The Haunting of Hill House: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

In the middle of the night, Eleanor rises from bed and leaves her and Theodora’s room quietly. She tiptoes through the halls so as not to disturb anyone, even as it occurs to her that if ever there was a house not to worry about making noise in at night, it’s Hill House. She feels compelled to go to the library, telling herself it’s because she can’t sleep—when really she’s being drawn there by a force she can’t name. The air feels warm as she descends the staircase and approaches the library door. As she steps inside, she recoils at the nauseating smell within—she is reminded of her mother.

A voice upstairs urges Eleanor to “come along.” Believing the voice to be her mother, Eleanor scampers back upstairs and runs down the hall towards the nursery, where she finds the cold spot at the door has disappeared. Eleanor bangs on the door, and Mrs. Montague answers, telling “whatever” is out there to feel free to come in. Eleanor decides not to go in, but instead runs up and down the hall knocking and pounding on everyone’s doors. She knows that none of them will dare open up to her.

Eleanor hears Theodora calling for her, and then shouting to Luke and Doctor Montague that she’s gone missing. Eleanor runs back down the stairs, hearing the others’ voices behind her as they come out of their rooms. Eleanor whispers for her mother as she runs through the house, hoping to avoid being found. She finds one of Theodora’s fancy scarves in the parlor and shreds it with her teeth. Hearing the others’ voices growing nearer, she runs further down the hall. The others believe Eleanor has gone out onto the lawn, and they head outside into a group to search for her—Eleanor dances along the veranda in and out of the house, going from the room with the marble statues to the kitchen to the great hall again, rejoicing at the warmth she feels in each room.

Eleanor at last runs into the library, where the air is warmer still. She feels she has broken the spell of Hill House, and is at last home. She begins climbing the little iron stairway which leads to the tower. As she climbs higher and higher, she feels “time is ended,” and when the others at last burst into the library, she hardly recognizes them.

Doctor Montague urges Eleanor to come down the staircase carefully—it has rotted away from the wall, and is in danger of collapsing. Luke begins carefully climbing the stairs to try and get Eleanor down. Eleanor is very close to the trapdoor which leads to the tower’s turret—she tries to open it, but it will not budge. She bangs against it with her fists, upsetting the others, who urge her to be still. Luke at last catches up with her and tries to help her down—she is reluctant to accept his help, but slowly starts climbing back down. The journey is precarious, and as Eleanor creeps down, the staircase rocks and clangs. Soon she is on the ground again, and as she looks up at the “infinitely high” spot she has just come from, she is amazed.

Mrs. Montague remarks that Eleanor’s “childish nonsense” has “destroyed any chance of manifestations” for the evening, and hurries back to bed. Luke calls Eleanor an “imbecile” for climbing the stairs, and the doctor agrees. Theodora, too, chastises Eleanor for her foolishness. Eleanor replies only that she came down to the library to get a book to read.

The next morning is “humiliating [and] disastrous.” No one says anything to Eleanor at breakfast, though they all pass her food politely. Eleanor notices that Theodora is wearing her red sweater. Doctor Montague tells Eleanor that she has to leave—Luke is going to bring her car around, and Theodora is going to pack her things for her.

Mrs. Montague speaks up and says she’s examined Theodora’s room—it is totally clean, and all of Theodora’s clothes are “perfectly fine.” Theodora corroborates Mrs. Montague’s report. Doctor Montague speaks over his wife, apologizing to Eleanor for having to send her away. Eleanor insists she can’t leave, but Theodora urges Eleanor to “get away” from the house. Eleanor insists again that she cannot leave. Theodora remind Eleanor that she has her own little apartment to go to, where all her things are; Eleanor replies that she has no apartment, and sleeps on a cot in the nursery at her sister’s. She has no home—everything she owns in the world is here with her at Hill House.

Mrs. Montague suggests someone should drive Eleanor home to the city, but Doctor Montague says that to “prolong the association” with Hill House would only damage Eleanor further. He asks if she feels comfortable finding her own way home—Eleanor only laughs in response. Theodora goes upstairs to pack Eleanor’s things, and orders Luke to go get Eleanor’s car.

Later, everyone sees Eleanor out of the house, and as she looks up at the tower above them all, she feels as if she’s going to cry. She feels the house has been waiting for her and her alone—“no one else [can] satisfy it.” Eleanor begs Doctor Montague to see that the house wants her to stay, but he urges her into her car, repeating the instructions back to the highway. He apologizes for putting Eleanor at such horrible risk. Eleanor insists she isn’t afraid, and never was—she’s fine and even happy now. The doctor urges Eleanor to forget everything about Hill House, but she says she won’t be able to—being here is “the only time anything’s ever happened” to her.

Montague helps Eleanor into her car, even as she clutches at his arms and begs him to let her stay. He shuts her door and insists she leave. Eleanor calls Theodora over to the window, and Theodora tearfully urges Eleanor to get better. Theodora promises to write to Eleanor, and whispers that perhaps one day, they can meet up at the house again and have a picnic by the brook.

Eleanor waves goodbye to everyone and starts the car. She starts off down the drive, even as she thinks to herself that she doesn’t want to go. The others are telling her to leave—but she knows they’re powerless against Hill House, which wants her to stay. Eleanor points her car at a large oak tree and presses down hard on the accelerator. She can hear the others’ voices calling to her as she careens towards the tree—in the final seconds before she collides with it, she wonders why she’s doing what she’s doing, and why none of them are stopping her.

After Eleanor’s suicide, Doctor Montague and his party vacate Hill House. Theodora returns home to her apartment and her roommate. Luke goes to Paris to stay a while with his aunt, the house’s owner. Doctor Montague publishes an article analyzing the psychic phenomena of Hill House, but it is received  with contempt by his peers, and he retires from “active scholarly pursuits.” Hill House, meanwhile, remains standing and “not sane.” Whatever presence walks within it continues to walk alone.