The Word for World is Forest

The first thing that really stood out to me about the book “The Word for World is Forest” is the title itself. The Athshean word for ‘world’ is ‘forest’ in their words. This world is technically built on dirt and dirt is where forests come from (excluding the oceans). Everything around us is built on dirt. Even though we only see roads and other things, deep under is still dirt.

This book is place in the future of our current Earth.  People from Earth, colonists take over a planet known as Athshe. If people have the techonology to go to another place, it was kind of weird that they did the olden style of colonization. They actually cut trees down, planted stuff and enslaved the locals (humanoids). The people from Earth have turned into invaders. Somehow this makes me think of us now. We are cutting down our forests to clear more land to build buildings and strengthen the economy. The animals are like the locals on the planet Athshe, but just not enslaved like them. (Just imagine, we capture a parrot and put it to work… that sounds cuter than anything else…). It is the start of another new world, like how people came to North America in history (just on another planet). The Athsheans were just like the Native American, they are people, but just different than others. War becomes inevitable at times like this. 

Word for World is Forest

In class today we discussed a captivating conversation on a topic of colonization and invasion of another planet. We focused on the story  "The Word for World is Forest" by Le Guin, a very popular science fiction novel from the 1970s. During the discussion of how earth is depleted of resources and humans flew in search of other planets, I saw that this was very similar to the movie "Avatar". It is a peaceful foreign community who did nothing wrong and led a cohesive and harmonious life until humans came to their planet. It was interesting to see how similar the plots were. Because of their ignorance of war and peaceful approach to the human visitors, the inhabitants were subjugated to slavery and violence. Only when a strong leader rose up and took charger were they able to repel the humans and protect their home planet.

The Human Consciousness

One interesting theme in Ursula K. Le Guin's The Word for World is Forest is the idea of what composes and constitutes what is considered a man. It is obvious that Davidson does not consider the creechies capable of understanding and reacting with "human" rationalization/feelings despite the fact the Selver and the growing uprising against the yumens/giants is proving otherwise. This theme in the book reminded me of a film I've seen called Rise of the Planet of the Apes, where the ape named Caesar  develops a "human" conscious and leads and begins to lead an uprising among his kind. However, I also saw the ignorance and denial towards the other species in the world as an analogy to racism and ignorance. Because they look/act/do things differently, then they cannot possibly be the same or think the same as us. Even today, those themes of ignorance are disturbingly relevant. As for the book itself, I find it a little hard to engage with by the way it's written (that's probably my personal preference) and a bit confusing to orient myself in the world since it is part of a universe of books that may supplement a deeper understanding of the situations at hand before this book. Even with the information given in class today, it is still hard to grasp.

Xenophobia and the Variable Definition of People

Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish cycle features many races cultivated by the original Hainish colonists when the voyaged across the starts roughly one million years ago. Through genetic engineering, as well as evolutionary adaption the Hainish races branched into distinct Hainish, Cetian, Athshean, and Terran subspecies. And yet xenophobia is rampant among the Terran colonists of New Tahiti/World 41/Athshean. Lead by Colonel Davidson, many of the colonists on New Tahiti are convinced that the exploitation of the planet for lumber, and of its people is a right given to them by nature of their more technologically advanced society. And yet, it is inherently obvious to the reader that this exploitation is wrong, inhumane to this race that while they appear different still feel like humans. Davidson believes to the Athsheans to be primitive because they are intraspecies non-agresssive (at least at the start), but I would argue that the Athsheans had no need for warfare, as they culturally developed outlets to relieve stress and settle their differences without the need for violence. Their society has stagnated not because the race is primitive, but due to the fact that they had achieved an optimum for life on Athshean at the time. When Terrans arrive, they are more aggressive, and more prone to violence, and so the Athshean's must react in turn with violence to survive. Athsheans are humanoids, who empathize, think logically, utilize language, and in short are fully sentient beings closely related to the Hainish ancestor that they share with Terrans. They are by all definitions, people. Except to the Terrans, who are in large part unable to come to grips that being human is something that occurs at a cognitive level, not a physical, or even cultural level.

Aura

This story is completely different from the other novels that i have read for this class. This particular realism is different from the supernatural and fantasy. In class, we discussed how magical realism is in between the super natural and the fantasy. I think and magical realism is the perfect boundary between what is real and what could be a fantasy but not to the point where anxiousness and uncomfortable occurs. As noted in the book, there are a lot of moments where some things could be due to supernatural effects such as the dark house and the designs. however, every time we think some thing bad might happen or something very supernatural, the the whole scene changes as we read how the character in the story felt. Personally, i feel like the characters in the book are unafraid of the supernatural which causes the whole scene description to be not spooky but rather, just ordinary. If the characters portray a more nervous reaction towards things in this novel, the readers would obviously feel the same exact nervousness rather than comfort. The characters in the novels are the key factors who can say whether to be scared or not.

Aura

I thought the book Aura by Carlos Fuentes was very interesting. Although at first I was a little confused by it because Felipe, the main character, was witness to a few supernatural events, such as the yowling cats and the cats on the roof, yet he never seemed to question any of these events. There is definitely an aspect of magical realism in the book as some of the occurring events seem magical, for example Aura’s own existence. It was surprising to find the connection the book has with respect to religion, as mentioned in the lecture, the bread crumbs signify the event of a first communion in the Catholic religion, and also the elderly woman, Consuelo seems to note just praying to the Lord but rather trying to incite a war with him.

Aura

        Aura was a pretty interesting read for many reasons. It really presented literature in a way that I'm not normally accustomed to seeing it. Namely, the use of the second person was peculiar. It brought down the fourth wall and pushes the line between the reader's reality and the fiction of the text. I felt that this use of the second person is what really helped give a definitive quality to the magical realism that the book strives to create. It makes the reader feel like they are the ones going into the pitch black room and taking part in the events, even though really you know that there is a main character and the narration is really meant for him.
         Another prevalent idea I found in this book was the use of authorial resistance. There were many moments while reading the book that I felt uneasy or confused, but the main character seemed utterly oblivious of. There are many moments where the main character would not seem to notice what should make most normal people feel uncomfortable. This made me think that there was some disconnect between the perception of the main character and the perception of the reader.  This difference in the perception creates situational irony to some extent, where the reader is thinking RUNAWAY..something bad is going to happen, yet the characters seem to just brush off the peculiarity of a situation. 

Aura

Aura immediately grabs the attention of the reader, pulling you into the story and the experiences of Felipe Montero, the young historian, by using second-person narration. By addressing the reader directly, we become Felipe Montero and follow the story through his eyes. There are a few other ways in which Carlos Fuentes intrigues the reader, leaving you curious about the unfolding of events. First off, the atmosphere inside the Consuelo’s house is pitched-black, which creates a lot of mystery on his surroundings and leaves the reader feeling uneasy on what he experiences is real or fantastic, especially in distinguishing the physical and characteristic differences between Aura and Consuelo. This generates further curiosity and tension in the reader when the two women begin showing similarities in their actions and in their presence. Situation like they’re eating dinner at the table the two women have almost identical actions and “the Señora becomes motionless, and at the same moment Aura puts her knife on her plate and also becomes motionless” (69), leave you apprehensive to their connection and anxious to uncover the truth. Carlos Fuentes also draws in the reader through his use of magical realism by placing the real along with the fantastic, presenting unexplainable events that Felipe disregards and odd or unusual, although as the reader we want to pause and evaluate the situations and know the truth. Moreover, I found Aura quite attention grabbing through the different techniques that Carlos Fuentes utilizes in his writing.

Aura

Aura is very different from other novels I have read, particularly because right in the beginning of the introduction we find the author breaking the fourth wall and including us along this twisted journey that Felipe endures with Consuelo. In the novel we see the blend magical elements blend into reality. We find this blend of elements when Felipe first arrives in to Consuelo’s home and finds the door ajar leading into the dark home. This gives a moment of indecision where the mind creates different scenarios and makes one misjudge their rational thinking. But I felt Felipe was being very naive for not taking into consideration all the supernatural occurrences that are going on. Especially when it came to Aura and how she interacted with Felipe. Fuentes creates magical realism by having Consuelo break the rule of the world and having the younger version of her live her life. The obsession of having a child and youth made her turn to witchcraft that tries to help her achieve her goals. We see Felipe disregard everything and fall for this dark sinister plan that Consuelo creates. In the end we see that Felipe is becoming another person. 

Aura

Aura is one of the strangest texts I have read. The elements of magical realism created a great level of discomfort, and ultimately left me in much confusion and uneasiness. The house at 815 Donceles is but one example of an aspect of magical realism. The text references the term "hybridity" in regards to the space, and there is a juxtaposition between the old and the new. The house offers a feeling of another world with its gothic qualities and identifies as a strange and constantly changing place. Felipe decides to walk into the house, and there is a feeling of finality when he does so. The house, along with its inhabitants, Consuelo and Aura, bring Felipe on a twisted journey to his realization of his past and connection with the old lady.

Aura

I really enjoyed reading Aura. I thought it was very interesting how the author directly addresses the reader. I think that had a powerful effect while I was reading, because I was drawn into the story.  By saying “you” the author makes it seem like the reader is going through what Felipe is going through. Something else I like about Aura is how descriptive and ambiguous it is. There are many details in the book, but nothing really seems clear. For example, we are only given certain details about the house and not told why it’s as dark as it is. As we talked about in class, in magical realism the characters seem to just accept what is happening and don’t question what happens around them. In the beginning of the story, Felipe states that he has to get used to the house’s darkness because it will always be that way and he has to learn to accept it. It is interesting how he got used to everything so quickly, despite having been there for a short amount of time. Perhaps the author was inferring that he knew how to maneuver himself through the home so quickly, because he had a recollection of it since he was General Llorente. The ending was surprising because I did not expect him to be the General, despite there being hints throughout the story that indicate that he is. 

Aura and the use of Magical Realism

 The part of magical realism that I though applied best to Aura was the authorial resistance. When I was reading the story, many of the events going on seemed out of the ordinary and made me feel uneasy; however, the protagonist in the story did not seem worried about these same things. For example, he seemed very accepting of the fact that the house was always very dark and simply adjusted instead of questioning why. More important, throughout the story there are mentions of very obscure things such as burning cats on the roof, and the growing of plants with unique medicinal qualities. Although our protagonist recognizes all of these elements, he does not seem to give them a second thought. As a reader, this caused me great confusion because I did not know if the house or the women were somehow enchanting him to not care, or if he really did not put together the weird elements of what was going on. In a way, this story had a huge quality of the Fantastic because the reader is not sure until the end if Aura is a really girl or if she was produced by supernatural quality. The use of authorial resistance and magical realism in general does a great job of creating this Fantastic feeling.  

Aura

While reading Aura I was constantly confused and awed by the magical realism where the story took place.  I loved how you never knew if what you where reading was a part of a fantasy that appeared to be completely real, or if was something that you would encounter in what we consider the real world.

Part of the reason I loved the mystery and confusion of trying to understand what was really happening is because I could relate the two halves of the same mind back to my own life in some ways.  Understanding people is extremely difficult for me and I often try to guess why they would react or respond to something the way that they did, the result is a tangled web of reality and what I hypothesize   what happened until it all blends together in one big mess.

Creepy Old Ladies and Creepy Young Girls

I think Felipe is kind of dumb. He sees an ad and checks it out, like any normal person would do. However, unlike a normal sane person, when he starts noticing just how odd the entirety of the job is, he decides to stay. He sees burning cats and thinks nothing of it. He notices a fourth place set when there are only three people, and he does not think it is that odd.

Magical realism presented in this novella makes the protagonist seem a little thick-headed and oblivious to signs of the supernatural. It draws the reader in emotionally. The reader mentally shouts at the protagonist, telling them things like "Run!" or "dude, she's creepy. what are you doing?". I found myself doing that a bunch of times. A magical realistic horror story would be truly terrifying because we, the reader/viewer, would watch on helplessly as the narrator progresses, denying every supernatural event, brushing off every creepy bit, until the very last moment, when all of it comes together in his or her mind.

Aura

Though Carlos Fuentes’ novel Aura is presented as a second person narrative, this stood out to me the most in the first chapter. The way it is written, as a reader I was surprised to find myself being drawn into Felipe’s world and curious about the nature of the job advertisement. This writing style captured the sentiment that the job description was crafted specifically for him because the reader was able to note his candid reaction to the listing as he went about his day. As the story progresses, though I was unable to relate to Felipe’s character and experiences, I was still able to remain engaged with the story and plotline as if I was a distant observer, which I credit partially to the extensive second person usage of “you.” I also found it interesting how Montero could not get Aura out of his head. His futile attempts seemingly only bring him in closer and fuel his obsession with her.  

The Sandman Doppelganger

I never gave doppelgangers a second thought when I would see them represented in shows like “How I Met Your Mother” or in the old Facebook trend of posting a celebrity doppelganger as a profile picture because it is always represented in a light hearted way. This surreal tale made me think about the doubling motif and how often it is used in modern literature and media. The idea of doppelgangers are used in a manner that seems much more explicit than the more subtle way it was originally used in “The Sandman.” The Coppelious/Coppola doppelganger is so creepy because of the uncanny resemblance between the two characters. The element of uncanny is somewhat fantastic because there is the hint of doubt of whether or not Coppola is a true manifestation of the man who tortured Nathaniel’s childhood. 

Aura (week 3)

The thing that really stuck to me the most while reading Carlos Fuentes’ Aura was the narration. The book uses a second person narration. Unsure of what this type of narration is, I took the liberty of doing a little research and stumbled upon Wikipedia. Wikipedia says, “the protagonist or another main character is referred to by employment of second-person personal pronouns and other kinds of addressing forms, for example the English second-person pronound ‘you’.” Throughout the entire book it is this way and as a reader, this made me feel like I was Felipe Montero within the story. The use of meta-fiction is one of the typical characteristics of magical realism. By using the second person narration, Fuentes makes the reader aware of his or her position and breaks the fourth wall. In this situation, boundaries become blurred and the reader is left with questions during the entire reading of the text.

Another thing that stuck to me while reading is the uncanniness of Aura. This was my first time reading the text and shifting from the uncanny, I expected this story to be another uncanny one. It was most evident when the narrator (or you) described Aura’s actions. At the dinner table she eats with “a sort of mechanical fatality” and there are moments when she would sit motionless (Fuentes 69). There is also a heavy emphasis on the eyes of all the characters: Aura’s green eyes, Felipe’s black eyes, Conseulo’s yellowish/white eyes, and the rabbit’s red eyes. The behavior of Aura and the emphasis on eyes can be traced back to The Sandman where the narrator, Nathanael, describes Olympia’s mechanical actions and emphasizes her eyes and anything related to sight (i.e. the spyglass, the Sandman taking children’s eyes).  With these parallels I could not but help thinking this story was much more canny than magical. However, it is fantastic, leaving me with a lot more questions than answers.

Wikipedia link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-person_narrative

Aura

This book Aura was just super interesting! It was just… in a way… mind-blowing how the young suddenly become the old. Felipe could have gone on with his life ignoring that article, but something just drew it back to it. With the job not taken, was it always just meant for him, like were others unwelcomed to the house until the right one was found? The door was practically welcoming him in when he first got there.  I’m not exactly sure if the street mixed with old and new houses have any significance, but I can’t help but relate it to what was to happen later on.

Magical realism did confuse me a bit, but I now find it very fascinating! Felipe became General Llorante while Aura became Consuelo. Was it that their old love was so strong that it dragged the two young ones into their lives or something else? Aura practically mimicked Consuelo in many was, from movements to speech. I am not really sure about General Llorante and Felipe, but I am very curious of what would happen next. Was everything just a projection of General Llorante and Consuelo or was the love and youthfulness of Felipe and Aura’s love mirroring it? I just have a whack my brain for an answer, but nothing’s really occurring to me as of now.

(didn't bring computer to school today and just got back from library now~ sorry!)  

Magical Realism in this Week's Texts

In this week's readings, Carlos Fuentes's Aura and Haruki Marakami's After the Quake, I received the biggest some of the shocks of all the literature I've encountered in this course. Aura, emphasizes the meta-fiction and authorial resistance characteristics of magical realism to string the audience along to discover the truth beneath Consuelo's and Felipe's lives. The way Fuentes wrote the novel, we become Felipe within the first couple of lines of the work. We see the way he thinks and moves because the audience and Felipe are one and the same. However, this is not the case as Felipe discovers more about Consuelo, Aura, and the General. Whereas Felipe has an oblivious reaction to the strange occurrences around the house, the reader tries to understand what in the world is actually happening and rationalize the situation (as it's our human nature). Yet, because we are only allowed to see what oblivious Felipe sees, we don't get very much detail about anything that occurs. Thus, in the end, we are shocked about what we read. It very much reminds me of the way the Fall of the House of Usher gave small hints about what was happening and end in a nearly surreal fashion, except this way we are the protagonist as he simultaneously discovers. It is precisely the 2nd person narration (or rather that meta-fiction aspect) of the novel that hits home because it makes everything much more personally. As Professor Potts put it, it one thing to read about a ghost encounter and being the one to encounter the ghost (which I can't quote her on because I can't remember the exact way she phrased it).

The Marakami readings were, in my opinion, very surreal. Of course, part of magical realism is a surrealistic contortion of a realistic feature. I believe thing that was distorted in this piece was one's sense of analysis. Each plot follows the effects of the lives of certain characters after an earthquake in Kobe, Japan. The big question is how exactly does an earthquake in Kobe affect people who are a great distance away from the site and have no relevance to Kobe. It seems that it have some kind of mental effect on everyone. Komura's wife suddenly was inseparable from the TV's earthquake coverage and left him, just as Sasaki (his friend) gives a strange package to deliver. The never-appreciated-enough Katagiri keeps getting visits from a huge frog. Junpei comforts Sala's nightly visions of the earthquake man just as Junpei finally makes the decision to pursue Sayoko. There is, however, unusual about how it all proceeds. Why did Komura's wife keep watching the news coverage if she had no family in Kobe? How did it influence her to separate with Komura, if it did at all influence her? What was in Sasaki's package? Was anything Katagiri saw real? If Frog was real, what happened that night? Who was the earthquake man Sala kept seeing? It is interesting how every character, like Felipe, did little questioning on these inconsistencies. Perhaps, that is one of the factors of categorizing these types of stories as magical realism. Maybe the protagonist isn't supposed to question the happenings around him or her and just accept everything at face value.

Aura

Carlos Fuente's short story Aura confused and bedazzled me, introducing me to this new concept of magical realism. After reading this story, I decided I was a fan of this genre. Its mystique is interesting and captivating, my mind replaying the events in the story to try to come up with a definite conclusion when there is none. Rather than going down a concrete path and from point A to B, the story is more of an illusion, with a fog or mirage keeping hidden the truth.

Felipe's attraction to Aura is a representation of human nature and its desire for youth and beauty. The old widow also wants to be young again and Aura is a projection of that need. We can see that Felipe is also a representation of the widow's husband when he was younger due to their similarities and how he is able to connect so well with the General through the writings. The characters are all vague and we do not know who is real and what is real.

Beauty is but a mirage

While reading Aura by Carlos Funentes, I quite honestly didn't know what to expect. I was overall surprised by the ending, and didn't see this story turning into a love story. I felt like, the entire book itself was a mirage...you think you see one thing, but then changes again when you get even closer. At first, I saw this story leading to a murder, then to a haunted house with restless spirits and their unfulfilled love, then I thought Aura was luring in Felipe to suck his youth for Consuelo, and finally I saw that it was potentially a story about an undying love that carried into a reincarnation.

Overall, I though it was interesting that the dynamics of a horror, suspense and love in dark novella. Their juxtaposition worked so well. It captured my interest, and I felt a sense of happiness for their love.  Though it was creepy at times, especially with the rats who lived close to where Consuelo slept. But what I really enjoyed about this love story was it reminded me of my own dreams. I naturally felt connected with the story.

The more I think about it, I think Felipe felt a connection with the General and his romantic letters, and paralleled that with his feelings about Aura. And the grew stronger every time her would read the General's letters to Consuelo. In addition, Aura seemed to have mirrored Consuelo in a very supernatural way, that she became Consuelo...but something seemed to be unanswered for me. Did Consuelo know Felipe would be perfect for the job? Was it set up this way?

Second Person Narrative in "Aura"

I am not a fan of second person narrator. By addressing the reader as 'You', the author is forcing the readers to put themselves in the place of the character, even if the character is unrelatable. This is what happened to me when I was reading Carlos Fuentes' "Aura". From the first few moments in the short novel, Felipe feels like a shell of a character. He is very indifferent and passive. He only takes action and goes to the house once he realizes that no one else will. Once he is in the house, he takes it all in with too easily. He complies with everything the old lady tells him to do, and he ignores the darkness and the weird things happening around him. Even the way he falls in love with Aura seems , somehow, pre-determined. Aura barely speaks at him, and Felipe seems obsessed with her eyes. By the end of the novel I realized that maybe Felipe had that empty feeling about him, because he was only a ghost or reincarnation of someone else, of General Llorente. Even so, the way the story is told made me feel uneasy most of the time.

The use of second person narrator in "Aura" seems to me more of an aesthetic/stylish choice than a technique that adds to the overall message of the story.

Aura and the Second Person

Throughout the novel, we are constantly brought into the narrative. For example, when Felipe looks at himself in the bathroom, the narrative switches and describes Felipe's attributes as the reader's own attributes. However, I believe that there is a clear line between accommodating Felipe's personality as our own and his unreliable thoughts and narrative. As a reader, we can still pick up on foreshadowing clues (like the nightmare he has which ties into the ending) and when we've already pieced the mystery behind Aura together, we become frustrated with Felipe's obliviousness.

Although Felipe constantly denies the surreal elements around him to the reader's frustration, I find that how Fuentes uses the element of authorial resistance is a reflection of human character, particularly when things of great interested are present. In Felipe's case, this is the money he is receiving for the job and his infatuation with Aura. He dismisses the creepier elements of the house because he has his own incentives and personal motives that require him to remain in the house. Perhaps it is also a comment about how we try to make the best out of bleak situations, especially when we know that there is an eventual benefit. For example, having a bad day at work can be remedied by the fact we can leave and go home and still get paid for working through a horrible day. Perhaps then, Felipe's character is a reflection of perseverance in humans.

Magical Realism

Magical  realism in books and movies are interesting because it is exciting to delve into a world so unlike our own. It can make us, as readers or viewers, laugh, when metafiction is used because we don't expect the fourth wall to be broken or the characters to become self-aware. It seems difficult to create an environment with magical realism without it feeling awkward or strange.

Sometimes it is also humorous when something supernatural happens, but the character deems it normal like an everyday occurrence. When the fantastic occurred in the film "Midnight in Paris", I laughed because it was so ridiculous that old American authors and celebrities would come to life and treat Owen Wilson out on dates.

The Obliviousness of the Narrator in Carlos Fuentes' Aura

The utter obliviousness of the narrator in Carlos Fuentes' Aura is positively dismaying. For whatever reason, he is more than willing to step into a house that is permanently dark, to translate the memoirs of a man who has been dead for decades, for his wife who is unnaturally old. Additionally, the fact that Senora Consuela's companion is named Aura should be a definite sign to the narrator that something is not quite right in this creepy old house. However, it seems that the narrator has already been ensnared by the spells of Senora Consuela, as well as the entrancing beauty of Aura. I believe that the narrator remains due to the money, his infatuation with Aura, and the possibility of completing his own work. What is strange is how the absence of daylight propagates the illusions of Senora Consuela, though the votive candles shed some light in Consuela's room. Perhaps this is a commentary on religion by the author, saying that religion obscures perception. Additionally, when the narrator realizes something is not right, that he is either loosing his sanity or Consuela is manipulating Aura, he seems at first concerned, but then gleefully accepts it. Even if Aura is an illusion, the narrator is enjoying his interaction with that illusion, and sees it as so real that it is a perfect substitute to reality.

Haunting of Hill House

I know that any scary movies or supernatural movies are not my strongest suite. However, I have never been afraid or anxious reading a book. Living by myself and always doing my reading at night, I realized, was not a good idea especially with this particular book. The descriptive imagery in this book about the house itself was enough to make me nervous. Elanor's change in behavior throughout the book showed that the house has some sort of supernatural effect on her and being the reader, reading every thought running through Elanor's mind was not only scary but proved the house completely changed Elanor and lead her to her death. Another thought I had was that Elanor's imagination about the poltergeist from her past affected her about the Hill House and she was not able to differentiate herself from reality and the supernatural somehow. That could have also lead to her death in that she was so tied down between what was real or not that she committed suicide to let go of her guilt and crazy thoughts. Overall, it was as very interesting novel to read. It has gotten me to think more deeply about the meaning of the effect of homes on those living there.

The Haunting of Hill House

Reading this downstairs at night alone was a pretty bad idea. Yes, it is a book but I do tend to get imaginative with my readings and with this book, I ended up scaring myself several times. “The Haunting of Hill House” pretty much had every aspect of what a horror (Gothic) story means to be. The four people of the house experiences strange events but it seems Eleanor gets the scariest end of it all. In a way, she seems to slowly lose her grip on reality and where she steadily falls into what her imagination created. It could have been from the poltergeist before from her memories where everything seemed to revolve around only her. But from it all, it seems that she becomes every unstable at the end that she dies. It seems to be left open to interpretation to the fact that did Eleanor simply commit suicide or something about Hill House that played a part in her death.

On another note, Mrs. Dudley and Mrs. Montague were like a breath of fresh air in the book compared to everything else. Mrs. Dudley’s bluntness and Mrs. Montague’s lack of social skills lightened the book up a tad.