Hence, we are able to see the psychological effects that the house has on its occupants. For example, Mr. Hooper has been “tortured” by his father by the collection of moths and is now unable to give love to his own son. Edmund, as he is unable to receive or give love, becomes cold and distant and actually indulges himself in the dead moths. There is no one to advise him and give him the correct directions in life, like exposing him to social interactions and the external environment outside of Warings. In addition, the social class of the Hoopers actually isolates them from the local community, and this is crucial fro readers to know as this social isolation underpins to a very large extent of the psychological isolation of Charles Kingshaw.
The Hang Wood episode represents Kingshaw’s escape, and occupies over a quarter of the book and makes extensive use of the natural elements of the environment to reveal new aspects and characters of both the boys. In Hang Wood, Kingshaw liked the smell, and the sense of being completely hidden. Everything around him seems innocent and pure. Such is seen when he saw a rabbit which was filled with life. This is actually symbolical as when Hooper appears later on, both found a rabbit; however, it looked pure and dead but was filled with a rotting, maggoty wound inside. Hence, this shows how after Hooper had entered the woods, things are no longer “pure” in the sense that his destructive character has made everything in the woods lose its purpose and no longer is the same as before. “There was a tension in the wood, a sense of aliveness and secrecy”, as quoted from the book. The stream that Kingshaw found was also symbolical. To him, it was the best feeling in the world and he never wanted to leave it. Hence, readers were not surprised when in the end, he chose to drown himself in the stream as firstly, he can be with the stream forever and secondly, and water is a representation of “baptism” whereby one enters a new phase of life, leaving the “old” life behind. Hence, this setting is greatly important in showing us how Kingshaw has freed himself.
In the event of the Lydell Castle, where Hooper is no longer master, Kingshaw is impressively confident, once freed from the inhibiting effect of Warings, the Hoopers and his mother. He is the best climber in his school, and his assured scaling of the castle walls contrasted with Hooper’s terror, whom tried to carved his initials on the walls, trying to make the castle his, but to little avail. Hence, we can see that Kingshaw is actually a boy with hope and confidence had he not be restricted to such feelings and be dominated by his fears and terror of Hooper. There is an intense hatred of Hooper, for all his actions, trying to manipulate Kingshaw’s fears cruelly each time. Hence, Lydell Castle shows the readers another character of Kingshaw, the other side of him if he had not been terrorised by Hooper so badly. It lets us know that even if it was for a short while, Kingshaw at least, had a chance of victory over Hooper, to be the leader and in control of the situation, when he shouted out, “I’m the King of the Castle”.
Fielding’s farm is the only other place that Kingshaw finds temporary happiness in. They are pure and innocent when they played a friendly batter game and this portrays their genuine friendship existing between them, in contrast to Hooper making his battle regiments and is tactically astute and ruthless as he does not understand human sufferings and has no sense of pity in him at all. The happy and safe environment of the farm, brings out the natural goodness in Fielding and from here, we can see how important the environment plats in shaping a person’s character.
Also, by showing Kingshaw the process of calving and telling him of the guillotine to catch the heads of turkeys, Fielding tells Kingshaw that all these are just a part and parcel of life, that they are very natural. This once again, gives a contrast to Hooper’s morbid attraction to dead things and how he does not value dead things. The cycle of life and death in the farm represents the natural cycle of life; birth and death are something that will occur naturally. This offers a stark contrast to Warings, whereby everything is gloomy and has a presence of death hanging over it.
Lastly, I want to mention the importance of the Red Room, the shed and the circus, all of these which Kingshaw was trapped in and was in complete isolation from the rest. He was tormented by Hooper, whom ruthlessly manipulated his fears and exploits his weaknesses, making Kingshaw feel vulnerable and to go hysterical by his fears. Kingshaw is sensitive, hating the “deathly” atmosphere in the Red Room. Susan Hill has created these three settings such that they are emotionally overwhelming and totally convincing in every detail. Kingshaw is not only claustrophobic and is trapped with his fears, mentally torturing him. For example, in the shed incident, the squashed insect was particularly unpleasant, evoking the readers’ sympathy towards Kingshaw. Susan Hill always put Kingshaw in dark, gloomy, confined spaces that are filled with the presence of death such as moths in the Red Room and “bats” in the shed as torture chambers for Kingshaw himself. This greatly creates the atmosphere of tension and causes fear to build up within Kingshaw and at the same time by letting Hooper “choose” the places to put Kingshaw in, it confirms our belief in Hooper’s sadism.
All in all, this book is about the contrast of the natural world with man-made environments and how the settings have an impact on each of the individual characters. The setting are placed at the right time, at the right place in the book, achieving the suitable atmosphere and building tension from time to time and is thus, able to successfully display the specific characters of the individuals that Susan Hill wants to convey to the readers.
