Unveiling the Role of Spider in the Novel

The Role of Spider What does this quotation inform you about Spider? Zoom in on key words and explore connotations. At my feet stood a sturdy little terrier with a rough brindle coat and bright eyes. p. 122 Starter: Why do you think Hill has introduced a dog called Spider into the novel?

The dog has been loaned to him by Samuel Daily as a companion. Samuel is worried about Kipps return to Eel Marsh House and had previously tried to persuade him not to return. The dog alerts Kipps to the strange noises that he hears. She confirms for the reader that the noises are real and not just something that Arthur is dreaming. If it wasn t for the dog this part of the story would become less plausible. Spider is made into a believable character at the beginning of the chapter where she is described as: Lively and alert...highly intelligent.. I thought I was going to be very glad of her She is exactly the sort of dog the reader would expect him to take on such an adventure. The Role of Spider

Spider is portrayed as a comfort to Arthur with a pot of tea at my right hand and the dog spider at my feet... What is the effect of this quotation on the reader? What does it do? The Role of Spider

The reader is lulled into a false sense of security by this description, which makes the goings on later in the chapter all the more frightening because of their contrast. Hill uses familiar objects and scenes to create a calm atmosphere here. Hill continues to build on this scene of domestic bliss and normality further into the chapter. She has created a sense of security inside the house, now she uses the dog as a reason for Arthur to venture outside the house, where he has previously seen the woman in black. The Role of Spider

Using Spider to create Tension in Chapter 9 ( In the Nursery ) On your tables you will be given some quotes about Spider in this chapter. You will need to analyse them and explain how they contribute to the adding and removing of tension that Hill uses to help to create tension. This is also referred to as an anti climax

Step 1 Analyse the quotation zoom in on individual words and their effects. What type of words are used? Any techniques? Which are the most powerful? Multiple interpretations? Step 2 Identify where the tension is highest and lowest what are the moments of anti-climax? Spider dashed in and out, searching for real or imaginary rabbits, digging occasionally in a frantic burst with her front paws and then bounding excitedly away Spider was an excellent companion and I was glad of the sound of her gentle breathing, her occasional scratching or clattering about in that big, empty house . Spider was up and standing at the door. Every hair of her body was on end, her ears were pricked, her tail erect, the whole of her tense, as if ready to spring. The dog continued to stand, bristling at the door, now putting her nose to the gap at the bottom and snuffling along, now taking a pace backwards, head cocked. Spider shot ahead... her body grew rigid, her growling grew louder...I stroked the rough, short hair, as much for my own reassurance as for hers. I could feel the tension in her limbs and body and it answered to my own. Spider began to whine, a thin, pitiful moan, and to back away from the door a little and press against my legs. When I stroked her, I realised she was calm again, her body relaxed, her ears down. I saw that her hackles were up..at once Spider shot out of the room She half lifted her paws off the ground and began to howl, a loud, prolonged, agonised and heart-stopping howl . The dog was sitting quietly now on the rag rug beside the child s bed.

Practice Question How does Susan Hill use Spider the dog to build and relax tension in the story? Create a plan. Remember to plan your points and then your quotations. Try and use the AO s.

The Theme of Childhood This chapter is important to an important theme, that of childhood. The first time children are mentioned is at the funeral of Alice Drablow where the children line up at the railings. This is interesting in a number of ways. 1. Hill has juxtaposed a traditionally innocent image of the children with the eerie ideas of a funeral. 2. When smiled at, one of the children does not smile back at Arthur. They are helping to contribute to the conspiracy of silence. 3. Once you have read the text you might also interpret the children to be ghosts victims of the woman in black seeking her revenge.

Childhood in Chapter 9 What effect does the discovery of the nursery have on Arthur? Why do you think that Hill describes the nursery in such vivid detail? Either draw a diagram, or describe, the room that Arthur finds when he goes into it. What sort of impression does Arthur get of the place and how does he feel about being in there?

Ideas Hill uses the senses to create a sense of terror in this chapter during which the theme of childhood is developed when Kipps discovers the locked nursery. The use of the bumping sound bump bump. Pause. Bump bump. Pause creates a mystery and tension further developed by the sound of the rocking chair. The door mysteriously opens and the sound of the rocking chair lessens until the movements were so slight, I could see or hear them . Arthur identifies rows of lead soldiers, arranged in regiments and Hill details how he picked things up, stroked them, even smelled them. Arthur is drawn in to the nursery even relating his own childhood to this room. Hill use of a detailed list of items in the nursery allows for the reader to imagine the owner to be an actual child moving away from the theme of the supernatural and unknown. Arthur is so traumatised by the section of the book overwhelmed by a sense of loss, a desolation, a grief in my own heart .