How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
A monstrous shadow of him crouched upon the wall and mocked his action as he poured and drank. (11)
This is the very first instance of a "suggestive shadow" in the story. Not only is the shadow "monstrous," but the description of it as "mocking" the man with the shade (it’s his shadow) almost makes it seem independent of him. Even this early in the story, the narrator’s imagination is already starting to take on a life of its own. (Of course, a description like this also adds to the general ambience of creepiness for the reader.)
Quote #2
I must confess that the oddness of these three old pensioners in whose charge her ladyship had left the castle, and the deep-toned, old-fashioned furniture of the housekeeper's room in which they foregathered, affected me in spite of my efforts to keep myself at a matter-of-fact phase… Their very existence was spectral; the cut of their clothing, fashions born in dead brains. (28)
A contrast between the narrator’s "matter-of-fact" phase and his more "fanciful" imaginings about the "spectral" old people. The narrator thinks reality is straightforward, clear-cut, and not mysterious or suggestive. In his book, anything mysterious or suggestive must be a product of the human imagination, as all "supernatural" things are. But the narrator’s imagination turns the old custodians into something suggestive – they become almost ghostly ("spectral") themselves.
Quote #3
I came to the landing and stopped there for a moment, listening to a rustling that I fancied I heard; then, satisfied of the absolute silence, I pushed open the baize-covered door and stood in the corridor. (28)
This is next instance of the narrator perceiving something suggestive, which may not be there. This could be read as more evidence that his imagination is acting up at this point. It’s also worth noting that in this case the narrator thinks he hears something; most of the other perceptions are visual and not auditory.
Quote #4
A bronze group stood upon the landing, hidden from me by the corner of the wall, but its shadow fell with marvelous distinctness upon the white paneling, and gave me the impression of someone crouching to waylay me. I stood rigid for half a minute perhaps. (29)
It sounds like the narrator momentarily thinks that there really is someone crouching in the hallway. This is the most obvious case of the narrator "thinking he sees something" in the story. It also indicates how active his imagination is, and how fragile his nerves might be.
Quote #5
I resolved to make a systematic examination of the place at once, and dispel the fanciful suggestions of its obscurity before they obtained a hold upon me. (32)
The narrator wants to make sure that the "suggestions" made by the dark ("obscurity") don’t get his imagination working actively. It is the dark specifically that he blames for stimulating his imagination. He blames the darkness this because it literally conceals things from sight (as it did with the Ganymede statue), and because it’s ominous and murky. That’s why he resolves to remove the element of mystery and murkiness in the room by removing the dark, first by making a survey of it with his candle.
Quote #6
My precise examination had done me good, but I still found the remoter darkness of the place, and its perfect stillness, too stimulating for the imagination. (33)
Another affirmation of the narrator. Apparently knowing what’s "really" in the room isn’t enough to prevent the narrator’s imagination from conjuring up all kinds of things. There’s still too much darkness in the room. He’s got to work on that.
Quote #7
The shadow in the alcove at the end in particular, had that undefinable quality of a presence, that odd suggestion of a lurking, living thing, that comes so easily in silence and solitude. At last, to reassure myself, I walked with a candle into it, and satisfied myself that there was nothing tangible there. I stood that candle upon the floor of the alcove, and left it in that position. (33)
The great description of the "lurking, living" shadow. Here the narrator’s imagination is making scary things out of the darkness again. He tries to put it to rest by going to the alcove and confirming there’s nothing there. But that’s not quite enough. To really quiet his imagination, the narrator needs to eliminate what it finds suggestive, namely, the dark.
Quote #8
The flame vanished, as if the wicks had been suddenly nipped between a finger and a thumb, leaving the wick neither glowing nor smoking, but black. (39)
Is the narrator’s imagination being overly active again, and making figures out of the darkness? Or is there really something there? From what he tells us, we have no way of knowing.
Quote #9
I staggered back, turned, and was either struck or struck myself against some other bulky furniture. I have a vague memory of battering myself thus, to and fro in the darkness, of a cramped struggle, and of my own wild crying as I darted to and fro, of a heavy blow at last upon my forehead, a horrible sensation of falling that lasted an age, of my last frantic effort to keep my footing, and then I remember no more. (46)
At this point, we get a strong sense that the narrator’s perceptions are no longer reliable. Not only is his memory foggy, (this is the only moment in the story when it becomes clear he’s narrating post facto or after the fact), he also can’t seem to decide whether he’s running into things or whether something else strikes him.
Quote #10
I rolled my eyes into the corner, and saw the old woman, no longer abstracted, pouring out some drops of medicine from a little blue phial into a glass. (47)
The narrator sees the old woman "no longer abstracted." Now that it’s day and the dreadful experience is behind him, he can recognize that she’s not quite so creepy or abnormal as she appeared the night before. It might also help that she’s taking care of him. In any case, this remark makes us wonder how much of what he described was "accurate," and how much was produced by his state of mind.