The Little Stranger (2018) screenplay by Lucinda Coxon, based on the 2009 novel by Sarah Waters, directed by Lenny Abrahamson

The Little Stranger (2018) screenplay by Lucinda Coxon, based on the 2009 novel by Sarah Waters, directed by Lenny Abrahamson.

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-little-stranger/on-demand/48945-001

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Stranger_(film)

I’ve read a few of Sarah Walter’s books, but, as usual, with holes in my memories, I can’t remember much about them. Her other books and translation to screen include Tipping the Velvet (1998), Affinity (1999), and Fingersmith (2002).  I haven’t read Affinity.  Waters is celebrated for her ability to weave intricate tales and set against historical backdrops which was part of her Ph.D. studies. She explores themes of identity, lesbian desire, and societal norms. The Little Stranger was on my reading list. Watching the film brought much of what I’d forgotten back again. Both were (and are) terrific.

Notes.

Gothic fiction is a literary genre known for its elements of mystery, horror, and the supernatural. Anything with Dracula, Frankenstein, or Werewolves is based on Gothic fiction conventions. It often features gloomy settings, eerie atmospheres, and melodramatic narratives. Originally, it was regarded as novels for middle-class women, while books such as Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White, were regarded as more suitable for men. Key components include haunted mansions, unexplainable occurrences, and heightened emotions, creating an unsettling and mysterious ambiance.

In The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters uses Gothic fiction as a framework while departing from traditional features.

1. Ambiguous Supernatural Elements:
   1. Traditional Gothic: Gothic fiction commonly embraces supernatural elements without resolution. Ghosts and paranormal occurrences are left unexplained, heightening the sense of mystery.
   1. Waters’ Departure: Waters introduces supernatural elements but takes a departure by providing alternative explanations. The ambiguity challenges the reader’s perception, blurring the line between the supernatural and psychological.
2. Psychological Complexity:
   1. Traditional Gothic: Characters in Gothic fiction often embody archetypes, with their motivations and actions reflecting broader themes. The psychological depth of characters is sometimes sacrificed for the sake of the overarching atmosphere.
   1. Waters’ Departure: Waters delves into psychological complexity, intricately crafting characters like Dr. Faraday with nuanced motivations and internal struggles. The haunted mansion, Hundreds Hall, becomes a stage for exploring the characters’ psyches, intertwining the supernatural with intricate human emotions.
3. Social Realism and Historical Context:
   1. Traditional Gothic: While Gothic fiction typically explores societal anxieties, it often does so in allegorical or fantastical settings, detached from specific historical realities.
   1. Waters’ Departure: Waters grounds her narrative in post-war England, infusing The Little Stranger with elements of social realism. The class tensions and societal shifts mirror the historical context, providing a nuanced layer that departs from the conventional Gothic landscape.
4. Narrative Unreliability:
   1. Traditional Gothic: Gothic narratives may incorporate unreliable narrators, contributing to the sense of mystery and suspense.
   1. Waters’ Departure: Waters goes beyond a traditional unreliable narrator by crafting a narrative that questions the sanity of Dr. Faraday. The unreliability extends to the readers, inviting them to critically examine the events and the narrator’s interpretations.

 The Little Stranger demonstrates Sarah Waters’ navigation of Gothic fiction while departing from certain conventions. Her infusion of psychological complexity, historical grounding, and narrative ambiguity challenges the boundaries of the genre. Waters’ departure from traditional Gothic elements enriches the narrative, offering readers a blend of supernatural intrigue and nuanced character exploration.

Class Differences

While The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters contains Gothic elements, it distinctly places class differences at the forefront of its narrative. Here are several ways in which the novel is more dependent on class distinctions than traditional Gothic fiction:

1. Setting as a Symbol of Decline:
   1. Class Emphasis: The decay of Hundreds Hall, the central setting, mirrors the decline of the Ayres family’s social status. The mansion becomes a potent symbol of the aristocratic class losing its former glory. Clearly shown by the house party Dr. Gleason attended when a boy and the current state of the house and grounds. But also by Roderick Ayres’s outbursts about death taxes and Dr. Gleason being one of them.
2. Economic Struggles:
   1. Class Emphasis: The Ayres family’s economic struggles contribute significantly to the narrative. The declining financial status of the family forces them to make compromises and adaptations, emphasizing the impact of class on their lives.
3. Servant-Employer Dynamics:
   1. Class Emphasis: The interactions between the Ayres family and their servants highlight the rigid class distinctions of the time. The employment relationship is steeped in traditional hierarchies, illustrating the challenges and tensions arising from class differences.
4. Dr. Faraday’s Ambitions:
   1. Class Emphasis: Dr. Faraday, though a central character, is from a lower social class. His aspirations to rise above his station are palpable throughout the novel. The narrative explores the complexities and challenges of upward mobility, highlighting the pervasive impact of class on individual destinies.
5. Tensions and Resentments:
   1. Class Emphasis: Tensions between the Ayres family and the local community underscore the social disparities. The resentment and disapproval from the community towards the declining aristocracy exemplify the palpable class divisions in post-war England.
6. Haunted by the Past:
   1. Class Emphasis: The ghostly occurrences in Hundreds Hall can be interpreted as manifestations of the haunting effects of the past, including the class system. The Ayres family is haunted not only by supernatural entities but also by the ghost of their former status and wealth. Shown dramatically by the mauling of the parvenu American’s little girl.  
7. Narrative Lens and Perceptions:
   1. Class Emphasis: Dr. Faraday’s narrative perspective is shaped by his class background, influencing his perceptions of the Ayres family. His observations and judgments often reflect the societal attitudes prevalent during the era, providing insight into the impact of class on interpersonal dynamics.
8. Post-War Social Changes:
   1. Class Emphasis: The novel is set against the backdrop of post-war England, a period marked by social shifts. The exploration of class differences becomes a lens through which Waters examines the changing landscape and challenges faced by the aristocracy.

In The Little Stranger, class differences transcend mere background elements and become integral to the narrative’s fabric. The novel navigates the intricacies of a society in flux, where the rigid class structures of the past collide with the realities of a changing world.

Confirmation Bias Unveiled:

Confirmation bias, a cognitive phenomenon, occurs when individuals selectively seek, interpret, and remember information that aligns with their pre-existing beliefs. This psychological tendency often leads to the reinforcement of existing opinions, ignoring contradictory evidence.

Modern Case Studies:

Social Media Echo Chambers: In the age of social media, confirmation bias thrives within echo chambers. Individuals follow, engage with, and consume content that reaffirms their existing views. This insular digital environment intensifies confirmation bias, limiting exposure to diverse perspectives.

Political Polarisation: Confirmation bias is clearly shown in political discourse, where individuals gravitate towards news sources that align with their political ideologies. (See for example the moron’s moron Donald Trump and his cult followers.) This selective exposure reinforces existing beliefs and contributes to the widening gap between opposing viewpoints.

Health and Wellness Trends: In the realm of health and wellness, confirmation bias can influence choices related to diets, alternative therapies, or lifestyle changes. People often seek information that supports their desired outcome, overlooking contradictory evidence and potentially compromising their well-being.

Confirmation Bias and Hauntings: Interpreting the Supernatural:

The Little Stranger explores the psychological toll of haunting experiences on the Ayres family and the possible effects of post-traumatic-stress disorder (which didn’t exist then). Dr. Faraday’s interactions with the family unfold against the backdrop of Hundreds Hall’s mysterious occurrences. Confirmation bias, in this context, mirrors the characters’ tendency to interpret events through the lens of their preconceived beliefs.

Psychological Tensions and Beliefs:

As the Ayres family grapples with supernatural phenomena, confirmation bias plays a role in shaping their perceptions. Each family member’s unique beliefs and traumas contribute to the unfolding narrative. The film masterfully intertwines psychological tensions with supernatural elements, blurring the lines between reality and perception.

Audience’s Lens:

For the viewer (or reader), confirmation bias can influence the interpretation of the film (or book). Viewers lean towards explanations that align with their preconceived notions about hauntings or the psychological thriller genre. The haunting at Hundreds Hall becomes a canvas onto which individual beliefs and biases are projected.

The Little Stranger offers an exploration of confirmation bias within the context of hauntings. The characters’ interpretations, shaped by their personal histories, resonate with the broader theme of how biases can influence our understanding of the supernatural. The film challenges us to question our biases and confront our shadow self within the narrative. A reminder, the true ghosts are the ones we bring with us.

Rudyard Kipling (1901 [2010]) Kim.

Rudyard Kipling (1901 [2010]) Kim.

What can I tell you about Rudyard Kipling and Kim, you don’t already know? I’ll start at the beginning. No, I’ll start at the end and try and explain my beginnings. Kim is a work of art, a classic text that captured me completely from the first to the last, 306 pages later and roams through India, some of Afghanistan (I think) and takes in Tibet and China. It looks at the world through a lens of mysticism and secularism and politics and yet is a spy novel, where the Great Game is played abroad and a coming-of-age novel in which the protagonist, Kim must learn to be a man. Rudyard Kipling, like Kim, was a polymath and poet. If…

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream- -and not make dreams your master;
If you can think- -and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on! ‘

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings- -nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And- -which is more- -you’ll be a Man, my son!

So, here we have it. All the things I love. Kim is a holy book and a secular book. A must read and –yet- for me a must not read. Kimball O’Hara is Irish and British and most importantly his mother was as white as his father. When the reader meets him on the first pages he is an orphan,

O ye who tread the Narrow Way

By Tophet-flare to Judgement Day,

Be gentle with the heathen’ pray!

To Buddha, at Kamakura!

He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam-Zammah on the brick platform, opposite the old Ajaib-Gher – the Wonder House, as the natives call the Lahore Museum. Who holds Zim-Zammah that ‘fire-breathing dragon’, holds the Punjab…

Britain, of course, holds the Punjab and India and the world in its grip. Three-quarters of the known population paying political and economic homage to the island nation. All is right in the world as long as the empire holds firm and the local populace know their place. If…Kim, for example, had an Indian mother, he would no longer be that rare breed, just another ‘nigger’ to be kept in line. After the Indian Mutiny the Empire rocks and Kim’s part in the great game would have begun earlier.

Kim’s pedigree is established early. His role is to establish at home in Britain, all is well in the world when we have people like Kim batting for us.  Pedigree or caste is as important in India as class is in Britain. And Kim, ‘The Friend of All the World’ is of the lower class, but not the lowest caste, but the exalted and highest in India. The lowest in Britain, the kind of boy that blacks his master’s shoes and fetches his horse and gig.

The women who looked after him insisted with tears that he should wear European clothes –trousers, a shirt, a battered hat. Kim found it easier to slip into Hindu or Mohammedan garb when engaged on certain businesses.

The Friend of All the World had to be white for it to be right that his Anglo schooling need taken place. A coloured child was a small thing. Colonel Creighton admitted such, he could have begun work as a disposable thirteen-year-old child and not a man-of-many parts of sixteen, working ostensibly for the British Ethological Society, but spying on what the Russian are doing in the mountains, what allies they have made and what promises of money have been made to kings and Raj. The Great Game is the only game. The bedrock of society is the white man, the Sahib, the master and that more than anything stuck in my craw.

But Kipling may be jingoist but on the page the fools are the white man and wisdom comes from the East. Characters live not because they are stereotypes but through the arc of who they are and where they want to go.

The Friends of All the World is servant to a Tibetian Lama who seeks a river to wash his sins away from and from the first pages to the last there is love here. And great beauty, I cannot give justice to. No straight lines wander the many paths of Kipling and Kim’s journey to manhood and knowing and find insight through all the ages as you travel. Read on.

 

Frank Tuohy (1957 [1970]) The Animal Game and Live Bait.

Frank Tuohy (1957 [1970]) The Animal Game

The Animal Game is Frank Tuohy’s first novel, published in 1957 and out of print now. Think of Graham Greene. Then think of Frank Tuohy. I’d guess you’ve heard of the former and not the latter.  I hadn’t heard of him either, until I read his story Live Bait in a collection of short stories selected by David Miller, That Glimpse of Truth. 100 of the Finest Short Stories Ever Written. We’ve all got our preferences. Miller’s is a kind of conceit, I’d guess, aimed more at the commercial market. There were some great stories and some disappointments in Miller’s choice, but the story which stuck was Live Bait. It seemed pretty much perfect. So perfect in fact I bought Frank Tuohy’s collection of short stories also called Live Bait. I even wrote a short story with many of the similar themes, but with many more failings. It’s impossible to get it right, but I keep on trying.  With books I’m easily reeled in.

The Animal Game won a number of awards, but for me doesn’t quite gel, and is set in an unnamed South American country run by European and British ex-pats, the right kind of chaps that know how to get things done. Tuohy is pitch perfect about social nuances and how they’re played out. In Live Bait, for example, Andrew goes with his school friend Jeremy to fish in the grounds of The Peverills. They had a distant connection to Jeremy’s mother, which made it alright. But Andrew is told by Major Peverill, who later tries to sexually abuse him, he’s the wrong sort. ‘You mustn’t expect to come her frequently. There will be no question of that. Jeremy understands. It is different for him.’ When Andrew tells his elders that he attends the same public school as Jeremy on special terms Major Peverill cackles, ‘Good god, he admits it. The little brat admits it.’  The Perverill’s view of the social world and the good society is shaken. Similarly, The Animal Game, also stood for the last digit on the lottery ticket, and  more so in life’s lottery. it involves a young Englishman, Robin Morris, an outsider. He travels to live and work in that South American county makes it difficult not to read into his journey Tuohy’s own, from scholarship boy to a first in English literature at King’s College, Cambridge, and from there to a Chair of English Literature at Sao Paul in Brazil and the insights he gained.   Mrs Kochen his landlady sends her son to English school and her visceral hatred of coloured is played out when Morris hires a native housekeeper. With his class and background Morris has access to the upper echelons of the polite society that quietly goes about the business of milking wealth and running the country for their benefit. Animal Games begins with the scion of one of those families, the beautiful blonde femme fatale, Cecilia being trapped in her Packard in a road block caused by a worker’s going on strike. Ahead of her is intrigue with a naïve Morris, a truck full of pigs left in the harsh sunlight and tailback, starved, so that the animals begin to eat one another. I’m sure there’s a kind of metaphor there.