Gossip says she hanged herself from the turret on the tower, but when you have a house like Hill House with a tower and a turret, gossip would hardly allow you to hang yourself anywhere else.
Shirley JacksonRead
Within, 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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the solitude and eerie atmosphere of Hill House, suggesting a deeper commentary on isolation and the human experience.
This quote from Shirley Jackson's 'The Haunting of Hill House' conveys a haunting yet peaceful image of a house that stands firm and silent, embodying a sense of isolation. The detailed description of its structure serves as a metaphor for emotional and psychological barriers, hinting at the idea that even in well-constructed environments, the feeling of being alone can persist, and whatever resides within may be lonely and restless.
Themes
IsolationSolitudeLonelinessArchitectureAtmosphere
In practice
Example use cases
As an introduction to a discussion about isolation in literature.
More from Shirley Jackson
All quotes →It watches," he added suddenly. "The house. It watches every move you make.
Shirley JacksonRead
There had not been this many words sounded in our house for a long time, and it was going to take a while to clean them out.
Shirley JacksonRead
I can't help it when people are frightened," says Merricat. "I always want to frighten them more.
Shirley JacksonRead
I was pretending that I did not speak their language; on the moon we spoke a soft, liquid tongue, and sang in the starlight, looking down on the dead dried world.
Shirley JacksonRead
We moved together very slowly toward the house, trying to understand its ugliness and ruin and shame.
Shirley JacksonRead
Similar quotes
The first woman was created from the rib of a man. She was not made from his head to top him, nor from his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal to him.
Sophia LorenRead
Thinking gives off smoke to prove the existence of fire. A mystic sits inside the burning. There are wonderful shapes in rising smoke that imagination loves to watch. But it's a mistake to leave the fire for that filmy sight. Stay here at the flame's core.
RumiRead
Naturally, it is a terrible, despicable crime when, as in Munich, people are taken hostage, people are killed. But probing the motives of those responsible and showing that they are also individuals with families and have their own story does not excuse what they did.
Steven SpielbergRead
England is obsessed with where you came from, and they are determined to keep you in that place, be it in a drawing room or in the gutter.
Daniel Day-LewisRead
It comes so soon, the moment when there is nothing left to wait for.
Marcel ProustRead
I find more and more, as I grow older, that I prefer women to men, children to adults, animals to humans.... And rocks to living things? No, I'm not that old yet.
Edward AbbeyRead