The Woman in Black – Close

Analysis of ‘Whistle and I’ll Come

to You’
POSTED ON MAY 19, 2014 BY MRMORRISSWA
There is a possibility that there may be a question based around the Chapter Whistle and I’ll Come to
You. (past years have looked at the preceding chapters in order, so maybe…..)
This is a précis of the key points of interest in this chapter. It is likely any question will be along the
lines of how tension is created….

(all page numbers refer to the original books with small writing)

P123 – The chapter opens with pathetic fallacy as it describes a storm/heavy winds. “The house felt
like a ship at sea” (simile) – Gives the reader a sense of imbalance, insecurity – prepares us for a
rollercoaster ride ahead.
P123 – The description of the noises are also reminiscent of ghostly sounds: “Windows rattling …the
sounds of moaning down all the chimneys”. On the following page, she compares the wind to
a banshee which is a type of ghost said to signify impending death. This warns us that there may be
trouble ahead…..

P123 – Hill briefly breaks this with Kipps remembering the safety and security of his own nursery, long
ago, contrasts with how he heard “The wind rage round like a lion, howling at the doors and beating
upon the windows but powerless to reach me.”
P124 – Tension is increased when Kipps forgets his torch, meaning he has to investigate the house in
darkness. She plays with our imagination by describing the sense of someone having walked by Kipps,
but shows his uncertainty by having him question this: “And the person who had gone by and who was
now in the house with me?” Later on (p125) he admits that he was “beginning to doubt my own
reality.”
P125 – Having set the reader up for the fear that Kipps is not alone, she then makes it even more tense
when he drops the torch. The short sentences “No light came on. The torch had broken” are a
dramatic end to this paragraph.
P125 – Kipps’ emotional state is also highlighted by the list of abstract nouns “despair and fear,
frustration and tension”, followed by “violent rage”. The reader is invited to experience these emotions
alongside him.
P125 – The dog, Spider, is yet again used to signify when the moment of tension has passed as she licks
Kipps’ hand.

P127 – Kipps re-enters the nursery and is swept with feelings of “overwhelming grief and sadness, a
sense of loss and bereavement, a distress mingled with utter despair” – This list of three pairs of
negative emotions present a very different emotional response for the reader as they contrast with the
sense of evil encountered so far and also add to the mystery surrounding the Woman in Black.
P129 – Having established a calm tone again, Hill then heightens tension again through Spider’s
reactions. “scratching and whining at the door” so we expect ghostly activities again – only to be
reassured she simply needed to be let out. Therefore we are not expecting trouble until the ghostly
whistle comes: “not from any human lips”.
P130 – Tension is at its height here as Kipps struggles in the mud to rescue Spider. The use of
many dynamic verbs here exaggerate the sense of action; Spider “yelped” and “struggled” and Kipps
is “straining” against the “whirling sucking bog”.
P130 – the sense of isolation is again underlined – “alone in the middle of the wide marsh” – it is
Kipps up against the power of the Woman in Black – Good v Evil.
P130-131 Hill’s use of adverbs “furiously” and “cautiously”, as well as more dynamic verbs,
“lunged”, “grabbed”, “hauled”, “tugged” create a very frantic pace, whilst
the adjectives “treacherous”, “agonizing” and “slippery” all add detail to the danger of the situation he
is in.
P131 – Kipps triumphs and saves Spider but Hill’s use of a list of three shows us at what cost: “chest
burning, lungs almost bursting, my arms feeling as if they had been dragged from their sockets”.

P131 – Just when we feel the tension starting to recede, Kipps looks up at the house and there he
sees “A woman. That woman. She was looking directly towards me.” Short, sharp
sentences reinforce the link between what happened to Kipps and her reappearance.
P132 – The chapter ends with the replaying of the terrible noise, which serves as a motif for the tragedy:
“It was the sound of a pony and trap”. The pony and trap are a recurring motif, both as the replayed
sound of the tragedy from years before, but also because the pony and trap are intricately linked to the
woman in black. This means that when in the final chapter, Stella and the baby choose to ride it one, the
reader recognises the significance and anticipate tragedy.