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The Little Stranger
Context, Summary, Q&A, +More On Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger
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THE LITTLE STRANGER-1st person narrator-
Readers' perspective of events is based in the perspective and motives of the narrator- Faraday.
Inconsistencies and clear deviations from reality are therefore enough to question one's entire
perspective on events, whilst playing on the fears of 21st century audiances with a focus on
autonomy and reality- no other source of infomation.
his essential conservatism controls our perspective, perpetuating constricting versions of narratives
for women, which the women resist. Everyone around him is seen as unreliable witnesses because
we are positioned to see characters from Faraday's perspective.
Ambiguity-
Readers' expectations cannot be maintained. Everything is unforeseeable- terrifying. Cannot form
judgements on characters- innocence and guilt unclear. Must therefore both sympathise and
suspect each character. Moral ambiguity- readers must form own opinions- simulates the effects of
living in changing times. Nothing is as simple as it seems.
Hamartia-
The house seems to be preying on everyone's weaknesses. However, they don't all know their fatal
flaws- Caroline doesn't predict her death as she thinks that Gyp might have been her weakness.
Mrs Ayres- mother's guilt
Rod- Head of the family
Caroline- Gyp? Desire for freedom? Independence? Ambiguous.
Faraday and Betty survive, but Faraday's weakness could be the house. Betty's is fear itself? her
reality (poor, powerless etc)
Nursery scene
-> Isolation
-> Mental health
-> The ambiguous and unknown
-> Then supernatural
-> memory
-> Youth and age (duality)
We cannot tell to what extent the report represents the reality of what happened in the nursery. No
explanations are given and so the authenticity of reality itself becomes questionable- what is reality?
Is the internal experience as real as the external?
Metaphor for her internal isolation? Mrs Ayres has become detached from reality and cannot escape
her fate. All that she sees are ghosts from her past, and doesn't seem to distinguish between the real
and the fantastical. She is also forced to submit (kneeling, stockings ripped) like a child to new
circumstances- she has no autonomy and no way of escape.
, Mrs Ayres is isolated at the top of the house, unable to attract any attention and yet plagued by an
unknown opponent. her isolation accentuated her vulnerability. However, it is the possible presence
of this opponent, rather than the presence itself, which is terrifying. Once Mrs Ayres accepts Susan's
presence, she is calm (The garden).
Break-up with Caroline
Faraday finally becomes violent when his repressed frustration is let out. He also, however, seems
malicious and purposefully destructive, although in throwing away the ring he also destroys his own
chances of 'becoming' and Ayres. -> UNKNOWN FORCE INSIDE HIM.
SUBVERSION OF GENDER ROLES- "And on the business side of things, for all Rod's obsessing over
the estate, the fact that he was no longer there to manage it seemed- as Caroline, I remembered,
had once predicted- to make astonishingly little difference."
The man was expected to complete such tasks in upholding the family estate as it was seen as too
strenuous and weighted for a woman to handle. This is obviously ironic as Caroline was responsible
for not only caring for her brother Roderick, but also for the family estate that is in collapse. This
shows a reversal of gender roles because the independent, intelligent woman is looking after the
weak and incapable "boy". Roderick challenges gender norms because he represents queer
masculinity. Roderick is seen as lacking through a number of social markers, not least in his
inadequate ability to manage the Hall's finances through the period of austerity that have left it in a
state of decay.
REGRESSION/MALE RESPONSIBILITY/GUILT
Roderick's injuries represent a deeper emotional problem, believing he is "punishing" himself
through guilt because of the decline in the family estate and/or his war past. Faraday seizes the
opportunity to reinforce his own superiority and, in turn, Roderick's inferiority. He enforces the fact
that Roderick is ill and thus an "abnormal", queer masculine other against which Faraday's gender,
stature and masculine authority are affirmed. Reflecting Foucault's point on the power invested in
the medical profession, Faraday uses his position as a doctor to undermine Roderick's authority,
noting his case to be a 'desperate one', words that serve to reinforce both Faraday's medical
expertise and his narrative "clout"
CLASS-CAROLINE
not only is the family in a state of decline and regression through the undermining of gender roles ,
but a collapsing family who can no longer obtain their inherited family estate or upper class lifestyle-
complete deterioration. By selling memorable items from the past, this may also show that the
traditional values and views that the family once had are now being compromised by the new social
order- death of previous era. They can no longer preserve their aristocratic and noble inheritance.
Caroline is responsible for trying to rescue the families heritage and upper class lifestyle. It also
suggests the rejection of the new social order; Caroline is trying to revive their inherited family
estate that is no longer valued in a new social order which denies tradition and past values.
GENDER ROLE RESPONSIBILITY- "I'm alright. I'm always alright. That's my "thing"- didn't you know?"
Perhaps as Roderick is in a state of decline both mentally and physically, Caroline feels obliged to be
the antithesis of this- she is the family member who is relied upon to hold everything together.
Therefore, Caroline feels pressured to maintain this persona. She may not want to admit her
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