How Does Susan Hill Use Literary Techniques

How does Susan Hill use literary techniques to create the effect of foreboding and fear in the chapter ‘Whistle and I’ll come to you’?

“Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader- not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.” – E.L Doctorow, this is exactly what Susan Hill, does in “The Woman in Black”, through the use of literary techniques. Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor in Victorian England, is being sent by his boss to the house of the deceased Mrs. Drablow to sort throughout the paperwork following her death. As soon as he arrived at the house he couldn’t help but feel uneasiness and danger hovering over him but even worse he kept on encountering a mysterious, pale, deadly women; who soon the …show more content…
When Arthur stayed in the house not only did he feel uneasiness but he was being constantly disturbed by various noises. One night the winds became so powerful that the ‘windows were rattling’ (p.151). This example of pathetic fallacy highlights the winds powers and its capabilities to rattle anything in its path, even the strongest of things. The ‘rattling’ sound caused by the windows makes the readers anticipate what might come next and evokes the feeling of uneasiness amongst them. Besides that, it also reflects Arthurs own emotions of vulnerability and loneliness. By that Susan Hill makes the readers relate and emphasize towards Arthurs current state. He also heard other disturbing noises like an alarming ‘Tumult of wind, like a banshee’(p. 152) lingering outside. The feeling of foreboding is expressed in this example of pathetic fallacy because a tumult is a loud sound which in this case is used in a threatening way. Along with that , the word ‘banshee, refers to a female like demon, an evil spirit which is there to insure the sense of foreboding Hill is trying to create in her writing. On the other hand the wind which usually plays a smooth and joyful part, is playing an evil one nonetheless, one of strong blows and stiff gusts. The winds horrifying sounds promote the feeling of cautiousness but the banshees screams compared to the tumult …show more content…
In the scene where Arthur is furiously trying to pull Spider out of the marshes and finally, after he pulls her out Hill uses verbs such as ‘gasping’ with ‘agonizing’ along with ‘choking…whimpering…burning’ and even ‘bursting’ (p.162 and 163) to describe Arthurs and Spiders feelings and behavior. These verbs intensify greatly the scene in which Susan Hill is describing and it also shows the fear she is trying to make the readers feel. Because of the massive amount of verbs used in this paragraph, the reader gets the feeling of distress like Arthur and Spider. Also the sounds that she is describing is the bodies way of crying for help which just exaggerates the pain which they are in . Though Hill also uses these verbs to describe the satisfying feeling Arthur feels after he saved Spider. This use of sensory imagery using such vivid words intensifies the scene even further. In addition to that, Susan Hill uses the verbs ‘rattling…moaning…whistling’(p.151) to describe the powerful wind that was causing disturbances to Arthur. They describe the fear and danger that Arthur is in, while also impacting the reader in the same way. At the same time this also resembles the feeling of being trapped that Arthur might feel, as if the house is the only safe place for miles; then if he goes out he would be in danger but even the steady house doesn’t guarantee him safety either way he is frozen in