The novel is particularly keen on the issue of hopelessness, symbolized by the dual nature of the glorious house. The mansion is both a blessing, because it hosts their community, and a curse, because it drains their resources, and because the deterioration of the home through time adds innumerable stress to their daily lives. Their money is tight because the house is turning into a money pit. The idea of a visiting doctor might symbolize some path toward health and happiness.
For Caroline, that might mean marriage. For Roderick, it means healing, and of course as a combat veteran, his physical healing is also a symbol for his emotional healing as he adjusts to his new life with PTSD and trauma. His experience of death fear is underscored by the aging house, because the passage time brings the promise of death, which he understands, and Dr. Faraday understands.
In the end, the whole family shares Roderick's post-traumatic stress, because they all witness the horror of death. Again, when Susan kills herself, that death is a reminder of the ultimate problem facing the home, which is that in time, all things decay and die. This is the drama of hope, because to be hopeful would mean finding some way to feel good about life knowing that life is burdensome, claustrophobic, and fleeting.
