The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters

Welcome to the World of Hundreds Hall!

Hello! If you’ve ever enjoyed a creepy "haunted house" movie or a story where things aren't quite what they seem, you’re going to find The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters fascinating. This book is part of your Supernatural prose section.

Don't worry if the book feels a bit long or "old-fashioned" at first. Even though it was written in 2009, Sarah Waters wrote it to feel like a classic ghost story from the 1940s. In these notes, we’re going to look at the "ghosts" in the story—but we’ll also look at whether the real "monster" is actually the British class system or the human mind. Let’s dive in!

1. The "Big Picture" Context (AO3)

To understand the supernatural elements in this book, you first need to understand when and where it is set. The story takes place in 1947, just after World War II.

Post-War Britain: A World in Transition

Imagine a giant game of musical chairs. Before the war, the "upper class" had all the seats (money, land, and power). After the war, the music stopped, and suddenly the "working class" were getting seats too. The Labour government was introducing the National Health Service (NHS) and higher taxes for the rich.

Hundreds Hall (the big house in the book) is like an old, expensive car that the owners can no longer afford to fix. The Ayres family are the owners, and they are literally "house poor."

The Gothic Tradition

Sarah Waters uses Gothic conventions. Think of "Gothic" as a recipe:
- 1 decaying mansion
- A dash of family secrets
- A pinch of madness
- A heavy serving of gloom.

Quick Review: The supernatural in this book isn't just about scary noises; it represents the fear of change and the death of the old upper class.

2. The Setting: Hundreds Hall (AO2)

In a supernatural novel, the building is often a character itself. Hundreds Hall is "sick." It is covered in ivy that is eating the walls, the pipes are rattling, and the gardens are overgrown.

The House as a Mirror

The decay of the house mirrors the decay of the Ayres family’s status.
- The dust: Represents the past choking the present.
- Locked doors: Represent secrets and the family’s attempt to shut out the changing world.
- The "Scribbles": Strange marks appear on the walls. This is a classic supernatural trope, but it also suggests the house is "speaking" its distress.

Analogy: Hundreds Hall is like a haunted museum. The family is trying to live inside the exhibits, but the exhibits are rotting away.

Key Takeaway: The house is a symbol of the dying aristocracy. Its "supernatural" behavior often happens when the family's pride is wounded.

3. Meet the Characters (AO2)

Understanding the people helps you decide if the ghosts are real or "all in the head."

Dr. Faraday (The Narrator)

Faraday is a rationalist. He’s a doctor who believes everything has a scientific explanation. However, he is also an unreliable narrator.
Wait, what’s that? An unreliable narrator is like a friend telling you about a fight they had—they might leave out the parts where they were being mean to make themselves look better. Faraday wants to belong at Hundreds Hall so badly that his envy might be what’s actually "haunting" the place.

The Ayres Family

- Mrs. Ayres: The mother who clings to the "old ways."
- Roderick: The son, a war hero with "shell shock" (PTSD). He is the first to see the supernatural "stranger."
- Caroline: The daughter who tries to be practical but is trapped by her duty to the house.

Did you know? Many critics believe the "ghost" is actually a poltergeist created by the characters' repressed emotions. This is called Externalization—when your internal stress gets so high it "leaks out" and breaks things in the real world!

4. The Supernatural: What is the "Little Stranger"?

This is the most important part of your study for the "Supernatural" theme. There are three ways to look at the "Stranger":

Theory A: A Literal Ghost

Some believe it is the ghost of Susan, the first-born daughter who died young. Mrs. Ayres becomes convinced Susan is back, which leads to a tragic ending. In the Gothic tradition, the past literally "haunts" the present.

Theory B: A Poltergeist of Class Envy

This is the "dark" theory. Faraday’s mother was a maid at Hundreds Hall. Faraday was a poor boy who looked at the house with envy. Some suggest that Faraday’s unconscious mind—his "shadow self"—is the Little Stranger, destroying the family so he can finally "own" the house.

Theory C: Psychological Trauma

Roderick has war trauma. Caroline is lonely. Mrs. Ayres is grieving. In this version, the "haunting" is just a group of people having mental breakdowns at the same time because their world is ending.

Memory Aid (Mnemonic) - C.L.A.S.S.:
C - Class Conflict (Old vs. New)
L - Loss (Of money, status, and life)
A - Austerity (The grim feeling of post-war life)
S - Setting (The decaying house)
S - Science vs. Superstition (Faraday vs. the Ghosts)

5. Key Literary Techniques (AO2)

When you write your essay, try to mention these "tools" Waters uses to make the story spooky:

1. The Uncanny (Das Unheimliche): This is a fancy term for something that is familiar but creepy. A house should be a "home" (safe), but at Hundreds Hall, the home becomes a "trap."
2. Pathetic Fallacy: The weather and the environment often match the mood. When things get scary, the air gets "thick" or the light gets "grey."
3. Foreshadowing: Waters drops hints early on. For example, the early scene with the dog, Gyp, biting the little girl. It's a "normal" accident that feels supernatural and sets the tone for the violence to come.

Common Mistake to Avoid: Don't just say "the house is scary." Explain how Waters makes it scary (e.g., "Waters uses sensory imagery, like the smell of 'old soot and damp,' to make the house feel like a rotting corpse.")

6. Connecting to Other Texts (AO4)

For your exam, you will need to compare The Little Stranger to a pre-1900 text (like Dracula or The Picture of Dorian Gray).

Quick Tips for Comparison:
- Vs. Dracula: Both use "outsiders" entering a strange house. Both use the supernatural to represent fears about society (in Dracula, it's foreigners; in Stranger, it's the working class).
- Vs. Dorian Gray: Both feature a "double" or a "hidden self" that does bad things while the public face looks normal. In Dorian Gray, it’s a painting; in Stranger, it’s the "Little Stranger."

7. Final Summary Checklist

Before your exam, make sure you can talk about:
- How Hundreds Hall represents the death of the aristocracy.
- Why Dr. Faraday might be an unreliable narrator.
- The difference between a ghost story and a psychological thriller.
- How the post-war setting (1947) makes the supernatural elements more believable (everyone was already stressed and grieving!).

Don't worry if this seems tricky at first! The "ghost" in this book is meant to be a bit blurry. The most important thing is to show the examiner that you are thinking about why Waters chose to write a ghost story about class and history. You’ve got this!