The main purpose of a ghost story is to frighten and entertain. Clearly, The Woman in Black does both. So Hill successfully build a sense of fear in In The Nursery – through a series of literary techniques. The plot itself is relatively simple and this in itself adds to the fear. This chapter is the ninth of twelve chapters therefore the sense of terror is building as the reader awaits a climax to this terrifying tale.
Hill’s use of the first person narrator is a key element of the novel. Susan Hill’s characters in this novel have limited development because the story is told by the main character, Arthur Kipps. His character is developed in an interesting way because as narrator he is looking back and describing events from the perspective of his younger self. This adds depth to his character and to the plot because as readers, we live through his nightmare with him and share his fears. This viewpoint is particularly effective in this chapter, as readers, we can relate to the terror and anxiety felt by Arthur. At the start of the chapter he comments on feeling ‘calm and cheerful’ however this state of contentment disappears at the chapter progresses – ‘I sat, too terrified to move’ and ‘my throat felt constricted and I began to shiver.’ In the ghost story genre this technique is effective – we can imagine ourselves in Arthur’s place – reliving his experiences.
Hill uses the senses to create a sense of terror in this chapter during which the theme of childhood is developed when Kipps discovers the locked nursery. The use of the bumping sound ‘bump bump. Pause. Bump bump. Pause’ creates a mystery and tension further developed by the sound of the rocking chair. The door mysteriously opens and the sound of the rocking chair lessens ‘until the movements were so slight, I could see or hear them’. Arthur identifies ‘rows of lead soldiers, arranged in regiments’ and Hill details how he ‘picked things up, stroked them, even smelled them.’ Arthur is drawn in to the nursery even relating his own childhood to this room. Hill use of a detailed list of items in the nursery allows for the reader to imagine the owner to be an actual child – moving away from the theme of the supernatural and unknown. Arthur is so traumatised by the section of the book – overwhelmed by a sense of loss, ‘a desolation, a grief in my own heart’.
The use of pathetic fallacy further hints at an impending sense of doom, as readers, we are told at the outset of the importance of the weather to Arthur. The chapter starts with ‘light and space and brightness’ echoing Arthur’s mood however the following morning the weather has changed – ‘the first thing I noticed in the morning was a change in the weather’. As readers we are aware that the ‘dampness in the air’ and ‘thick cloud lying low over the marsh’ suggest dramatic events will follow. Even Spider senses the tension with a ‘heart-stopping howl’ and being ‘rigid with fear’.
The isolation of Eel Marsh House is significant – it is in a ‘wild and remote spot’ further isolating Arthur. Hill uses imagery to create the sense of detachment – ‘it stood like some lighthouse’, the mention of the ‘satanic looking’ bird and the symbolic ‘crumbling’ ruin located to the side of the house. In In the Nursery the silence of the house towards the end of the chapter is vital. We start the chapter with ‘a faint noise’ yet the chapter ends with ‘no sound at all from within’. Arthur chooses not to interrupt the silence but to return to his room to face further challenges of Eel Marsh House. Hill uses anti-climax in this chapter to build suspense and terror – readers believe something dramatic and terrible will occur however the chapter ends with ‘no sound at all from within’ and Arthur retiring to bed to read Walter Scott.
Miss O
miss, the dog ate my homework 