The memory of the past can bring pride or guilt, no matter which one it is, dwelling in the past for too long will entrap one into one's own illusion and lose the ability to distinguish fantasy and reality. In The Haunting of Hill House and Sunset Boulevard, the Gothic settings and characters in the stories draw out the deepest nightmare of Eleanor and Norma. While both characters of the novel and film share similar impact of Gothic settings and characters, they are different in terms of the contrasting experience of their illusion; specifically, what benefits and detriments their illusions have brought to them. This is important because dwelling in one's past isn't only harmful to oneself, it is also harmful to the others.
The first similarity
…show more content…
between novel and film is that both stories' occur within the area of a mansion since it can instill feelings of uneasiness and suspense to readers or audiences. The interior of a mansion creates symbolic meaning to the characters' feelings and reveal their distinctive personalities. Starting off with the novel, Eleanor's bedroom in the mansion is blue as well as the decorations and furniture; blue is a dark and gloomy colour which often suggests sadness and loneliness. “Here I am in the blue room of Hill House... There were blue dimity curtains over the two window... a blue figured rug on the floor, and a blue spread on the bed and a blue quilt at the foot. The walls, dark woodwork to shoulder height, were blue-figured paper above” (Jackson 28). While everything in her bedroom is blue suggests sadness, it also foreshadows her depression throughout the novel. It is almost like the author is trying to tell readers that Eleanor is always feeling blue since a bedroom is the most intimate place for any individual in a house, and especially when she is going to live in an unfamiliar haunted mansion for some time, the room resembles her feelings even more. Similarly, the story of the film occurs within the proximity of a mansion, and the character, Norma Desmond, lives and owns it. Norma possesses a high self-esteem and considers herself a woman with power, not only because she is rich, she believes that the recognition and success of her films in the past are so prominent that she should always be recognized and respected by people. In fact, she is extremely narcissistic, for instance, in the scene where Norma lounges on the couch in her living room (Appendix, 1), portraits and photos of herself occupy almost every single desk in her living room as if she were ready to host an art exhibition of Norma Desmond. The use of full-shot here emphasizes the direct connection between the background and the subject; hence, the shot reveals Norma's being a narcissist. Perhaps due to being overly narcissistic, Norma's loneliness is more intense. An indication of Norma's loneliness can be found at the beginning of the film where Norma finds an undertaker for the funeral of her pet chimpanzee and buries it in the yard of her mansion. This scene sets up the creepy mood at the beginning of the film and it also foreshadows the death of Joe. The empty aspect of the mansion in both the novel and film resembles void and helplessness in both Eleanor's and Norma's mind, and living in such a place will intensify those depressive feelings as well as affecting their mental health. The second similarity between the novel and film is the functions of other characters in the Gothic setting; specifically, the controlling aspect of the characters Dr.
John Montague and Max von Mayerling, their influences further entrap Eleanor and Norma into their own illusions. Beginning in Eleanor's case, Dr. Montague controls the behaviour of all the character in the story since he is the one who gathers everyone to the haunted house to aid him in his research or investigation of the mystery behind the supernatural activity. His bedroom colour is yellow indicates that he acts as the beacon of light that guides the people around him in the darkest time which makes him the leading figure in the story. In some degree, Eleanor is controlled by Dr. Montague considering every step she takes is under the instruction of him from beginning to end. For instance, when she can't find the way to the Hill House she follows the direction provided in Dr. Montague's letter “as though he had been guiding her from some spot far away, moving her car with controls in his hands, it was done” (Jackson 16). And when he forces her to leave, once again he gives her precise instructions to where to go “You'll go to Hillsdale... In Hillsdale turn onto Route Five going east; at Ashton you will meet Route Thirty-nine, and that will take you home” (Jackson 178). It is clear that Eleanor's constant dependence on Dr. Montague exposes her vulnerability which suggests weak willpower. Eleanor's weak …show more content…
mind shows that she can easily be affected by the people around her. In like manner, Norma has her own illusion and is controlled by the character in the film. Max is Norma's butler, he takes care of Norma's everyday life and serves her with genuineness. He is the guardian of Norma's illusions since he is the one who puts her in it. The authority of Max is apparent in the driving scene where Max, Norma, and Joe are on their way to the men clothing shop. On the surface, this scene seems rather normal because Max is just following orders from his master. However, after he divulges his astounding history with Norma and the truth behind the fan letters, this scene becomes rather relevant to his actual status. The camera is positioned in the middle and captures everyone in the frame which gives equal status to all characters in the shot. In the character placement of the shot, Max is closer to the camera reveals that he is the main focus in this shot while Norma and Joe are farther away from the camera suggest that they are less important. The framing of Norma and Joe is tight while the framing of Max is loose which indicates his access to freedom (Appendix 3). Furthermore, since Max is the driver, he controls the car in whatever ways he desires, just like how he has the ability to demolish or preserve Norma's illusion with the fan letters. The existence of Dr. Montague and Max fosters the illusions of Eleanor and Norma as well as decaying their mind to the stage where they both become insane at the end of the story. Finally, in spite of being affected by the similar quality of external factors, Eleanor brings death to herself while Norma brings death to people around her.
In order to fully understand the different outcome of Eleanor and Norma, the internal issues of the characters should also be considered; specifically, how their pasts affect their psychological and mental states in the present. Prior to Eleanor's invitation to the Hill House, she is forced to spend eleven years of her life looking after her invalid mother, this frustrates her because it prevents her from having a normal societal life like the others with the same age. In some degree, the confinement of her mother interrupts her natural psychological development at that time when she is twenty-one years old. While living in the Hill House, Eleanor is constantly haunted by the dream of the former distressing experience with her mother. Regardless whether there are ghosts in the story, these negative psychological implications of Eleanor suggest that she blames herself for the death of her mother even though there is no direct evidence pointing to her. With this in mind, Eleanor's illusion is the only tool that brings her peace and hopes to sustain in this world of despair. The moment when she is banished from the Hill House, she loses hope because she has nowhere to go, no place to feel home. In the story, she tells the readers that “what I want in all this world is peace, a quiet spot to lie and think, a quiet spot
up among the flowers where I can dream and tell myself sweet stories”(Jackson 143). Unfortunately, Eleanor's confinement of her past ceases her from experiencing the life she deserves. Hence, it prevents her from untying the knots in her heart which strangle her at the end. On the other hand, Norma's past is never a misery since she is a very famous star back in the silent film era. She has all the fame one could have ever desired. However, time flies, a once glorious star decays to a forgotten star. She is forgotten because she is extremely conservative about silent film and never appreciates the existence of audio film. She believes that the essence of a film comes from the acting and appearance of the actors, not their voices. From here, it is apparent that her persistent of the past prevents her from advancing to the future. As time passes, these feelings affect her psychological mind and form an illusion that provides happiness to her. Unlike Eleanor, Norma's illusion comes at the expense of others' lives. In the final scene, where she tells Max that she is ready for her close-up. As she walks down the stair and moves toward the camera with a look of insanity (Appendix 4). Her intensive eye gaze and demonic pose have the resemblance of a vampire. Other then the manifestation of her madness, this scene metaphorically suggests that she drains every last bit of vigour from the people around her to sustain her illusion. Max is withered but alive, the chimpanzee seems to have died in peace, and Joe is brutally killed. The process of manifestation of Norma's internal madness seems to follow the sequence. Both Eleanor and Norma are given the taste of happiness and sadness from their illusions under the influence of internal and external factors. Eleanor's imaginary fantasy is created by the past memory of sadness while Norma's ideal reality is created by the past memory of happiness. No matter what kind of past one has, one should not dwell in it not only because none of it brings any benefit to one's present self, the cost and consequence of those temporary happy illusions are unbearable.
When Elijah realizes that Oglivy can no longer remember his dreams, a divide grows between them. Readers develop sympathy for Elijah since he loses one of the few comforts he has in his “disorder”. Furthermore, the reference of specific tragedies adds to the story such as Mount Vesuvius, the Bubonic Plague, Tropical Storm Vita. By specifically mentioning a range of past events, all imbued with tragedy whether it be a natural disaster or an infectious disease, readers can glimpse the scope of what Elijah deals with and how difficult it can be to witness such events. Finally, Russel effectively employs the use of flashbacks to add to the story rather than draw away from it.
Along with Leah isolating herself from the outdoors, she starts isolating herself from her family. Leah always thinks the worst of situations ???. Jack wanted her to move in with him and his family. He didn’t want her living alone. Other than the fact that Lead hated Ruth, Leah thought that the only reason they wanted her to move in was because of her pension. ** dropped quote! You do not understand incorporating quotes- see me**“Why do I stay with them?’ She asked herself the question for the thousandth time and for the thousandth time replied with the automatic answer,’Because they need my pension.” (111) Leah questions why Jack and Ruth want her to move in with them. She repeats, thousands of times how her pension is the only reason as to why they would want that. Leah continuously lies to her kids about little, irrelevant things. In doing so, it creates space between them; the truth being the space. Leah tells them that they will go places, do things, get things when, in reality, she knows none of it is true. “She’d even lie to the children, ‘The winter’s almost over now, things are always easier in the summer. Maybe this year we can all go on a little vacation, to a farm maybe, wouldn’t it be nice to go to a farm?” (111) Leah knows that they won’t actually go to the farm on family vacation during the summer. She tells her kids repetitive lies to make her sound better to them. They didn’t have much money, they almost lost their house, so she would tell them things to make it seem like they were well off. When Leah’s husband dies she becomes isolated. She changes and doesn’t recognize herself
A picture tells a thousand words, and "Eleanor" by Eric Drooker says volumes. At first glance, it is a seemingly normal neighborhood, in any city in the world. We see an old woman, at the end of her life, living a meager existence and instantly you conclude that she is lonely and friendless. That is not the picture I choose to see. People assume that once a person becomes older that their life has little meaning or happiness. I see a woman who has everything she wants and needs. She surrounds herself with life, the flowers she grows and nurtures, and her cat. The flowers bring her happiness and perhaps remind her of a garden she once had. They bring color and happiness to her world. They supply her with a touch of nature, something
Gothic texts are typically characterized by a horrifying and haunting mood, in a world of isolation and despair. Most stories also include some type of supernatural events and/or superstitious aspects. Specifically, vampires, villains, heroes and heroines, and mysterious architecture are standard in a gothic text. Depending upon the author, a gothic text can also take on violent and grotesque attributes. As an overall outlook, “gothic literature is an outlet for the ancient fears of humanity in an age of reason” (Sacred-Texts). Following closely to this type of literature, Edgar Allan Poe uses a gloomy setting, isolation, and supernatural occurrences throughout “The Fall of the House of Usher”.
Every story, every book, every legend, every belief and every poem have a reason and a background that creates them. Some might be based on historical events, some might be based on every culture´s beliefs, and some others might be based on personal experiences of the authors. When a person writes a literary piece, that person is looking for a way to express her opinion or her feelings about a certain situation. A good example is the poem “Southern Mansion” by Arna Bonptems. The main intention of “Southern Mansion” could have been to complain, or to stand against the discrimination and exploitation of black people throughout history. However, as one starts to read, to avoid thinking about unnatural beings wandering around the scene that is depicted is impossible. The poem “Southern Mansion” represents a vivid image of a typical ghost story which includes the traditional element of the haunted house. This image is recreated by the two prominent and contradictory elements constantly presented through the poem: sound and silence. The elements are used in two leading ways, each one separate to represent sound or silence, and together to represent sound and silence at the same time. The poem mixes the two elements in order to create the spooky environment.
To start off, first, the narrator thinks that the house her and her husband John are renting for the next three months is haunted or it wouldn’t be as cheap as it is for being such a beautiful place. Another thing is that she unhappy in her marriage. Her husband doesn’t listen to her, tells her she’s wrong and laughs at her. She is feeling very unwell and all he says is she has temporary nervous depression and only tells her to stay in bed and do nothing. The way she describes things is very bleak, dark, depressing. She keeps going back to thoughts of the house being haunted and gets anxious. She becomes angry with John for no reason sometimes and thinks it’s from her ‘nervous condition’. Something the reader may not catch onto when she talks about how she doesn’t like her bedroom is how she took the nursery, so right away, we know she has a baby. She feels trapped with the barred windows and not being able to go anywhere, having to just lay down and look at the most revolting yellow wallpaper shes ever seen. Writing the story alone makes her extremely exhausted and she says that John doesn’t know the extent of her suffering. Eventually, it’s made known that she can’t even go near her own child and it makes her increasingly nervous. She has unwanted thoughts throughout the entire story of the terrifying ugly yellow
The struggle to battle with the persistent grief of self-blame and lack of identity is a constant reminder to the barriers in relationships. Leroy grieves over the fact that he has lost his identity as a father and husband. Although he often thinks of Randy, the memories of him have faded. As a result, he latches on to Norma Jean but she doesn’t respond back. This causes him to feel like a failure of a husband. Norma Jean is grieving over the emptiness in her life. It was not the life she thought she would have. Her deceased son symbolizes her emptiness because of his death. She also feels emptiness towards her husband. For example, she feels very uncomfortable around him and always tries to find something for him to do. When Leroy arrives back home from his accident Mason implies, “he thinks she’s seems a little disappointed” (Mason 220), displaying Norma Jean frustrated with his lying around doing nothing but watching television and smoking pot. In addition, Norma Jean feels emptiness towards her mother, which is presented in the way her mother criticizes her. When tragedies occur in a family and self-confidence fades it can take over your life a...
Though the novel is not told from Frado’s perspective, her story becomes more sympathizing and sentimental from a third person narrative. Wilson uses her supporting characters to express Frado’s emotions and to show her development. Through her style, the reader becomes more aware of the Belmont family and society’s prejudices through how they react to Frado’s suffering. For instance Aunt Abby, one of the more sympathizing characters, says “we found a seat under a shady tree, and there I took the opportunity to combat the notions she seemed to entertain respecting the loneliness of her condition and want of sympathizing friends” (54). While Aunt Abby makes an effort to console Frado, there is no real sympathy in her words. They are mechanical and rehearsed. Aunt Abby does not genuinely care for Frado but she does pity her situation.
For instance, once Norma presses the button and begins to believe it truly has no power, she receives a call from the Lennox Hospital informing her that her husband died; she then calls Mr. Steward and exclaims, “‘You said I wouldn’t know the one that died!’... Mr. Steward said, ‘do you really think you knew your husband?’” (Matheson 25). Because Mr. Steward asks Norma if she really knows her husband, it suggests that Norma’s egotistical personality causes her to be incognizant of her surroundings. The author composes this choice in the plot in order to manifest the concept that greed can cause a person to be desperate enough to make irrational decisions. Moreover, Norma’s recklessness reveals her inability to formulate logical decisions. In the end, Norma’s decision costs her her husband’s
The paper compares two short stories (Poe’s “the fall of The House of Usher” and Perkins-Gillman’s “the Yellow Wallpaper”), in order to develop arguments about the relationship between characters’ fears and the main theme of each story. In the two short stories, the characters are suffering from various forms of fear under different circumstances. Such fears include fear of fear, fear of death, fear of other people, fear of isolation, fear of punishment, and fear of loss of reputation. Such different forms of fears can assist readers in understanding the motives of the characters.
Abigail Day is an older member of the Willow Springs' community, sister to Miranda, and grandmother to Cocoa. Instead of embracing the pain Abigail experienced through out her life and turning it into something positive for herself and others, she tried to change the past, and that only left her with more pain. Abigail was the middle child of three sisters. When Peace her younger sister fell in a well, their father and mother became distant with each other and in the end her mother threw herself off a cliff because she could not deal with the pain. When talking about her mother Miranda says, “Mother hardly cooked at all. And later she didn’t eat much. Later she didn’t do nothing but sit in that rocker… Too much sorrow…much too much. And I was too young to give [her] peace. Even Abigail tried and failed”(243). When Abigail was younger her father carved wood and “Abigail, [tried] to form with flesh what her daddy couldn’t form from wood”(262). Her whole childhood was spent trying to make up for her sister’s death.
There is knocking sounds inside of her head as much as the outside, she believes: “I am disappearing inch by inch into this house, I am going apart a little bit at a time because all this noise is breaking me; why are the others frightened?” She decides to give up: “I will relinquish my procession of this self of mine, abdicate, give over willingly what never wanted at all; whatever it want of me it can have” (Jackson, 174). She admits her life is something what she could never control. Eleanor scared everyone in the group on her final night at the hill house. he was acting like a ghost, dancing and signing along the hallways, banging the doors.
The character Norma Jean fits all the psychological characteristics of behavior change in mothers who are coping with life after losing their child to sudden infant death syndrome. The most common symptoms are anxiety and depression (Boyle 933 par.1). She is always trying to stay busy. First she decided to build her own body up. She goes to the gym or does exercises around the house whenever she is home. Second she decided to take night classes at her local community college. She comes home and writes essays of stories she has read. She never seems to be in a relaxed state of being. These are signs of anxiety. The definition of anxiety is uneasiness. She can’t decide what she wants to do with herself. There are many reasons for her depression. She is trying to cope with the death of her child, her empty marriage to Leroy and her less than supportive mother.
Fear brings forth a certain atmosphere which compels us to act upon it. The era in which the book was published allows us to see how common these fears were. Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is an excellent portrayal of how fear controls the human mind by using the characters as examples. In the book Eleanor, Theodora, Luke, and Dr. Montague have all been influenced by fear in the story, whether it be the fear of love, the unknown, family, rejection, expression, or loneliness. These different types of fear plagued their minds causing their actions to reflect upon them. Jackson explores the theme of fear in The Haunting of Hill House by creating a cast of characters that in turn are manipulated by the inner workings of their minds and the
When writing a story that is meant to scare the reader, authors use a variety of different literary elements to intensify fear. This is apparent in the stories “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “beware: do not read this poem,” and “House Taken Over”. It is shown through transformation in the character, setting, and sometimes even the story or poem itself, adding to the scariness that the reader feels when reading it. While there are some examples of transformation not being scary or not playing a role in stories meant to scare us, transformation plays a crucial role in making the reader of these stories scared.