17/11/2011
The story begins when Mr Otis's family shifted to Canterville Chase, despite warnings from Lord Canterville that the house is haunted. The Otis family includes Mr. and Mrs. Otis, their daughter Virginia, twin boys (often referred to as "Stars and Stripes") and their eldest son Washington. At the onset of the tale, not one member of the Otis family believes in ghosts, but shortly after they move in, none of them can deny the presence of Sir Simon (The Ghost). The family hears clanking chains, they witness re-appearing bloodstains "on the floor just by the fireplace", and they see strange apparitions in various forms. But, humorously, none of these scare the Otises in the least. In fact, upon hearing the clanking noises in the hallway, Mr. Otis promptly gets out of bed and pragmatically offers the ghost Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator to oil his chains. Despite Sir Simon’s attempts to appear in the most gruesome guises, the family refuses to be frightened, and Sir Simon feels increasingly helpless and humiliated. When Mrs. Otis notices a mysterious red mark on the floor, she simply replies that she does “not at all care for blood stains in the sitting room.” When Mrs. Umney, the housekeeper, informs Mrs. Otis that the blood stain is indeed evidence of the ghost and cannot be removed, Washington Otis, the eldest son, suggests that the stain be removed with Pinkerton’s Champion Stain Remover and Paragon Detergent: A quick fix, like the Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator, and a practical way of dealing with the problem. Determined to scare away the new owners of the castle, the ghost tries to scare them in all ways, even making jokes that for centuries was not, but he can not terrorize the new tenants. The Otis, in fact, are not at all frightened, and, unlike the ghost as he expected,in an ironic answer to every failed attempt of the ghost (which brings up blood stains,roaring with his chains, howling at night) and speak quietly, taking it around. Finally, theOtis family begins to have some relationship with the spectrum, which has now falleninto depression because she can not be scared any more, but that he is frightened by the jokes of the twins. One day Virginia, returning from a ride with his young promise,cry and feel is the ghost, with whom he begins to speak and then helps you find the way to salvation: it helps him to find forgiveness for sins committed. So the ghost can die in peace and to reward Virginia gives her valuable jewelry that belonged to his family andthat Mr. Otis that Virginia wants to return to Lord Canterville, but he refuses because he wants the decisions of the ghost, and so Virginia will be heard wear when he returns to the tomb of Sir Simon, after his honeymoon with Cecil.
