Susan Hill Narrator

586 Words3 Pages
Hill’s use of the first person narrator is a key element of the novel. Susan Hill’s characters in this novel have limited development because the story is told by the main character, Arthur Kipps. His character is developed in an interesting way because as narrator he is looking back and describing events from the perspective of his younger self. This adds depth to his character and to the plot because as readers, we live through his nightmare with him and share his fears. This viewpoint is particularly effective in this chapter, as readers, we can relate to the terror and anxiety felt by Arthur. At the start of the chapter he comments on feeling ‘calm and cheerful’ however this state of contentment disappears at the chapter progresses – ‘I sat, too terrified to move’ and ‘my throat felt constricted and I began to shiver.’ In the ghost story genre this technique is effective – we can imagine ourselves in Arthur’s place – reliving his experiences. Hill uses the senses to create a sense of terror in this chapter during which the theme of childhood is developed when Kipps discovers the locked nursery. The use of the bumping sound ‘bump…show more content…
Hill uses imagery to create the sense of detachment – ‘it stood like some lighthouse’, the mention of the ‘satanic looking’ bird and the symbolic ‘crumbling’ ruin located to the side of the house. In In the Nursery the silence of the house towards the end of the chapter is vital. We start the chapter with ‘a faint noise’ yet the chapter ends with ‘no sound at all from within’. Arthur chooses not to interrupt the silence but to return to his room to face further challenges of Eel Marsh House. Hill uses anti-climax in this chapter to build suspense and terror – readers believe something dramatic and terrible will occur however the chapter ends with ‘no sound at all from within’ and Arthur retiring to bed to read Walter
Open Document