Hauntings: Benign and Belligerent

Hauntings are an ongoing theme throughout this story, seen first by Francis who wants contact with his father so badly that when he sees the spirit for the first time, he believes he has managed to conjure his father’s spirit from the dead. Although the figure that appears to him is unfamiliar, particularly since he was so young when his father died, Francis has no fear of the specter from the very beginning. The fact that he witnesses this specter for most of the time that he lives with Reverend Tufts is enough to have the Reverend sending him packing when the visitations are revealed, but despite the Reverend’s fears, the spirit Francis sees is benign – so much so in fact that he likens him to a visit from the angel Gabriel when he finally tells Reverend Tufts about it, and...