The Haunting Of Hill House Analysis

In a gothic novel, or story, the setting is exclusive to the plot. If a gothic story doesn’t have a great setting, the plot will not be as enthralling with a weak setting. A gothic setting must have dark elements and horrifying twists and turns to drive the story. In The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, Jackson exemplifies how a setting should be for a gothic novel. She uses modern psychology, and old ghost stories. These elements make the person reading her story, ponder what exactly is real and what is not.
When you combine the nature of the characters of the story in Hill House with the events taking place in the house, the premise of the house being haunted, could quite possibly be a reality. The characters add to that conclusion.
Hill house is very closed off from the world. The house sits atop a giant hill secluded away from civilization. The closest person is miles away. Likewise the house in Thirteen Ghosts is also, not near civilization. The driveway for the house in Thirteen Ghosts is its own road, much like Hill House.
The setting in Hill House gives off a lonely feeling, as well as a sadness. Many tragedies took place in Hill House. In addition, Hill House has rich history. As opposed to the house of Thirteen Ghosts, which is in fact a new development. In a way Hill House has earned the right to be evil, and to look evil. The house from “Thirteen Ghosts” has stolen it’s evilness through and through. Cyrus captured ghosts and forced them into that house. Hill House seems to have always been evil, and has driven people insane to the point of death.
The one aspect that sets these two stories apart is ghosts. In the case of Hill House, the specter(s) never reveal themselves. Jackson leaves that up to interpretation. However in the instance of Thirteen Ghosts, the ghosts themselves are part of the story and have a huge role in the plot, as well as the setting. You can say that the ghosts are part of the setting, and the ghosts make the house seem alive. Even though the house is just a
The times these stories took place are obviously different. One is old and the other is newer. They both give a haunting feel, as well as an emptiness. A lot of tragedy happened in both these stories. In Addition, they both had a tyrannical male that played a big part of the story. The Houses in both the stories seemed alive. They both had a message as well. Hill House’s message didn’t seem as clear, but killing off an innocent means something. This writer not sure what Jackson’s message was, but one could say that her message to the reader was: don’t take life for granted, it can end in an instant. As far as Thirteen Ghosts message one could say it’s: Live for now, and put your regrets in the past because life is short and once you’re gone, you don’t get any more