Shirley Jackson creates an atmosphere of a gloomy, dark, mysteriously fantastical wood through the twisted encounters of Christopher and the woods and dark interactions between man and nature to show the effects of the “real world” on the perception of nature. Christopher is walking through the woods for days on end with no plan, no end point. His interactions with nature show his apparent hatred and bitter attitude toward it. “Wearily moving his feet because he had nothing else to do, Christopher went on down the road, hating the trees that moved slowly against his progress, hating the dust beneath his feet, hating the sky, hating this road,” (Jackson 1). Jackson repeatedly utilizes the word ‘hate’ in a variety of forms to portray Christopher as teenager of young adult full of animosity towards all aspects of nature. The sky, the dust, the trees and more are all parts of nature and all things that Christopher seems to be very upset over. Jackson also uses the word “wearily,” to describe Christopher’s emotion …show more content…
“Christopher approached the house as he would any house, farmhouse, suburban home, or city apartment, and knocked politely and with pleasure on the warm front door. ‘Come in then,’ a woman said as she opened it, and Christopher stepped inside…” (Jackson 2). Jackson introduces the woman who answered the door so subtly it seems as though the stone house was subconsciously Christopher’s intended destination. Christopher doesn’t even have to say anything; his knock on the door prompted the woman, Phyllis, to open the door and nonchalantly invites him to come in as though she was expecting a guest. Christopher’s interpretation of the picturesque stone house being encroached on by the mass of trees surrounding the perimeter shows his interaction with nature and reinforces his paranoid feelings towards
The text is very descriptive and loaded with symbols. The author takes the opportunity to relate elements of setting with symbols with meanings beyond the first reading’s impressions. The house that the characters rent for the summer as well as the surrounding scenery are introduced right from the beginning. It is an isolated house, situated "quite three miles from the village"(947); this location suggests an isolated environment. Because of its "colonial mansion"(946) look, and its age and state of degradation, of the house, a supernatural hypothesis is implied: the place is haunted by ghosts. This description also suggests stability, strength, power and control. It symbolizes the patriarchal oriented society of the author’s time. The image of a haunted house is curiously superimposed with light color elements of setting: a "delicious garden"(947), "velvet meadows"(950), "old-fashioned flowers, and bushes and gnarly trees"(948) suggest bright green. The room has "air and sunshine galore"(947), the garden is "large and shady"(947) and has "deep-shaded arbors"(948). The unclean yellow of the wallpaper is
Each day people face challenges and stressors that affect them mentally. The stressors they face may cause anxiety, depression, and a feeling of being overwhelmed, but the way they handle these emotions is what matters most. In The Beautiful Stranger, it may appear that Margaret is just pretending her husband is a stranger, but taking a deeper look it seems she is mentally unstable. Unfortunately, we do not know the details of John and Margaret’s life prior to John returning home from business, but it is safe to assume that things were not perfect. Was Margaret acting out her dreams of the perfect husband and a better marriage? Was something in Margaret’s life, causing her a mental breakdown? What was causing John’s behavior to be out of the norm? Had John truly been replaced by a new man? Shirley Jackson did an excellent job creating mystery in this story, but she also included many hints throughout it to help us build our own understanding.
The author uses Rainsford’s perception of the island and the hunt to formulate uneasiness and tension throughout the story. As Rainsford approaches the perimeter of the “snarled and ragged jungle”, he sees that the jungle turf is oddly “thrashed about”, “lacerated”, and “stained crimson”(3). Connell objectifies Rainsford’s first impression of the island to increase tension in the onset of his story. By this time
If this story had been told from a first person point of view, the reader my not have gotten this in depth of a description of the setting. Without the reader understanding that the house was boarded up and abandoned, to the point where it seems
The story has two main settings. First, the family’s house symbolizes union but not quite right. The family was tired of the grandmother. There was an atmosphere of oppression and manipulation by the grandmother. For example, from the beginning of the story the author stated, “You all ought to take them somewhere else for a change so they would see different parts of the world and be broad” (O’Connor 485). The grandmother uses this setting to suggest that the grandmother is very demanding. Finally, into the wood O’Connor uses the setting of tall, dark and deep wood to represent something that is difficult to deal with. O’Connor also mentions that “Behind them the line of woods gaped like dark” (490). It explores the dark consequences of death, where the family encounter strangers in the wood and we only learn what’s happening from the noise people make, gunshots and screams. The setting in this story is very good which states expression of mood and it helps us to know the meaning of the
The diction in the excerpt is an essential component to the dramatization of the plot’s central incident. Jewett uses rich language to intensify the simple nature of the main character Sylvia’s journey up a “great pine-tree.” For example, in describing the tree, the narrator uses personification as he mentions the “huge tree asleep yet in the paling moonlight.” The use of personification harkens back to those universal moments in childhood in which everything alive had human feelings, and creates an emotional attachment between the reader and the tree. Jewett also uses other figurative language, like similes, to relate the grandeur of the tree to the audience. She writes, “It [the tree] was like a great main-mast to the voyaging earth…” In comparing the tree to the great mast of a ship, the author invokes feelings of awe at its size.
of them ninety feet high; which made it dark at noonday, and a retreat for all
Third, by looking at the narrative as a Gothic Horror Story, the final theme that isolation produces irrational fear which can drive one insane is seen in the narrative. The use of historical and cultural poetics lens the narrative can further be looked at support the theme. For example, the Narrator has an odd feeling about the house. The narrative states,” A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house, and reach the height of romantic felicity… That spoils my ghostliness, I am afraid, but I don’t care-- there is something strange about the house-- I can feel it” (1,2). The house has a ancient haunted feeling to it which drives the Narrator insane trying to figure out what is off about it.
This passage demonstrates why Christopher has a reserved personality.When speaking to Mrs.Alexander, Christopher feel nervous, even though he had previously spoken and she had treated him kindly. He only knows so little about her that it is not enough to deem her trustworthy. Even though Christopher is a grown, 15 year old boy, he still does not like going to parks on his own as he claims it is “dangerous” and doesn't want to interact the drug dealers. Staying on his own in an enclosed space is when he feels most comfortable. Christopher wanted “to go home” and “go up to [his] room”which portrays him as an introvert. Interacting with other, especially strangers is obviously not in his comfort zone, he would rather stay at home,which he considers
Christopher’s lack of emotion does not end with his mother’s death. He absolutely hates being touched by others, he hits a person if they try to make contact with him. He also does not like strangers; anything unfamiliar to Chris is not welcome in his world as far as he is concerned. He hates the colors yellow and brown, and determines if it will be a good day by the number of colored cars he sees; 4 red cars means it will be a good day, but 3 yellow cars is a bad sign. This
Shirley Jackson was born on December 14, 1916 in San Francisco, California. She was the daughter of Leslie Hardie (President of Stecher-Traung Lithograph,Inc.) and Geraldine Bugbee Jackson.
The forest opens up a whole new world. The “path strangled onward into the mystery of the primeval forest” (172). The word mystery is used to show the different sides that the forest can bring out in a character. For some the forest may be a place of sinister thoughts and wrong doing but for others it’s a place to express their freedom. Mister Hibbins is a witch and does her practices in the forest. One day, as Hester
The double meanings of the description of the physical setting illustrate the finer tuned details of the character. The narrator describes the "wild" garden behind his house containing a "central" apple-tree, perhaps suggesting that within the chaos in life some things remain central and focused. Amid the narrator's chaotic
However, in the woods the tone is calm and images seem to be linked closely to nature. ‘Therefore the winds piping to us in vain, as in revenge have sucked up the sea’. The natural images are used to describe true love. Unlike the fearful Athens, the wood’s is free, but vulnerable to chaos.
Evil also personifies the earth with these conations stating that the once kind “earth turns evil”. Together with grief’s taste this helps the reader to visualise even more clearly the future earth which Wright imagines. From the picture that she has developed inside the reader’s head Wright hopes for them to get a better understanding and a greater concern for the consequences that follow a lack of environmental attention.