In the traditional ghost story, the ghost is a shadowy figure who terrorises residents in the middle of the night. But "The Canterville Ghost" is a ghost story with a twist and nowhere is this more evident than in the portrayal of the ghost himself.
While we do not meet the ghost until Chapter Two, it is his battle to terrify the Otis family which drives the story's plot. The reader, for example, follows the ghost's trials and tribulations as he is humiliated and mocked by the family, especially the troublesome twins, at every turn.
Furthermore, as the plot develops, the reader learns more about ghost's tragic family history, like his haunting career of the last 300 years and the murder of his own wife because she was "plain" and bad at housekeeping.
The story reaches its climax at the end of Chapter Five when the ghost enlists Virginia to help him enter the Garden of Death where he can sleep eternally. While Virginia's role in this process is instrumental, it is the ghost himself who causes the resolution of the story's conflict: his death brings peace to Canterville Chase and to all who reside there.
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