# II: The Plain of Silence explained — The House on the Borderland > Chapter companion for The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson. ## What happens The narrator, an old recluse living in an ancient house with his dog Pepper and his sister, begins a diary to record strange occurrences. He describes a vision where he floats through space to a vast, desolate plain lit by a dull-red ring of fire. The chapter establishes his isolation, the house's eerie reputation, and his first supernatural experience involving candle flames turning green and red, leading to a vision of the plain. ## Themes in this chapter ### Isolation and Madness The narrator lives alone with his sister and dog, shunning society, and is considered mad by locals. His diary is a coping mechanism for his loneliness. ### The Supernatural and the Unknown The chapter details a supernatural vision of a vast plain and strange candle phenomena, marking the first clear manifestation of the unknown. ### The House as a Threshold or Borderland The house is described as standing 'upon the borders of the Silences,' serving as a gateway to otherworldly visions. ## Character check-ins ### The Recluse The narrator begins his diary, describing his life in the ancient house and his vision of the Plain of Silence. ### Pepper Pepper cowers under the narrator's dressing gown during the supernatural manifestation, showing fear. ### Tonnison Mentioned indirectly as part of the house's history; the narrator bought the house from those who had avoided it for over eighty years. ## Key lines > I am an old man. I live here in this ancient house, surrounded by huge, unkempt gardens. The peasantry, who inhabit the wilderness beyond, say that I am mad. The narrator introduces himself as an elderly recluse living in a dilapidated house, considered insane by the local peasants. _Establishes the narrator's isolation and the theme of madness._ > Without warning, the flames of the two candles went low, and then shone with a ghastly green effulgence. I looked up, quickly, and as I did so I saw the lights sink into a dull, ruddy tint; so that the room glowed with a strange, heavy, crimson twilight that gave the shadows behind the chairs and tables a double depth of blackness; and wherever the light struck, it was as though luminous blood had been splashed over the room. The candle flames suddenly turn green and then red, casting a blood-like glow across the room, signaling a supernatural event. _Describes the first supernatural manifestation in the chapter._ > Gradually, as I became more accustomed to the idea, I realized that I was looking out on to a vast plain, lit with the same gloomy twilight that pervaded the room. The immensity of this plain scarcely can be conceived. The narrator sees through the wall to a vast, dimly lit plain, marking the beginning of his vision. _Introduces the Plain of Silence, a key visionary landscape._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/chapters/ii-the-plain-of-silence - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_house_on_the_borderland_se/chapters