Samstag, 19. September 2015

This Is Hill House, And You Are Not Welcome At All

So, our heroine has made it through a lengthy car trip and past Dudley the Despicable, and here she is, in front of the goal of her journey and wanting nothing so much as back her car out of there and get ...

... well.

Remember the thing about the half-stolen car?

Eleanor spend the last 11 years nursing her sick mother, who died recently. Apparently, all that she owns is now stuffed into a suitcase and a box in the car, which belongs to her and her sister Carrie together. Said Carrie is married, presumably the elder of the two, presumably has left the care for their mother entirely to Eleanor, and speaks of the car as "my car" as in "I don‟t think I can see my way clear to letting you borrow my car.”. She's also a master at twisting, re-defining and ignoring facts as the circumstances demand, and she, her 5-year old daughter and her comparably obnoxious husband seem to be all that Eleanor has in form of social contacts and family.

The fact that Eleanor simply made off with the car which is half hers (she paid part of the costs, but never was allowed to use it) probably hasn't improved Carrie's temper.

That, therefor, is what Eleanor would have to go back to. 




So, she steps up a few stairs onto a wooden veranda, knocks at the entrance door and meets the distaff counterpart to Dudley the Despicable: Mrs Dudley the Dismal.







As Eleanor enters the hallway, we learn through her observations and thoughts that the predominant colors of Hill House are dim, disharmonious, dark, vile and evil, with notes of over-ornate - lots and lots of wood paneling (dark), wooden floors (dark) and carved wooden doors (not light).

She is deposited in the blue room, one of the rooms in the second floor, which has two windows facing to the front of the house, and left to herself to unpack and feel discouraged by the general gloom of the house until the second guest arrives: Theodora (just Theodora), who is installed in the Green Room - very similar to that of Eleanor and connected with it by a common bathroom.   

Theodora and Eleanor become quick friends, both very different in temper, and both certainly happy not to be alone in the dismal house with Mrs Dudley. They go exploring: the veranda runs around the entire house, and in the back there's a stair leading down onto green grass dotted with grouped trees, and behind it green hills piling up behind Hill House, and path leading downhill brings them to a little brook, with wild flowers and minnows - the perfect place for relaxation. Although here, even beautiful little brooks are to be treated carefully - Theodora always fell in in her hurry to get there, and later on, despite the beautiful surroundings, both women are scared by a rabbit.

As the sun begins to set, they return to the house where they will meet the other half of the team: Luke Sanderson and Dr. Montague.

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