ARTHUR KIPPS

A Pragmatist

Let's put it this way: Arthur isn't about to be starring in a hit show about talking topeople's dead relatives. He's as pragmatic, rational, and—we'll say it—boring as they come. At first, when he sees the woman in black, he goes for the most rational explanation: she's just some poor woman who has a terrible disease and has showed up at Mrs. Drablow's funeral to pay her respects.

Even when confronted with things like the ghostly sound of the pony and trap, Arthur's mind still jumps to reality rather than to ghosts; he's convinced that there is an actual person drowning in the marsh. He likes very real, tangible things and readily explained stories:

Indeed, since those earlier experiences I had deliberately avoided all contemplation of any remotely nontangible matters, and clung to the prosaic, the visible and tangible.(1.13)

Even after his experiences with the woman in black (and her proven supernatural-ness) he continues to cling to the safer, more prosaic part of life. In his relationship with Esmé, he relishes the most mundane parts of life, like living in a cottage, hanging out with the kids, maybe watching some football on Sundays. You know. He never wanted to encounter ghosts, and now that he has, he definitely never wants to encounter one again.

A Modern Young Man

The young Arthur Kipps who goes to Crythin Gifford is definitely a modern man. He doesn't believe in any of this magic or supernatural stuff, pish posh! He points out things like the old and "nasty…