what could be lurking around the halls is relieved when the shadowy creature exposes himself and he is none other than the ghost of a fake preserved

He dances around the climax of the story for some time before revealing the friendly giant’s entity. The range of emotions the narrator goes through likely mimic those of a hoodwinked public that likely resulted from Hull’s deceptive actions in the 19th century. The point of view is appropriate in pushing the audience to grasp the central idea of ignorance. The descriptive language put to use in this literary work creates a sensation of dread as the protagonist is thrust into a goose bump-triggering journey through haunted halls. The narrator uses similes, metaphors, and symbolism to paint a mental picture of the treacherous haunting in which he endures. As he turns on the lights he is able to confirm that “in the ashes on the hearth, side by side with [his] own bare footprint, was another, so vast that in comparison [his] was but an