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theme of the novel the canterville ghost?

The Canterville Ghost is a study in contrat. Wilde take an American famly, and places them in a British settings. Then, through a series of enough mishaps, he pits one cultural against the other. His stereotypical character represents both England and the United states. He presents each of these characters as comical figures. Wilde satirises both the unrefined tastes of the Americans and determination of the British to guard their traditions. Sir Simon is not a symbol of England, as perhaps. Mrs. Umney is, but rather a paragon of Brtish culture. He stands in perfect contrasts to the Otises. Sir Simon misunderstands Otises just as they misunderstands him. Wilde clearly wishes to emphasise the culture clash between England and the United States by putting them against each other. Though Wilde tells a humourous tale, but it appears that he also intends to convey a message. He uses a fifteen-year-old VIrginia for this purpose. Virginia says that the ghost helped her see the significance of life and death, and why love is stronger than both. "The Canterville Ghost" has the theme of life and death to examine the issue of forgiveness.

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The Canterville Ghost is a ghost story. Ghost stories belong to the genre called horror literature, whose purpose is to scare the reader with situations that cause horror or fear. The most common technique is suspense, the slow insinuating of a doubt or of a frightening revelation, which keeps the reader interested.    This story can be defined an inverted ghost story, because a lot of elements are different from the traditional ones. The main difference is the fact that Mr Otis is not scared by the ghost, while usually people should be. Moreover, the Ghost itself is frightened by the Otis twins.    There is also comic relief bordering on farce, including buckets of water balanced on half-open doors. But the story has a dark centre. The crime and retribution which led to the haunting is ghastly, and this is really not a comedy at all, but a tale of redemption through the power of love. The innocent girl of the family, appropriately called Virginia, prays for the ghost and endures terrifying if unnamed experiences to release the ghost.   Also, The Canterville Ghost is both a parody of the traditional ghost story and a satire of the American way of life. Wilde obviously intends to satirize American materialism, but he pokes fun at English traditional culture as well.
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In Oscar Wilde's short story, ''The Canterville Ghost'', we get to observe the interactions of and relationships among the living Canterville family, the Canterville ghost, and the visiting Otis family. ... We observe how life and death are viewed from both the living and the dead.
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