A Ghost Story by Mark Twain - Essay Example

The paper is aimed to discuss and to analyze A Ghost Story which is written by Mark Twain. It is a story of the interaction between the narrator and the ghost of the Cardiff Giant. The narrator is a person who rented a huge old building in Broadway which had not been occupied for a long time.While in bed, the blankets were pulled and other actions were made by the ‘ghost.’ Different paranormal images had been perceived by narrator and in the end the ghost finally shown himself. He is the ghost of the gentle Cardiff Giant.

When the narrator recognized him, the atmosphere of the story completely changed and they talked about the reason for the haunting. There are two characters in the story, the narrator and the ghost. The main focus of the story is the ghost of Cardiff Giant. In the course of the story, the characteristics of the ghost changed, thus, he can be classified as a dynamic character. In the beginning of the story, the main objective of the Giant was to haunt and get attention and justice because of the use of his remain in unjust manner.

Prior to the end of the story, the conversation between the narrator and the ghost of Cardiff Giant changed his views regarding his situation. Through the information given by the narrator that the Giant’s remains were just duplicated and the real ones were in Albany, he was freed and he found no reason to continue his haunting in the said place anymore. The story has both the internal and external conflicts. The external conflict was observed in the first part of the story when the haunting of the ghost along with his friends caused fear to the narrator and to other people before him.

The said conflict had been exhibited through the antagonistic treatment of the ghost to the residence of the building. The internal conflict was perceived in the latter part of the story, through the conversation between the Giant and the narrator. The internal conflict defined the main purpose of the ghost of the Cardiff Giant which was the feeling of tiredness of the ghost versus the need to seek help and justice for his remains. He wanted to rest for a very long time already but the need to bury his remains to a rightful place kept him haunting for a long time.

The setting of the story is figuratively and literally descriptive of the characters of the story. The readers can accept the setting as strong part in the story since the basic information had been presented such as the names and the landmarks. Readers know that the story occurred in New York, near a museum and near a street with old buildings. May that be fictitious or real, it had contributed to the whole atmosphere of the story. The distinct imagery brought about by the setting inside the house.

The point of view of the story was achieved through the perspective of the narration. This gave credibility to the story by being in the first person thus being a primary experience. Another effect of the point of view was the primal effect of the story in terms of the feelings being conveyed, for example fear. The story is rich in metaphors and other figurative forms of language. One example is the description of the building which had “surrendered to dust and cobwebs, to solitude and sadness.

” Other figures of speech are “locking out mould and darkness” and “cheery fire” which can be found in the first two paragraphs. Thus it meant that the whole story was enriched by these literary treasures. The author used these figures of speech in a casual and relaxed manner which can easily be related to and understood. The main idea of the story is that not everything is what it seems. The story teaches lesson of