The Amityville Horror
49 pages • 1-hour read
Jay AnsonThe Amityville Horror
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.
The House at 112 Ocean Avenue
The house at 112 Ocean Avenue is the novel’s central and most important symbol, representing The Corruption of the American Dream and illustrating How Pressure Reveals the Fragility of the Domestic Sphere. Initially, the house embodies the Lutz family’s highest aspirations, a waterfront property with a boathouse and pool that seems too good to be true, ironically bearing a sign that reads “High Hopes.” However, this ideal home quickly reveals itself to be a malevolent entity that actively works to destroy the family it contains. Instead of providing sanctuary, it becomes a source of financial ruin, psychological torment, and spiritual decay, directly subverting the promise of suburban fulfillment.
Beyond its importance as a symbol, the house itself is the primary antagonist, an active force of evil that attacks the family from within its own walls. As the novel continues, the house, or the entity within it, becomes more powerful as the family’s solidarity and psychological stability begin to crack under pressure. By transforming the ultimate symbol of safety and success into a source of inescapable horror, the narrative suggests that the dream of the perfect home can become a pathway to damnation.
The 3:15 am Wakening
The repeated wakening at 3:15 am is a narrative motif that offers a cyclical structure to the family’s torment and inextricably links their haunting to the house’s violent past. This specific time is when Ronald DeFeo murdered his family, and George’s recurring, punctual awakenings suggest that the evil in the house operates on a cyclical, inescapable schedule. These nightly awakenings also contribute to George’s personality change, leaving him sleep-deprived and irritable, contributing to his emotional and psychological decline and lending a dreamy, disconnected tone to his thoughts during the daytime. Through these nightly forays, George is submerged in the malevolence of the house, separating him from the rest of the family, who don’t experience the nighttime wakenings.
The motif marks the supernatural imposition of the house’s history onto the present, violating the natural rhythm of sleep and forcing George into a state of nightly vigilance and obsession. His first jarring experience sets the tone: “He reached for his wristwatch on the night table. It was 3:15 in the morning!” (23). This forced ritual initiates his psychological decline, compelling him to patrol the property and fixate on the boathouse, drawing his focus away from his family and business. The motif highlights the failure of rational understanding, as this supernatural timetable operates beyond human control or explanation, underscoring the methodical and relentless nature of the entity’s power.
Flies
The unnatural appearance of swarming flies in the dead of winter is a recurring motif that serves as a classic demonic signifier, defining the nature of the haunting as inhuman and profoundly evil. Alluding to the biblical demon Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies, who later became a broader representation of the Devil, this motif establishes that the family is not dealing with a mere ghost but with a malevolent, corrupting presence.
The flies first appear in what is meant to be Kathy’s sewing room, a space of domestic creation, symbolically infesting it with decay, contributing to the theme of how pressure reveals the fragility of the domestic sphere. George’s rational mind struggles to comprehend their presence, noting, “Flies don’t live that long, and not in this weather” (34). His inability to explain the phenomenon logically underscores the theme of The Failure of Modern Institutions in the face of the supernatural. This motif acts as a persistent omen, foreshadowing the escalation of the demonic force through a demonstration of power that cannot be explained away in the same way as an open window or cracked glass. The initial infestation of insects anticipates the later, more terrifying physical evidence of the entity, such as the discovery of tracks left by “cloven hooves—like those of an enormous pig” (115). The flies are the first clear sign of an ancient, invasive evil that methodically corrupts the sanctity of the home.
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