How Does Susan Hill Present the Woman in Black as a Figure of Mystery and Fear?

797 Words4 Pages
How does Susan Hill present the Woman In Black as a figure of mystery and fear? Susan Hill achieved making the character "the Woman in Black" appear mysterious, dangerous and fearsome figure by many different techniques such as using cliff hangers, making the narrator appear confused meaning that the reader(s) will not know either. Jennett Humphrey's, known as the Woman In Black, actions seemed, by some people, justified as she had suffered in her previous life as a kind loving mother until the tragedy of the loss of her son in a quicksand. Although she had lived pain and still is roaming around seeking revenge, would it really be just to avenge her son on innocent, lively children? Is she really a villain or a loving mother? And are her actions justified? Probably, most people's first impressions of The Woman in Black were quite calm and relatively positive despite the black clothes and cemetery. When someone has passed away, visiting them in a cemetery is what most people do to show respect and love despite the fact they have passed away. Though many hints of the plot line of the book has been given away at the beginning with the semantic field of these words in context of the story line: "Children", "Cemetery" and "Blackness of her garment", it is quite hard to tell whether something is going to "pop up" suddenly, but the only piece of knowledge that we have at the beginning of the story is the fact that it is a Ghost Story. as ................................... theory works, when something possibly considered as "random" and is emphasized, it means that it has to be used at some point throughout the story and usually plays a major part. The way that Susan Hill has built up fear and tension is what is best interpreted as building up layers". The first "layer" could be seen as "the first impression"; the description of her having 'eyes sunken back into her

More about How Does Susan Hill Present the Woman in Black as a Figure of Mystery and Fear?

Open Document