Compare and Contrast the Techniques used by Bradbury in A Whole Town is Sleeping and Collins in A Terribly Strange Bed to build tension and suspense.

The way each author starts their story is another contrast. Bradbury begins by describing the setting. This helps create suspense because the setting that he describes is unknown. He also makes the town seem "far away from everything" and this makes it seem very remote and that if something were to happen - there would be nobody to help you and no one will come and rescue you in an emergency. This contrasts to the way that Collins has started his story. He chose to introduce the characters first, therefore making the setting more unknown and less predictable. I think that Bradbury's way of started the story works is more effective because you do no know how the character is going to react to things but in Collins' story you have a rough idea of the character will react but not knowing the setting to begin with does not give any idea of what might happen to the character.

The settings are similar in a different way. Both authors use them to create a sense of danger and the unknown. In The Whole Town's Sleeping the "dark ravine" is used to give a sense of the unknown. Using a "dark ravine" makes the setting sound remote and that bad things could lurk in that ravine. In A Terribly Strange Bed the idea of a 'rough' 'back street' gambling house is used to create suspense and tension. Both of these settings are a warning (ignored) by the main characters. This creates suspense because it is ironic because the reader can see the danger whilst the character does not (or does appear not) to see the danger.

The settings in each of these stories do contrast though. To start with the basics are different. For example The Whole Town's Sleeping is set in a remote dark town where as A Terribly Strange Bed is set in the back streets of Paris were it is more likely that other people would be around. These settings both work well but in different ways. The idea of using a dark remote place works well because the reader knows that no one will be able to 'rescue' the main character but using the idea of a large city (in the case of A Terribly Strange Bed, Paris) also works well because the reader would be more surprised when something bad and evil does happen.

In describing the setting of the story Bradbury uses the sense of darkness to create suspense and tension. For example he says 'the streets were turning dark' and then later repeats that idea by saying 'the solemn black courthouse'. This works because it used the idea that things can hide in the darkness and the shadows and that bad things only happen at night. Another idea that is brought across is the idea of fire and heat for example he says "in the town the sidewalks were still scorched" and later he says "the heat was breathing from the dry lawns and trees", this introduces the relationship between heat and hell. The idea of a moon is a strong feature throughout The Whole Town's Sleeping. The moon 'follows' the main character throughout the story, this helps add to the sense of mystery. For example "there were two moons" and "She imagined people in their moonlit beds" both add to the sense on mystery in the story.

In A Terribly Strange Bed some of the same ideas are used, for example the story is set in a "black-guard gambling house", this again helps bring across the idea that evil things can lurk in the dark and that evil happens in the night when it is dark. Another phrase used to describe the setting is "the house in its full horror", this again suggests that the house is evil, bad and terrifying and adds to the sense of tension and suspense.

The characters in The Whole Town's Sleeping and A Terribly Strange Bed are quite similar. Both characters are defiant they both ignore the signs of danger. It is quite obvious that the main character, Lavinia, in The Whole Town's Sleeping is defiant and does not like to be told what to do by her repetitive use of the word "bosh". This shows her defiance to the 'normal and 'safe' thing to do. In A Terribly Strange Bed the main character defies danger by ignoring his friend when he "came to my side and begged me to leave this place". Also both characters enjoyed the idea of fear, for example when Lavinia is warned that "the lonely one (is) strangling women" she ignores it and carries on. This helped add to the suspense and tension because the reader though that because they were enjoying it something bad was bound to happen.

Another thing that both these stories have to add to the suspense is the idea of a warning to the main characters. In A Whole Town is Sleeping the first warning comes in the form of 'Grandma Hanlon' who cries "Where you going ladies?" and the idea that she later "lock(s) (her)self in with (her) gun" is a warning to the main character, Lavinia, that something bad is going to happen and she should not be out on the streets. In A Terribly Strange Bed the warning comes from the man's friend warning to leave the gambling house because he suspects that something bad and evil is going to happen. Both characters ignore these warnings.

The sense of darkness is another major think that helps contribute to the tension and suspense. It is used in both stories to make the reader think something bad is going to happen in the darkness. For example in A Whole Town is Sleeping the "dark ravine" is the place that is dark and it is suggested that this is where the evil bad thing is going to happen by the fact that all the previous murders have taken place there. This later becomes ironic as no bad things happen to Lavinia in the ravine. The dark and dingy gambling and bedrooms are used in A Terribly Strange Bed to make the reader think that something bad is going to happen, you know this because of the descriptions of the building and of the characters in the gambling hall

One of the most important thing is that both of these stories do is make you think that when the characters are indoor they are safe. Bradbury uses the idea of the "dark ravine" and the murder that happened in the dark ravine to make you think that a bad thing is going to happen in the ravine but later this proves not to happen and that makes the reader think that Lavinia has got away safe and is in no danger. Then suddenly when she arrives at home and thinks that she is safe, the danger arrives and Lavinia is in danger. This technique is also used to some degree by Collins. He uses the idea that once the man is out of the gambling room into the bedroom he is safe and no danger can touch him. This again is used to lure the reader (and character) into a false sense of security. Just as he thinks he is safe and the reader thinks he is safe, the danger of the "strange bed" becomes apparent. This technique works very effectively because it uses the element of surprise to create suspense and tension in the story and makes the reader want to read more.

A technique that Bradbury has used throughout and Collins has used in area of action in the stories is to make the sentences and paragraphs shorter. This makes the reader want to read them quicker to find out what is going to happen. In A Terribly Strange Bed the sentences are quite long until a point of action occurs. Then the sentences star becoming short and sharp such as "Was the bed moving?" Collins' uses rhetorical questions to quicken the pace and to make it seem that the character is getting panicky, confused and is losing his mind. This suggests that something evil is happening or is about to happen. This technique is used more by Bradbury but when there is a point of action because he has used it just generally in the story the point of action and the emotions that the characters are going through are not emphasised as much.

Bradbury has used some more realistic features of a person in a panic though. When Lavinia is going down the steps into the ravine she starts talking to her self and counting down the steps "one hundred ten, eleven" as if she is trying to make her time in the ravine be over as quickly as possible. This also links into the idea of her panic, you can tell she is panicking because all her movements start speeding up just as the voice of the man in A Terribly Strange Bed does. This helps make the reader tenser and it makes them think that something bad is going to happen to the main character.

The idea of climaxes in each of the stories is something that is another major contrast. A Terribly Strange Bed just has one main climax in the middle. The beginning of the story builds up to this one big climax where the bed is dropped but then after when the man goes to the police and they arrest the people is part of the 'down' after the climax. Bradbury choose to used a series of mini climaxes in A Whole Town is Sleeping for example the first mini climax is when the women are in the cinema and they think that the cinema managers brother is going to get them, the second mini climax is when "tom" scares them in the street and the third mini climax is when Lavinia is running through the ravine by herself at the end and she thinks that someone is following her. Using a series of mini climaxes lures the reader into a false sense of security because they just think that next time there is a mini climax again nothing will happen. Bradbury uses this to his advantage because just when the reader gets to this point he ends the story on a cliff hanger and makes the reader think that Lavinia was killed. This not only makes for good reading but would also make the author money for any sequel books that he may write.

In my personal opinion I found A Whole Town is Sleeping more interesting to read than A Terribly Strange Bed because of its mini climaxes and the fact that it was less predictable to read than A Terribly Strange Bed. The reason why I think that A Whole Town is Sleeping is more interesting is because it was written at a later date and it had to be interesting to get people to read it where as when A Terribly Strange Bed was written people did not have as much choice and they would have less things to do some they would proberly be more likely to get a book and read it even if they did not find it that interesting.

Sam Woodcock - October 2001

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