Initially the ghost that haunts is depicted as indulging in childlike pranks and petrifying the children but as the novel unfolds the ghosts unleashes its rage against characters. This is also symbolic of past events that later haunt the present. The entity embodied in the house has a more profound effect on some of the inhabitants as compared to others. Sethe's two younger sons Howard and Buglar ran ‘away by the time they were thirteen years old’ as they find the ghostly apparitions extremely difficult to comprehend. The disturbing visions of the ghost ‘merely looking in a mirror shattered it (that was the signal for Buglar); as soon as two tiny hand prints appeared in the cake (that was it for Howard)’. The two boys were terrified of the …show more content…
The ghost is personified by the house which provides structure for its survival. It can be interpreted that the use of the rafters provides support to the roof of the house and can be symbolic that the haunting exists psychologically in the mind. The voice of Baby Suggs reminds the reader of the dehumanisation that African-American slaves endured; every household shared a similar story of haunting as a direct after-effect of the Post Bellum period and the overwhelming desire to be emancipated. The lack of freedom links to Emily Bronte’s Remembrance as the persona is struggling to break free from the memories of the past. The poem originated from the world of Gondal that Bronte and Anne created at a young age. Bronte uses rhetorical devices to craft the impression that this poem is a sorrowful lament for the dead. ‘Remembrance’ explores a bereaved persona haunted by memories as she sits by her loved ones gravestone who lies “cold in the earth”. Supernatural imagery is presented as “resting their wings where the heath and fern leaves cover” implying that the angels are using ‘wings’ to protect the soul in the grave. Biblical allusion to angels supports ones desire to be accepted by God and reiterates the belief that there is life after death. The key feature of Bronte’s style is the use of