Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House

In The Haunting of Hill House, it is very evident that Eleanor Vance has had a strained relationship with her family. She had to live out a lot of her adult life taking care of her sick mother, who did not treat Eleanor kindly. Eleanor has an intense amount of hatred for her mother and for her sister, as the narrator states at the beginning of the novel by saying, “the only person in the world she genuinely hated, now that her mother was dead, was her sister” (Jackson 3). Spending all of that time taking care of her mother left Eleanor with no friends and little social skills as an adult. It is no surprise then that Eleanor becomes drawn to the one place that makes her feel like she is not confined to her mother or her sister. The house begins to take on a motherly role for Eleanor. Although it is an old and harsh place to the rest of the inhabitants, it is almost warm and inviting to Eleanor. This is the only place that she feels comfortable to be herself. In an essay titled “Shirley Jackson and the Reproduction of Mothering: The Haunting of Hill House”, Judie Newman points out that Hill House is “notable for the absence of mothers” given the untimely deaths of all of Hugh Crain’s wives. The two daughters were essentially motherless for long periods of time, which drives a deep connection with Eleanor who, although grew up with a mother, did not have any real sense of a mother figure in her life. By taking care of her sick mother, she had to essentially take on the role of the mother and her mother the child, which distorts her views on family. When Eleanor has her first encounter with the spirits of Hill House, it is not so surprising then that she immediately associates the occurrence with her mother. She wakes up thinking that the loud banging noises are her mother knocking on the wall asking for assistance (Jackson 93). This is significant because it shows that if there is in fact a spirit in Hill House making these supernatural occurrences, then it has clearly singled out Eleanor and knows how to prey on her weaknesses. The episode that leads to Eleanor being forced to leave Hill House is even sparked by thoughts of her mother. Eleanor keeps calling out for her mother saying, “you’re here somewhere” as she roams the halls (Jackson 168). It is clear that the lack of a mother figure for so long has been incredibly detrimental to Eleanor’s mental state, because it completely consumes her thoughts. Eleanor’s severed relationship with her mother is essential to the terror in this novel, because it is a cause of her psychological downfall.