Examples Of Irony In The Haunting Of Hill House

For many years, authors have been writing scary novels such as The Shining, It, and The Turn of the Screw. These novels all tell a bone-shuddering story and leave readers cautiously checking under their bed and sleeping with a few lights on. Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House does this as well as making readers question their own mental strength. A good expression for a variety of emotions and characters, this novel leaves the audience hanging onto every word. Jackson utilizes foreshadowing, symbolism, and irony in The Haunting of Hill House.
Jackson uses foreshadowing to predict misfortunate events later occurring in the novel. The first example of this is a quote the doctor says during their first morning at Hill House. Dr. Montague says, "You will never believe this now, of course, but three minutes ago these doors were wide open. We left them open so you could find your way. We sat and watched them swing shut just before you called." The doctor says this with some uneasiness, foreshadowing something definitely weird or possibly supernatural is going on in the house. Another example of foreshadowing is shown the morning Eleanor leaves Hill House. Dr. Montague exclaims, "You must forget everything about Hill House. I was so wrong to bring you here." This suggests that Eleanor is in some kind of …show more content…
One symbol that is very prominent throughout the story is the infamous cup of stars. While at a restaurant on her way to Hill House, Eleanor thinks to the little girl, "Insist on your cup of stars; once they have trapped you into being like everyone else you will never see your cup of stars again". The cup is a powerful symbol for independence and freedom, and Eleanor always talks about it as her own, which suggests that she is envious of the little girl for having her own cup of stars. The use of symbolism is another literary device that has a powerful impact on the book as a