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The story's plot revolves around a family of three, who share their home with a ghost, and a neighbor who resides next-door. Problems arise once the ghost begins to cause disturbance within the household, or as the story states, a “haunting”. Although the family attempts to avoid the ghost at first, it becomes increasingly difficult as she emits a strong presence and aura of despair and depression, causing great distress to the family; hence, for a while, both parties were able to co-exist. Furthermore, the neighbor was able to interact and share his stories with the ghost.

However, the negative emotions the ghost has continues to loom over the family, affecting the overall state of the household. As the ghost attempts to determine the source of her negative emotions, she is then confronted by the mother who wishes to exorcize and get rid of her, asking the ghost to leave the house alone. The ghost can then be perceived as a manifestation of internal conflict and loneliness; this was not only reflected towards the ghost itself, but it was also something that the family had. As it was revealed that the ghost was a representation of the mother; the depressed and sad part of the mother in which she tries so hard to conceal and get rid of, causing the situation to only become worse for her family.

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At first, many may come to think that the main theme of conflict within the story is Man vs Man. This is evident through scenarios wherein the family attempts to get rid of the ghost that haunts their house and inflicts negative emotions. However, as we learn about the ghost’s true meaning we come to realize that the main conflict is Man vs Himself. This is seen by an internal psychological conflict that the mother has, as the ghost represents her unhappy and negative emotions. Because she is unable to recognize and express these feelings, she consequently affects both herself and her children in the process. The ghost is a manifestation and a representation as to how contagious the mothers negative feelings are, feelings that continuously loom over the family’s house.

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Some key cultural references that were mentioned in the story that could help us determine the setting would be, with the first being the mention of the artist Edith Piaf. She was a popular music artist back in the 1950’s. It was also mentioned that the daughter was hosting a tea party with Jack Skellington, Rapunzel, and Elsa, cultural references that were only introduced in the years of the 21st century. With this in mind, it is possible that the story could have taken place after those aforementioned years up until the present day. The family’s socio-economic status could also be assumed to be middle class, given that they’re living in an old brownstone apartment with only one washer and dryer in the basement.

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The overall mood of the story is depicted by the ghost who lives in a grave and drab apartment complemented by the despair and sadness it emits. It is able to establish the context the story will take place in, as the ghost is a manifestation of negative emotions, the author is able to transition to this theme by creating a more gloomy environment.

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The ghost is one of the most important characters of the story given the central theme of internal conflict. The ghost is an embodiment of depression, described as something that is consumed by pain and sadness. Her contagious emotions haunt the family, but more importantly act as the main catalyst for the story's message to be portrayed.

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The mother is another protagonist, her character is described as someone who deeply cares for her children. She is considerate of their feelings and is someone who attempts to hide her own feelings of sadness and negativity in attempts to make those around her feel more lighthearted. She has also attempted to get rid of the ghost multiple times, until the very end of the story wherein she came to the realization of the ghosts’ true form.

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The son is the youngest member of the family. Not being able to speak at his age, it is difficult for him to actually express his own feelings, though the mother is still able to catch on. Although the boy is described to be “afraid of ghosts”, he is still able to hang out with her given his curious nature, yet his young age also causes him to be easily influenced by the ghost's sad aura.

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The daughter, although seemingly described to be a snobby, rude adolescent at first, is actually seen to be polite and conscious of her environment. She still attempts to hang out with the ghost, despite the ghost's presence bothering her sometimes. All as to not hurt the ghost's feelings, as she still holds some sympathy towards the ghost.

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The neighbor is a supporting character for the family. He is described somewhat similarly to the ghost, having his own internal conflict and problems. Like the ghost, he harbors a lot of sadness, which resulted from the death of his partner, and losing custody of his son. Due to this, he and the ghost were able to establish a connection, which left room for the neighbor to express himself and slowly heal. This acts as another message of the story, wherein expressing oneself is needed for the path to recovery.

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The story shows relevance in today's context, given the overall message and theme that the story encapsulates. Many of us nowadays are often faced with the same dilemma wherein we try to avoid our own internal conflict and feelings of negativity, remaining ignorant of such things, thinking that isolating one’s emotions would be beneficial towards that person’s environment. This causes failure amongst those who suffer under the same predicament, to acknowledge the severity of their own situation. With this in mind, the main message that the story is trying to impart to us readers is to be honest with one’s self, have the courage to acknowledge and face the conflicts that were presented with and realize that there are people out there who have faced the same dilemmas in the past, and may be willing to lend a helping hand. All of us have encountered our own “ghosts” at some point, there are times where we try to bury our own problems and negative emotions, not realizing that those very feelings that we conceal, slowly begin to consume us.