The Haunting of Hill House

Essay by iluvpiratesHigh School, 10th grade April 2004

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THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE

PAGES 67 AND 245

In the conclusion of the book, you are shown the death of Eleanor. I came to the realization that a very similar death was described previously in the book. Eighteen years before, a man left Hill House in darkness and his horse bolted into a tree at a turn in the drive, instantly killing him.

It was very important that both of these events happened in the book. The man's death served as foreshadowing in my opinion. After reading about both of the deaths, I began to think that there must be some way that they were connected with the house. It became very evident that Eleanor was going insane in her last few day. I felt like it was meant to show that the house led other people to their deaths before and had done it again and again and would continue to do so until it existed no more.

I believed that Eleanor died in that way for several reasons. First of all, I think in a way it fulfilled her insane thoughts of never wanting to leave Hill House. Also it allowed her to become the center of attention in a twisted way. I thought that she secretly wanted this because of how she was always self-conscious about how everyone was talking to her and how she spoke with others.

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE

PAGE 73

In a small paragraph, the book describes why each character was chosen to come to Hill House. Eleanor was there because when she was a child stones were flung at her house by an unseen hand. In many ways, I feel that this event that happened in Eleanor's childhood can be used to explain her actions and events at the house.