Use of language in The Woman in Black
Susan Hill uses language effectively in this story to create a strong and eerie atmosphere. She draws on sounds in particular to unsettle the reader and create an unnerving sense of place. She uses a first-person narrator in the form of Arthur Kipps, drawing the reader in closer to the action. This increases the tension. The ghostly setting of the deserted Eel Marsh House, regularly cut off from the rest of the world by wild sea frets, creates a vivid and spooky sense of place.
Evidence and explanation of the language used
| How? | Why? | Effect? | |
| First-person narrative | Susan Hill uses the first-person narrator of Arthur Kipps to relate the story of his past. | The first-person narrative brings us up close to the action. | Fear is intensified by this personal point of view. When Arthur feels afraid the reader feels it too. |
| Simile | When Arthur first arrives at Crythin Gifford, the sky was 'as blue as a blackbird's egg.' (p.28) | The simile shows us the pale-blue colour of the sky. | It also suggests that the village is, like an egg, self-contained and fragile. |
| Semantic field of fear | Hill uses a range of words that suggest or are connected with fear. | Words such as 'howling', 'shrieking', 'darkness', 'shadow' and 'terrible' are used throughout the story. | Hill uses these words to create a vivid and haunting atmosphere. |
| Sounds | We often hear the sounds of things that cannot be seen in this story. | When he is at Eel Marsh House, Arthur hears a pony and trap coming over the marsh and then the shrill neighing and whinnying of a horse in panic, and then I heard another cry, a shout, a terrified sobbing. | The sounds isolate Arthur further from what seems to be happening. He is unable to judge distance or trust his senses. This creates disorientation and makes the story more disturbing. |
| Symbolism | The pony and trap act as a symbol for the past when Jennet Humfrye and Arthur Kipps become stuck. | No car appeared. Instead, there drew up outside the Gifford Arms a rather worn and shabby pony and trap. | The pony and trap transports Arthur to the past by being literally old-fashioned. It also leads him to uncover Jennet Humfrye's past. |
| Rhetorical questions | Arthur questions himself at times. For example when he first rides over the causeway with Keckwick he asks: But I was not afraid - of what could I be afraid in this rare and beautiful spot? The wind? The marsh birds crying? Reeds and still water? | The reader is invited to question the environment and to challenge what it is that is so unnerving about the scene. | The questions seem to add a layer of doubt that prepares us for the unsettling scenes to follow. |
| Pathetic fallacy | Hill uses the weather to create atmosphere and mirror the moods of the characters throughout. | Before the young Arthur Kipps leaves London, the weather is already foreboding: It was, in all, miserable weather and lowering to the spirits in the drearest month of the year. | Hill sets the scarier parts of the novel at night in the isolated Eel Marsh House with the sea frets mirroring Arthur's increasingly disturbed state of mind. |
| First-person narrative | |
|---|---|
| How? | Susan Hill uses the first-person narrator of Arthur Kipps to relate the story of his past. |
| Why? | The first-person narrative brings us up close to the action. |
| Effect? | Fear is intensified by this personal point of view. When Arthur feels afraid the reader feels it too. |
| Simile | |
|---|---|
| How? | When Arthur first arrives at Crythin Gifford, the sky was 'as blue as a blackbird's egg.' (p.28) |
| Why? | The simile shows us the pale-blue colour of the sky. |
| Effect? | It also suggests that the village is, like an egg, self-contained and fragile. |
| Semantic field of fear | |
|---|---|
| How? | Hill uses a range of words that suggest or are connected with fear. |
| Why? | Words such as 'howling', 'shrieking', 'darkness', 'shadow' and 'terrible' are used throughout the story. |
| Effect? | Hill uses these words to create a vivid and haunting atmosphere. |
| Sounds | |
|---|---|
| How? | We often hear the sounds of things that cannot be seen in this story. |
| Why? | When he is at Eel Marsh House, Arthur hears a pony and trap coming over the marsh and then the shrill neighing and whinnying of a horse in panic, and then I heard another cry, a shout, a terrified sobbing. |
| Effect? | The sounds isolate Arthur further from what seems to be happening. He is unable to judge distance or trust his senses. This creates disorientation and makes the story more disturbing. |
| Symbolism | |
|---|---|
| How? | The pony and trap act as a symbol for the past when Jennet Humfrye and Arthur Kipps become stuck. |
| Why? | No car appeared. Instead, there drew up outside the Gifford Arms a rather worn and shabby pony and trap. |
| Effect? | The pony and trap transports Arthur to the past by being literally old-fashioned. It also leads him to uncover Jennet Humfrye's past. |
| Rhetorical questions | |
|---|---|
| How? | Arthur questions himself at times. For example when he first rides over the causeway with Keckwick he asks: But I was not afraid - of what could I be afraid in this rare and beautiful spot? The wind? The marsh birds crying? Reeds and still water? |
| Why? | The reader is invited to question the environment and to challenge what it is that is so unnerving about the scene. |
| Effect? | The questions seem to add a layer of doubt that prepares us for the unsettling scenes to follow. |
| Pathetic fallacy | |
|---|---|
| How? | Hill uses the weather to create atmosphere and mirror the moods of the characters throughout. |
| Why? | Before the young Arthur Kipps leaves London, the weather is already foreboding: It was, in all, miserable weather and lowering to the spirits in the drearest month of the year. |
| Effect? | Hill sets the scarier parts of the novel at night in the isolated Eel Marsh House with the sea frets mirroring Arthur's increasingly disturbed state of mind. |
How to analyse language
Here is an example of Susan Hill's atmospheric language. It is a description of Arthur's reaction to seeing the woman in black at the burial ground near Eel Marsh House.
For the combination of the peculiar isolated place and the sudden appearance of the woman and the dreadfulness of her expression began to fill me with fear. Indeed, I had never in my life been so possessed by it, never known my knees to tremble and my flesh to creep, and then to turn cold as stone, never known my heart to give a great lurch, as if it would almost leap up into my dry mouth and then begin pounding in my chest like a hammer on an anvil, never known myself gripped and held fast by such dread and horror and apprehension of evil.
We can analyse this quotation and explore how the language creates atmosphere:
'For the combination of the peculiar isolated place and the sudden appearance of the woman and the dreadfulness of her expression began to fill me with fear. Indeed, I had never in my life been so possessed by it, never known my knees to tremble and my flesh to creep, and then to turn cold as stone, never known my heart to give a great lurch, as if it would almost leap up into my dry mouth and then begin pounding in my chest like a hammer on an anvil, never known myself gripped and held fast by such dread and horror and apprehension of evil'.
- repetition of 'never' - this sentence repeats the word never, emphasising how this experience is like nothing Arthur has ever felt before
- 'possessed' - this verb is connected with the supernatural and intensifies the creepy atmosphere
- my flesh to creep - this is a é that works well here because it places us firmly in the ghost story genre
- like a hammer on an anvil - this simile is vivid and suggests Arthur's heart is clanging noisily
- dread and horror and apprehension of evil - the list of three at the end of the sentence shows how awful Arthur feels