The Ghost–Child: The Representation of Pearl in Atkinson’s Behind the Scenes at the Museum Anonymous College

In Kate Atkinson’s Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Pearl’s tragical death deeaply affectes her family members as they do not talk about it, seemingly it is forgotten. For Ruby, Pearl does not even exist. She is traumatized by seeing the accident of Pearl’s death. As Ruby cannot cope with the loss of her sister,—as a result of traumatic experiences—, she buries it so deep inside her that she cannot even remember it. So Pearl is the ghost–child for Ruby—because she is haunted by Pearl during sleepwalking—and because Pearl is not present physically but represented through the narration of the protagonist, her photograph in the silver locket, her own name and distressing memories of Ruby.

The first hint of the protagonist, that is Ruby, about the fact that she has/had a twin sister, named Pearl, is given in the fetal period of her narration. “And why do I have this strange feeling, as if my shadow’s stitched to my back, almost as if there’s someone else in here with me? Am I being haunted by my own embryonic ghost?” (Atkinson 21). Ruby gives the description of the mother womb, where she feels that she is not alone. The “shadow” that she feels tied to herself, signifies her twin sister, who is identical to her, therefore Pearl is...