1. Out of all the members of the otis family, the ghost was most irritated with the twins. Do you agree with the statement? Support your answers with instances.
2. What light does Mr. Otis's reaction to the ghost's smashing the bottle of lubricant and the twins' throwing pillows at the ghost reflect on his own character?
3. Describe the otises's first encounter with the ghost.
4. Why did the canterville give Mr. Otis all details about canterville chase being haunted? How did he react to Mr. Otis insistence upon buying this haunted despite being told its history?
1) The ghost was scared of the twins and that said a lot about the intelligent and innovative ways in which the twins always managed to stay two steps ahead of the poor apparition. First, the twins brought their pea-shooters on the night of the ghost's first encounter with the family and at once discharged two pellets on him. The accuracy of aim with which they pelted the ghost could only have been attained by long and careful practice of a writing master. They were amused by the apparition and not even a shred of fear was in them when it came to the ghost, they tormented him with the delight of schoolboys having a go at their favourite sport. Once on reaching the room of the twins, he flung the door wide open wishing to make an effective entry when a heavy jug of water fell right down on him, wetting him to the skin and just missing his shoulder by a couple of inches. At the same moment, he heard stifled shrieks of laughter proceed from the four-post bed and the shock to his nervous system was so great that he fled right back to his lair. He was terrified of the twins from then onward. The twins would often lie in wait for him on several occasions and strew the passages with nutshells every night but the ghost was so frightened of the boys that he stopped his appearances. They were always preempting his each and every strike.
2) Mr Otis was not scared of the ghost, he was a modern man who believed in practical matters and solutions. So, he naturally offered the lubricant to soothe the ghost's condition but did not understand why it would be offended. To him, it was about practicality and not the prestige of the ghost.
3) The first encounter between the ghost and Mr Otis shows that it had not turned out according to our expectations regarding how a ghost story would be. Mr Otis was not at all frightened by the ghost, dealing with him in a matter-of-fact manner. On the other hand, the ghost drawn from stereotypical representations of how a ghost should be but the ghost ends up getting flummoxed by Mr Otis' nonchalance. Mr Otis was quite calm and his pulse was not at all feverish as the strange noise continued and he heard footsteps. As the ghost appeared right in front of him in all his supernatural paraphernalia, with great composure Mr Otis suggested a bottle of Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator. It was for the ghost to oil his chains. The ghost stood motionless in natural indignation and dashed the bottle violently on the floor. The ghost had been caught off-guard by such a calm demeanour in the face of such an encounter with an apparition. It shows the Mr Otis had a nature that was unperturbed by such occurrences while the ghost ended up getting befuddled.
4) Lord Canterville felt his duty to mention the fact of the ghost when Mr Otis came to discuss the terms. He said that he had not cared to live the place since his grandaunt, the Dowager Duchess of Bolton was frightened into a fit from which she never really recovered. Two skeleton hands had been placed on her shoulders as she was dressing for dinner. Therefore, he felt it his bounden duty to tell Mr Otis that the ghost had been seen by several living members of the Canterville family as well as the rector of the parish, the Rev. Augustus Dampier,a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. Post the unfortunate accident of the Duchess, none of the younger servants would stay with them and Lady Canterville often got very little sleep in consequence of the mysterious noises that came from the corridor and the library.
Upon disclosure of the ghost's existence by Lord Canterville, Mr Otis answered that he would take the furniture and the ghost at a valuation. He said he came from a modern country where one had everything that money could buy. So, if there was actually a thing such as a ghost in Europe, he had no doubt that in a very short time it would not only be tamed at home but put up for public display in the museums or on the road as a show. Mr Otis was commenting on how coming from America, a capitalist and consumerist nation only concerned with the material realities of life, he was undaunted by anything such as a ghost.
The honest admission by Lord Canterville shows that he was a man of the most punctilious honour. He could have chosen to hide the truth but he voluntarily chose to come clean about the haunted past of the house to its new occupant.