Throughout these chapters, the characters’ accumulating questions about the ghost develop the novel’s theme of Critical Thinking as a Counter to Superstition. Fabrizio’s continued involvement with Teresina and Jovanna particularly complicates this central narrative mystery. The recurring images of the ghost intensify the narrative conflict and atmosphere, while confusing Fabrizio’s understanding of the truth. During some of these ghost sightings, Fabrizio, Mangus, Teresina, and Jovanna respond to the ghost as if it is real, while in others, they respond as if the ghost is fake. Teresina’s alarm, Jovanna’s questions, Fabrizio’s confusion, and Mangus’s skepticism all complicate representations of the ghost in turn, throwing the true nature of the mystery itself into doubt. In order to solve the novel’s central mystery, the narrative encourages the reader to engage in the same critical thinking processes that Fabrizio and Mangus are employing. Thinking critically is the only way to discern the truth, particularly when lies, deceptions, and games dictate how the characters relate to one another and interpret the meaning behind the ghost.

Mangus’s character is developed more fully in these chapters, and he represents reason and logic, balancing the stories of the other people around Fabrizio. Although regarded as a magician, Mangus is determined “to make sense of this all” (122). He is reluctant to accept that the ghost exists before seeing it, and even when he finally does see “the writhing shadow of a lost and tormented soul” (310), he refuses to accept that the ghost is what it appears to be. In Chapter 17, Scarazoni interrogates Mangus, demanding that he tell him exactly what he saw when the ghost appeared. Mangus knows that Scarazoni is a threat to his safety yet does not tell the count what he wants to hear, illustrating both his integrity and his commitment to discovering the truth. He refers to the specter as “ghostlike,” but insists he can’t be sure what it was and reminds the count that he doesn’t, in fact, believe in ghosts. Mangus isn’t skirting the truth but rather adhering to it. 

To Mangus, the mystery lies in what actually lies behind the ghost story, a mystery that, like Fabrizio, he does wish to understand. Whether it is really a ghost or not, he is unsure, but Mangus uses his mind and his wit to interact with the problem at hand, modeling problem-solving for Fabrizio. Later, he informs Fabrizio that he has solved the mystery and now knows “where the so-called ghost came from” and “how it appeared” (162). He has used reason, logic, and most of all, patience to make sense of life’s mysteries. He has set aside others’ opinions of the ghost to come to his own conclusion. In doing so, he has landed upon a truth that makes sense to him. Through Magnus’s commitment to the truth, Fabrizio is given another way to approach the mystery, although from the outset, he comes at the mystery from a distinctly different angle.

Fabrizio, on the other hand, is still relying on other people’s perspectives to understand the truth, showing that he still has a way to go on his coming-of-age journey. His character represents questioning and confusion, because he wants to please others and accept their versions of reality over his own. When Mangus says the ghost isn’t real, Fabrizio is wont to believe him. When Jovanna asserts that the ghost is her son’s specter, Fabrizio believes the queen. The same is true when Teresina tells Fabrizio the ghost is real, and when Jovanna later changes her mind and asserts that the ghost is a sign of her daughter’s illness. 

Fabrizio is in the habit of waiting for others to state their opinions before forming his own, and this tendency is complicated by the pressure to adhere to each, developing the theme of Loyalty Tested by Competing Obligations. To Fabrizio—a young impressionable servant—his own version of the truth is inconsequential in comparison to other people’s perspectives. His thought process during the scene in which he waits to see the ghost with Teresina and Mangus conveys this aspect of his character: “Waiting, Fabrizio hardly knew what he wanted to happen. One moment he wanted the ghost to appear, so Mangus might admit it existed. The next moment he wished it would not appear, fearful that if Mangus pronounced the ghost had come, Scarazoni would kill them both” (129). Fabrizio’s fate rests in the hands of others because he is still too afraid to trust his own instincts. He believes the superstitions presented to him because, to him, even others’ sensational stories have more weight than his own experiences. He is yet unable to use critical thinking to make sense of his world. His fear is partially a symptom of his circumstances and partially inspired by his youth and inexperience.