Oh, of course, the cup of stars! How could I forget that detail? It's just so perfect, and so sad. I mean, don't we all want a cup of stars, really?
I think that Eleanor does come across as a more sympathetic character than Miss Giddens (I'd forgotten that she was named!), in part because we can see that in many ways, the world really has cheated Eleanor. Her desperate and narcissistic fantasizing seems far more forgivable and understandable, because we're told more details about her life. It's possible that if we knew more about Miss Giddens' past, she'd share in some of that pathos, but since we don't, she comes across as less sad and more monster-like.
The house is sort of giving Eleanor what she wants...but not really. I've always thought that part of what makes the ending of The Haunting of Hill House so exceptionally cruel is the way that the House seems to withdraw its influence over Eleanor at the very last minute, so that the very last thoughts of her life have to be: "OMG, no! What am I doing? I don't want this!" It almost seems as if it does that just to be mean, you know? Nasty, evil house.
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Re: Part I
Date: 2005-10-12 08:54 pm (UTC)I think that Eleanor does come across as a more sympathetic character than Miss Giddens (I'd forgotten that she was named!), in part because we can see that in many ways, the world really has cheated Eleanor. Her desperate and narcissistic fantasizing seems far more forgivable and understandable, because we're told more details about her life. It's possible that if we knew more about Miss Giddens' past, she'd share in some of that pathos, but since we don't, she comes across as less sad and more monster-like.
The house is sort of giving Eleanor what she wants...but not really. I've always thought that part of what makes the ending of The Haunting of Hill House so exceptionally cruel is the way that the House seems to withdraw its influence over Eleanor at the very last minute, so that the very last thoughts of her life have to be: "OMG, no! What am I doing? I don't want this!" It almost seems as if it does that just to be mean, you know? Nasty, evil house.