Author

Book online

Book's analysis


chapter 1

chapter 2

chapter 3

chapter 4

chapter 5

chapter 6

chapter 7

Characters

Settings

The ghost story as a genre

 Main themes


Beliefs in ghosts

Traditional stories

Inverted ghost story

 

Humorous devices

 

Suspense devices

 

Criticism of Americans

Glossary

Quizzes


The Canterville Ghost Home


The World in a Book Home

 


 

 

Ghosts…these mysterious presences

 

For ages the ghosts have been in our reality, frightening, obtrusive, they are everywhere!!
Each one with his own history, his loves, and his sufferings.
But....what are ghosts??
It's difficult to give swear to this question: a scientific definition doesn’t exist.
Anybody can give a persuasive definition..
However there are some theories, each one can have its own logical foundation ,but the nature of this fascinating presence remains a mystery to us!!

Theory 1  <> Ghosts don't exist!!!

According to this theory, the phenomenon of these appearances can be explained by means of scientific and natural rules.
For example:
the sound that we can hear in a wood can be generated by the wind...
not by the ghostly presence!!!!!

 

Theory 2  <>Ghosts are only legends!!!

The ghost can easily go from a place to another, from an extreme to the other one of the world and each of them is the fruit of the many popular fantasy.
It is said that: on the wharf of the Thames we can meet the ghost of a priest of the 17th century...
That story was invented by a person FRANK SMITH he interviews some people and they swore seen it!!

 

Theory 3 <> Ghosts are only hallucinations…

They exist only in the mind of the person that is involved in the appearance.
This theory can be adopted only in the specific situation of an episode involved one person: what if the ghost appear to more persons?
Of course , we can think of the so-called collective hallucinations, but it is strange that many people at a given time perceive the same details of an appearance that they have never seen before.
There are many mysterious elements in the ghosts appearances that are difficult to explain by means of the reason.
For example: the person who sees the ghost couldn’t know the aspect of the dead person that some centuries ago lived in the ancient castle.

 

Theory 4  <>Ghosts: telepathic products

The ghosts aren’t spirits of dead persons but the manifestation of men still alive.
They (with the sense splitting of their person) send the living people a message, in a telepathic form, in a dangerous situation or in a moment of psychological stress.
In the opinion of some expert, these appearances are the most diffused.

 

Theory 5  <>Ghosts: spirits of dead persons

Of course this is the most romantic and believed theory.
Why should a dead man enjoy himself by frightening the alive persons?
Why he must remain on this world?
The answer is usually that the ghosts still among us because they died of a violent death.
If it is true, they are still like human beings and they do behave like us.
Then why, in their appearances, most of them do mechanic and repetitive actions?
And why, if they are spirit, don’t they have simple ethereal appearances but they wear dresses of their period?

By Dànilo Sandri  & Alessia Genito, Yasmina & Sophie

Information retrieved from www.fantasmitalia.it