Gender

Males and females have very different and definitive roles in the novel, and this perception reflects Mark’s world view, because the whole novel is filtered through the lens of his perspective.

There are a few women who do not necessarily believe in ghosts in the novel, namely Alison and Helen, but these women are not ever vocal about their nonbelief. The only true skeptics and rationalists in the novel are men, namely Mark and his father. They are both atheists, and they are both unwilling to entertain the idea of ghosts, souls, or heavens. The believers, in the novel, are all women, specifically Chloe, Connie, and Trudy. When Chloe first tries to convince Mark that the ghost is true, she reminds him that when Brendan first died she thought that she could still feel his presence in the house: “You never took me seriously … You...