The Haunting of Hill House

Novel

Bibliographic Details

The Haunting of Hill House

Shirley Jackson

Date of Publication: 1959

Publisher: Viking Penguin Inc. 1959

Summary:

            Dr. John Montague, a doctor of philosophy, has taken a sudden interest in a notorious haunted house – Hill House.  Hill House has a reputation full of mixed ghost tales, suicide, and other horrid gossip.  Dr. Montague is taking part in an experiment where he, and three other volunteered assistants [Eleanor, Theodora, and Luke], will live in the house for a full summer. 

            It becomes apparent that Eleanor is a desire for the ghostly house, and taunts her until she is mentally unstable.  Dr. Montague orders Eleanor to leave the house, and at this time she decides to drive straight into a tree – committing suicide.   

Quotation:

            “Within its walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone” (Jackson 246).

Reaction:

            This quotation is the final sentence in the novel, providing a sense of closure for the reader.  However, it was somewhat of a cliff hanger for me.  At the end, Eleanor gets herself into a car crash, but it is never stated that she died.  It is also mentioned how the house wanted Eleanor to become a part of it, so this quote triggers my curiosity.  I wonder whether Eleanor has, in fact, become an additional spirit that will roam and haunt Hill House forever. 

Film

Film Title: The Haunting

Release Year: 1999

Director: Jan de Bont

Writer(s): David Self (screenplay), Shirley Jackson (novel)

Additions/Subtractions	Effect on Film
The film does not include Eleanor experiencing the small town before she goes to Hill House.	This takes away from the unwelcoming vibe that, not only Hill House gives off, but the reputation of Hill House throughout the town as well.
In the novel, the doctor wants to study paranormal/supernatural activity.  In the film, the doctor is studying insomnia.	The primary study of the novel reassures the reader that Hill House is haunted for sure.  In the film, the haunting is initially very questionable.
In the novel, Eleanor is portrayed as the odd-ball.  She is separated from everyone else, and the others find her to be somewhat strange from the very beginning.  This isolation of Eleanor is not present in the Film.	This removes the connection between Eleanor and the haunted Hill House.  In the novel, she seems to, in some way, belong to the house.  In the film, she is just as normal as everyone else.

Slam

Bibliographic Details

Slam

Nick Hornby

Date of Publication: 2007

Publisher: Penguin Group Inc.

Summary:

            The novel opens with the introduction of Sam, an average fifteen year-old boy.  The narrator is an adult Sam, reminiscing about his childhood.  As a typical teenager, Sam does not have any major responsibilities; his main focus is skateboarding.  These comfortable living conditions soon take a turn when Sam starts to become involved with a new girl, Alicia.

            After dating for a while, Sam and Alicia drift apart.  The timing could not have seemed worse when Sam is informed that his ex-girlfriend is pregnant.  At war with himself, Sam is at a loss of what to do.  He attempts to run away from the situation, but quickly returns, still horrified at how this baby will alter his future. 

            Eventually, Sam realizes that the child is and will always be a responsibility and priority of his.  When the baby is born, Sam undergoes a new sense of both father and man hood.

Quotation:

            “There was a lot of work to do, and arguments to have, and kids to take care of, and money to find from somewhere, and sleep to lose.  I could do it, though. I could see that.” (Hornby 309)

Reaction:

            Sam is finally realizing that his future has not been ruined due to a teenage pregnancy. There are a variety of achievements left for him to make, and all he needs is persistence to reach his goals.  This quotation exemplifies how Sam has truly come into adulthood by the end of the novel.  He is no longer the young boy that ran away when he was informed that he impregnated his girlfriend.  Sam was a young man, dealing with life day by day, and accepting whatever comes.  

A Childhood Struggle: Her Last Death

Bibliographic Details:

• Her Last Death: A Memoir
• Susanna Sonnenberg
• Date of Publication: 2008
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Inc.

Summary:

            The memoir opens in the Montana home of Susanna Sonnenberg and her family.  She has received the unfortunate news that her mother has been in a, possibly fatal, car accident.  As an adult, Sonnenberg continues to recount the memories of the destructive relationship with her mother, Daphne.  Experiences with drugs, sex at an early age, and both verbal and physical abuse from her young mother spin together in Sonnenberg’s recollection of her painful past.  While Daphne is attempting to maintain her youth, her oldest daughter is in desperate need for her only active parent’s adulthood. 

            In the novel, Her Last Death, Susanna Sonnenberg demonstrates that love is not always enough to build a stable companionship.  It is clear that Sonnenberg’s mother truly loved her, but she was not sure how to handle her significant role in motherhood.  Daphne survives the car accident, but Sonnenberg chooses to leave their relationship broken.  Sonneberg realizes that she, as a mother, can change the impression that her mother left her with.  Susanna Sonneberg allows herself to be fully dedicated to her family. 

Quotation:

            “I wanted to be icy, instead of scared.  Even as I tried to think what it would take to calm her down, I let a little dangerous rage seep out.  She wrenched my arm, which burned under her grip.  She jerked my chin.  Her breath was metallic and rank with the synthetic in the coke” (Sonnenberg 131).

Quotation Context:

            Susanna Sonneberg is vacationing with her mother in the Caribbean when they suddenly get into an argument about Daphne’s drug abuse, and random absences.  Daphne feels like she has given her entire world to her two daughters, so hearing Susanna’s view on everything is shocking.  As this is not the first confrontation that they have engaged in with each other, Sonnenberg tries something different.  Instead of remaining quiet and feeling her mother’s under the influence wrath, she takes a sassy approach.  Upsetting Daphne even more, Sonnenberg is kicked out of their hotel for the night. 

            The reader would immediately assume that Sonnenberg is being irrational for not going to see her own mother at her deathbed.  This quotation offers a reason as to why.  This was just one of various experiences of abuse that Susanna Sonneberg was pushed through with her mother.  It is obvious that Daphne unnecessarily caused Sonnenberg an unfairnand disoriented life; her own mother tore her apart.