The Night the Ghost Got In

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. In addition to the devastating effects on combatants, war also influences how society views itself and what it values. War shapes the consciousness of entire generations, even those who never come near a battlefield. How can war affect communities? How can it change the structure of the typical family? 

Teaching Suggestion: This Short Answer question orients students to the theme of War’s Effect on the Social Conscience. War causes huge social changes in the way people communicate, the prevailing beliefs we have about our place in the world, and the public’s trust in institutions. In the text, the adult male figures are conspicuously absent from the home; the grandfather, who suffers from war-related trauma, lives in the attic where the family leaves him undisturbed, even after he shoots a police officer. For Thurber, war is not a clearly defined event but rather an unseen presence causing people to react unpredictably, connecting with the theme of The Unknown and Meaningless.

• Chapman University’s article “The Impact of WWI Is All Around, Despite Its Ambiguity” explores some of WWI’s long-term effects on the American consciousness.

2. During the early 20th century, the philosophical concept of absurdism became a prevalent lens for literary and artistic movements. In your own understanding, what does absurdism mean? How would absurdist literature and art interpret the concept that there is meaning in every action?

Teaching Suggestion: This question orients students with the literary context of absurdism. Broadly speaking, absurdism is a philosophical approach that arose in response to the carnage of both world wars in which humanity’s efforts to find purpose in a meaningless existence are ultimately futile. Thurber uses this approach in his story to develop the theme of The Unknown and Meaningless, where no character is able to find any solid evidence to explain the “meaning” behind the sounds in the kitchen. In fact, the characters react out of fear and paranoia and create stories, scenarios, and explanations, all of which amount to nothing. The story ends on a vague note, as grandfather suggests that his “phase” from the previous night was not a genuine panic attack stemming from trauma from the war, but rather a technique to make the police officers leave as soon as possible. This possibility further adds to the theme of The Unknown and Meaningless.

• MasterClass explains absurdist literature with five easy-to-identify characteristics and offers a list of texts for further reading.
• Los Angeles Review of Books examines Thurber’s use of absurdism in “Trusting Thurber: On Created Nonfiction.”
• The Thurber House shares more information on the author’s background, including a childhood accident that changed his life (please note that this story relates to the third Scaffolded Essay question).

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the story.

Do you believe that truth can be subjective? Does it depend on opinion and a viewer’s perspective, or does the very nature of truth imply objectiveness? Explain your reasoning, incorporating examples, if relevant.

Teaching Suggestion: This Personal Connect Prompt invites students to reflect on the story’s theme Truth Is Subjective. In the story, truth depends upon the observer’s belief. To the narrator, it is true that ghosts are haunting the home, but the mother’s truth involves burglars. It seems that the grandfather’s truth involves deserting Civil War soldiers, but this is shrouded by a further layer of uncertainty about the grandfather’s awareness of what is happening around him. All of these “truths” are more or less accepted, suggesting that truth is subjective. This Prompt segues into the Discussion and Analysis Prompt.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who might benefit from opportunities in public speaking, this Personal Connection Prompt can be restructured into a class debate, in which students must argue for or against the following point: Truth Is Subjective. For more information on structuring an in-class debate, please see this resource from Harvard University.