The Haunting Of Hill House By Shirley Jackson

The title of my chosen book is “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson. The genre of this book is psychological horror fiction. The setting of this novel starts in Dr. John Montague’s house. In hope of increasing his knowledge about parapsychology, he sent letters to specific people about exploring a haunted house that he had rented. He picks two people, Eleanor Vance and Theodora. Later on, Luke Sanderson and more people join the group. Eleanor Vance is the main character of the story and arrives first at Hill House. She meets the caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Dudley, who are not very fond of the house, and later on meets her new friend, Theodora. She is quickly drawn to her for her friendly and open personality. The group explores horrifying

John Montague renting Hill House and sending invitation letters to the soon-to-be participants. This is the exposition because it begins the story and leads up to the rising action. The rising action of this book is the strange events that pop up after the group explores parts of the house. These events include bloody words on the walls stating, “HELP ELEANOR COME HOME.” There are also many noises that Eleanor hears and describes it to be a screechy haunted voice, however, the group seems to be undisturbed. She concludes that no one can hear the sounds except her and that she is connected to Hill House in some way. Furthermore, there is something that appears to be messing with her head and actions, making her seem insane. As a result, the group decides to single her out due to their suspicions of Eleanor. This is the climax of the story since it led right to the falling action of Eleanor completely losing her mind and all sense of control. Worried, Dr. Montague and the others figure that it would be best for her to leave the house right away. Eleanor cries and refuses to say she has nowhere to go and she is a part of the house, physically and mentally. This leads to the resolution and the final part of the story in which Eleanor accepts her destiny to leave the house yet pities the group in thinking that they can get past Hill House’s desires to keep her. Right after, she crashes into an oak tree and takes her own life. However, right before, she wonders why no one is stopping or helping her. After these traumatic incidents, everyone goes back to their life. Dr. Montague shares his findings with his other colleagues but they don’t take him seriously. In the novel, there are several conflicts. Man vs. Man would represent Eleanor vs. the group during the time they were avoiding her for their sanity. Man vs. Nature would represent Eleanor vs. the nature of her mind. Shortly after the strange occurrences took place, Eleanor