Examples Of Eleanor In The Haunting Of Hill House

Death. To most people is a very mournful experience to go through, but according to Shirley Jackson, that is not the case in The Haunting of Hill House. Furthermore, the freedom that comes until death is revealed with the character Eleanor. For whom death is a wake up call to freedom. She is able to do anything she desires when her mother passes away.

“Caring for her mother, lifting a cross old lady from her chair to her bed, setting out endless little trays of soup and oatmeal, steeling herself to the filthy laundry, Eleanor had held fast to the belief that something would happen.”(-Jackson 14) Eleanor was actually sick and tired of

Eleanor was finally able to do whatever she desires. Dr. Montague then sends an invitation to Eleanor with step by step directions leading her to Hill House. The death of her mother and the directions were actually invitations to Eleanors freedom. The author mentions a car in the novel that symbolizes her freedom. With the car, Eleanor had a choice to go to Hill House. Eleanor, on her own will, entered the car, which began her

It is a form of dramatic irony. The author still speaks of the car in this section of the story.

“I am really doing it she thought, turning the wheel to send the car directly at the great tree at the curve of the driveway, I am really doing this all by myself, now, at last; this is me, I am really really really doing it by myself. In the unending, crashing second before the car hurled into the tree she thought clearly, why am I doing this?”(-Jackson 457)

As it was said in the first paragraph, Eleanor, yet again, had a choice when she entered the car as she left Hill House. The choice she made was to commit suicide. Which is ironic because her freedom consequently lead to her