Literary Analysis of Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House
The novel, The Haunting of Hill House, starts with the lines, ‘Hill house itself, not sane, stood against its hills, holding darkness within. It had stood so for eight years and might stand for eighty more.’ (Jackson 1). This opening phrase can be described as a reflection of the novel’s main character, Eleanor. The book recounts the experiences of four seekers, Dr. Montague, Eleanor, Luke, and Theodora who arrive at an unfriendly place known as the Hill house. The setting of the novel is in a hill mansion in an unspecified location but surrounded by many hills. The haunted house had a disturbing history, regarding the builder, Crain Hugh’s family, and which influenced the experiences of the previous generations indirectly. The ominous description of the house in the book and the instruction, the reader is introduced to the elements of the traditional Gothic literary genre (Bailey). The vicious cycle of misfortune spanning Crain’s family in The Haunting of Hill House as well as the loneliness and disorderliness are important aspects that influence Eleanor’s experience in the haunted house.
One significant aspect in the early passages in the novel is, ‘no live organism can continue to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality, even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.’ (Jackson 1). This then reflects the opening sentences of the novel that the house was an alive organism and that the absolute reality that it had been exposed to was way more than any live organism could endure. Doctor Montague, having collected information from various sources stated that the house had been ‘born bad and ‘sad’ right from the beginning but not evil from the start. The emphasis placed on this house then paints it as a lifespan. At one point, the characters talk about the possibility of the house ending, with Theodora stating that, ‘what fun it would be to watch it burn down’, the previous tenant had stated that, ‘it ought to be burned down,’ while Luke states that, ‘it’s harder to burn down a house than you think’. (Jackson 51). That the house had not been haunted since the beginning reveals that the roaming spirits described were the result of conflicts by the previous residents in that same house (Bailey). The loneliness described having engulfed the house can be likened to that which haunted the family of Crain, who remains the unseen haunting force throughout the novel. This same inner loneliness which is reflected in Crain’s family is transferred to the house. It is the inner loneliness haunting Eleanor which makes her feel like the house was her home; that she knew it better than anyone else among her crew.
Crain’s family had been enmeshed in a vicious cycle of misfortunes. Dr. Montague, having collected information regarding the house from multiple sources is convinced that the force controlling the house cannot be tamed, understood, or exorcised. Rather, the force can only be seen as a controller. The main reason why Crain Hugh built the house in the first place is not specified. What is unfortunate though is that, Crain’s young wife died even before setting eyes on the house, as a result of an accident involving her carriage whereby, her dead body had been taken into the house (Bailey). Crain had then married two more wives who died tragically as narrated in the novel. Although the author fails to give details concerning the death of the wives, especially the second, it is possible to trace a curse as having spanned all wives which he had married. Hugh Crain then decides to leave the house and establish a new life in Europe leaving the house to his two daughters. The novel, like the Victorian gothic horror literary classification, leaves the audience with some questions unanswered (Bailey). For instance, the vicious cycle of death which had reigned the family does not seem broken in any way. Eleanor, for one, felt so much connected to this house, convinced that it is the house that had called upon her to this tour. In one instance, she states that none of them could leave the house even if they wanted to- but is then surprised by her utterance (Jackson 98). At the end of the novel when she is forced to leave the house, she chooses to rum her car on a tree; whether or not she survives the incidence remains unclear. These happenings from her life can be interpreted as intricately linked with Crain’s family history. Eleanor is not shown as an evil lady since she is brought on the light, in fact selecting her to visit the hill house was due to her psychic capacity since childhood. Her experiences in this house are parallel to those of the family which had resided in the haunted house, revealing an invisible connection.
The Crain family is noted as an epitome of problems and conflicts which take place in a circularity. After the death of Hugh Crain, the two sisters had taken precedence over the house, while the older sister took along a girl from the village of Hillsdale as a companion. Upon the death of Miss Crain (as the older sister came to be known), a case ensues with the companion insisting that the house had been left to her. The novel then narrates a familial resentment that echoed throughout the generations of Hill house indexing fear among the inhabitants and influencing the behaviors of generations connected to Crain’s family (Daubenfeld). The unfolding events which drive Old Miss Crain’s companion to psychosis and death is terrifying.
The supernatural force controlling the happenings in this house is visibly snowballing in the generations that follow (Bailey). On the other hand, Eleanor has a dark and lonely story having lost her mother a while ago. She is still in her grieving although she was still at some grateful level after caring for her mother. Similar to the Crain’s’, the relationship with her sister was tarnished by an argument of the car she took. To the daughters who had remained in the haunted house, Hugh Crain wrote a book advising her on how to be a proper lady. On the last page of the gruesome book, Crain writes using his blood as if repressing his daughter that, ‘daughter; sacred pacts are signed in blood and I have here taken from my own wrist the vial fluid with which I bind you’ (Jackson 126). The influence of this bond can be inferred as one source of the spirits in this house. It appears that Crain’s decision to use his blood and bind his daughter was a move to invoke otherworldly forces. Eleanor’s experiences can be viewed as extensions of the historical perspectives of the haunted house and mostly due to the influence of the evil spirits cast in the house.
In conclusion, the historical aspects of Crain’s family paint a disturbed, disorderly, and lonely family with visible voids. The similarities between the past and present horrors of the haunted house signify a circularity of events, suggesting that these are recurring in an unbroken cycle. Eleanor’s experiences in the haunted house, including her suicidal ideation, are historically recurring tendencies. Her life is lonely, disordered while her inner self is still grieving for the loss of her mother. Although there are no specifics, Eleanor’s relationship can be interpreted as corresponding to the historical antecedents. However, whether the happenings in the haunted house are a function of Eleanor’s psychic powers remains an unanswered phenomenon.
Works Cited
Bailey, Dale. American nightmares: The haunted house formula in American popular fiction. University of Wisconsin Pres, 2011.
Daubenfeld, Margaret. Ghostly Substance: The Evolution of Spaces, Minds, and Narrative in the Haunted House Novel. Diss. Department of English, Sonoma State University, 2019.
Jackson, Shirley. The haunting of hill house. Penguin, 2013.