At the end of chapter one Hill writes, ‘When it was over, I would have work to do.’ The sentence is effective because it ends the chapter in a cliffhanger, which again leads to more questions and builds up suspense of what is to come. It was the telling of clichéd ghost stories round the fire that provoked Arthur’s memories to come flooding back to him.
Mr. Samuel Daily introduces the area where Arthur is staying, with eerie names associated with the place, ‘Nine Lives Causeway’, ‘Eel Marsh’ and ‘Gape Mouth Tunnel’. The author gives us early indications that it is a bleak and desolate place, ‘drowned churches and the swallowed-up village’. Conventional horror story elements are used to describe the ruins near Eel Marsh House, ‘satanic-looking’ and ‘ monastic ruins’.
The reader is given the impression that not everything is being revealed about the life of Mrs. Drablow and her property by the way Mr. Kipps reacts and his manner when Arthur mentions Mrs. Drablow, ‘His faced flickered with … what? Alarm, was it?’ Also the way in which Mr. Jerome dismisses Arthur’s questions about the family burial ground and when Mr. Keckwick says, ‘you won’t find anybody, not even Mr. Sam Daily, having to do with any of it.’ It appears that there are many obstacles disclosing information about Mrs. Drablow and preventing the truth from being revealed. Mr. Jerome reacted extremely when Arthur mentioned his sighting of the ‘Woman in Black’ at Mrs. Drablow’s funeral, ‘Mr. Jerome looked frozen, pale’. The reactions create an element of mystery to the novel and the reader is encouraged to read on.
Throughout the novel Hill describes the weather in great detail. This is apparent in the second chapter when she describes the London fog ‘the thickest of London pea-soupers,’ suggesting that it is dense and green. Hill gives the impression that the fog is everywhere, ‘outdoors’, ‘hanging over the river,’ and ‘creeping in and out of alleyways’. Alliterative present participles are used such as, ‘swirling’ and ‘seething’ to portray a vivid picture in the reader’s mind.
Hill often links the detailed description of the weather with Arthur’s roller coaster of emotions using pathetic fallacy. The weather is used to reflect and emphasise Arthur’s feelings and frame of mind. Arthur’s mind often fluctuates from being upheld and cheerful to being terrified and in despair. It is this violent change in mood and detailed emotive language that keeps the reader in suspense of what event will happen next to disrupt his feelings. When the ‘thick, damp’ sea mist suddenly came ‘rolling over the marshes’ he suddenly feels disorientated and panic sets in. Arthur is almost ‘weeping in agony of fear and frustration,’ when he hears the terrible sound of the pony and trap out on the marsh.
On one occasion when Arthur is lying in bed and ‘strong gusts’ of wind were blowing outside, he awakes in the middle of the night. Arthur ‘slipped into that pleasant, trance-like state,’ he felt like a ‘schoolboy again’. Suddenly he heard a cry, which ‘banished all tranquillity’. This is an example of the rapid changes in mood. Hill uses short sentences such as, ‘I listened hard. Nothing.’ The use of short, dramatic sentences is effective because they build up excitement to grip the reader.
A crucial moment in the narrative technique occurs after Arthur’s fight to save Spider from drowning in the marsh. After the event they both lay, ‘panting’ and exhausted. As Arthur began to ‘stumble back across the marshes’ he caught glimpse of someone standing at one of the upper windows of the house. ‘It was that woman,’ Hill writes, another use of a short sentence. Then Arthur heard the sound of a pony and trap coming from behind. This cliffhanger is very important in Hill’s attempt to build up excitement and quickly provokes emotions of slight horror from the reader.
When the story about the haunting by Jennet Humphrey is uncovered and the curse of the children dying is revealed, Arthur then believes that he is in ‘the calm after the storm’. Arthur admits that he was bold, young and arrogant and now he is retreating after being defeated. He returns home to his wife, Stella, and marries her within six weeks. About a year later Stella gave birth to a son named Joseph. Arthur’s life could not have been much better at the time and it seemed like nothing could disturb. He was ‘filled with joy and contentment’.
The pattern of events throughout the novel forces the reader to expect something dreadful to happen. The rapid change in Arthur’s state of mind from being so happy and cheerful, along with his surroundings in the park, to being in a state of cold fear grabs the readers attention and plays with their emotions. Whilst Stella and the baby are taking a ride in a pony and trap, Arthur spots the ‘Women in Black under a tree. He quickly realises that she is about to get revenge. The pony swerved and took off. Then a ‘sickening thud’ was heard. The baby had been thrown out of the cart and lay ‘crumpled’ and dead.
Stella also died from her injuries a few months later. This devastating ending shocks the readers and Hill uses effective short sentences to end Arthur’s story, ‘They asked for my story. I have told it. Enough.’ The fact the ending is dealt with so briefly may have been to prevent pain for Arthur. The ending is a complete contrast to the warm, happy Christmas Eve that introduced us to the haunting of ‘The Woman in Black’.