Gossip says she hanged herself from the turret on the tower, but when you have a house like Hill House with a tower and a turret, gossip would hardly allow you to hang yourself anywhere else.
Shirley JacksonRead
I can't help it when people are frightened," says Merricat. "I always want to frighten them more.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a complex reaction to fear, highlighting a desire to intensify the emotions of others rather than alleviate them.
In this quote, Merricat expresses a peculiar, perhaps dark inclination towards exacerbating the fears of those around her. It suggests an understanding of fear that is not just empathetic but also one that derives a sense of power or satisfaction from the heightened anxiety of others, illustrating a nuanced approach to human emotions and interactions.
Themes
FearPowerAnxietyEmotionPsychology
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about psychological horror in literature.
More from Shirley Jackson
All quotes βIt watches," he added suddenly. "The house. It watches every move you make.
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There had not been this many words sounded in our house for a long time, and it was going to take a while to clean them out.
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Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.
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I was pretending that I did not speak their language; on the moon we spoke a soft, liquid tongue, and sang in the starlight, looking down on the dead dried world.
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We moved together very slowly toward the house, trying to understand its ugliness and ruin and shame.
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