1.) the beginning of this book has a lot of things that are similar to the play hamlet. the big ones being that philip at a young age sees his dad's ghost and tells him he needs philip to get revenge on his UNCLE Alan for murduring him. In the play hamlet, it was older hamlets brother that killed him. and in both cases they killed for the same reason, to take control of their homes and their wives. and at certain parts they throw in names from hamlet into the book. like when philip was in the hall and heard his mom and he could see her bra on the floor and it said fortin on it as in a name of a bra.. Fortinbras is in hamlet.
2.) its not that easy to tell what is real or what is unreal about brian. because you never get to read about brian before he dies so now as a ghost you never no if he is lying or not when he tells philip stuff. how as a ghost can he know what is going to happen in the future? because they never explain how he was able to do that?
3.) I think the easiest way to understand brian the ghost is as a character because he has conversations with philip about killing alan. if he was thought of as philip's conscience then he would be thought of as completely crazy, because he is repressing thoughts of killing his uncle when he couldnt have got those ideas from anywhere else. so that would be scary.
