House of Leaves | Themes & Symbolism

House of Leaves Significant Topics

Whilst the central narrative of House of Leaves is concerned with the unknowable and its effect upon contemporary society, the complex construction of the novel as a whole calls into question the possibility of ever fully knowing anything at all. To consider this theme, Danielewski uses several narrative layers through which the story of the Navidson family is filtered, and which ensure that the reader is never able to achieve even the illusion of direct access to the events on Ash Tree Lane. The novel itself is divided into nine distinct sections that include a list of exhibits, three Appendices, and a main body of text entitled "The Navidson Record." As its contents imply, the novel at first purports to be a factual account of an actual event, with evidence to support its claims. However, the reader soon discovers that "The Navidson Record" itself is a documentary film of what...
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