Compare 'The Red Room' by H.G.Wells and 'Examination Day' by Henry Slesar examining how the writers create suspense in the stories. You should comment on the author's use of language in the above.

Deepak Chandi

Compare ‘The Red Room’ by H.G.Wells and ‘Examination Day’ by Henry Slesar examining how the writers create suspense in the stories. You should comment on the author’s use of language in the above.

‘The Red Room’ and ‘Examination Day’ are very similar stories in very different ways. The main similarity is that they both contain suspense and the main difference is the time period in which they are written and set.

‘The Red Room’ is set and written in the late 19th Century. Evidence of this is: using language such as ‘askance’ and ‘apoplexy’ (although only used once). He writes ‘Eight-and-twenty years’ rather than writing 28 years, as it would be in modern writing. Wells uses lengthy complex sentences typical of Victorian writing. There is less blood and gore then there would be in modern thrillers. He uses the phrase ‘I shall be so much the wiser’. This is an example of an inversion. There is also evidence within the story of many classic clichés: The part where all the candles keep going out as the protagonist frantically tries to re-light them. The part where the aging people are warning the protagonist not to go ‘on this nights of all nights’. There also just happens to be a full moon on the same night. This is also associated with classic horror/thriller scenes.

‘Examination Day’ is written in modern times and is set in the future in America. Evidence of this is: The child was responding to a computer tester. There was a single government newspaper, which suggests that it was a totalitarian country. There was an ‘automatic stove’. There were regulations about intelligence and mention of a ‘government burial’. Number as appose to surname identified the child.

This is a preview of the whole essay

There are quite a few similarities between the two stories. These being: suspense, paradoxical endings, red herrings, mystery, no blood and gore, mention of death and the tension has been built up. There are quite a few differences too. These being: the time frames and the way in which suspense is created.

In ‘The Red Room’ Wells builds up suspense in a fairly classic way. He slowly puts the story together and makes the reader want to continue with the story. He does this by building up the suspense very slowly. The long passage of the protagonist found on page 208 and develops over two pages. After this long passage, Wells picks up the pace and begins to create a frantic feeling (page 212). He does this using short, sharp paragraphs containing plenty of punctuation. This punctuation has been placed there purposefully and the result is the reader being given a sense of breathlessness. This indicates someone running around frantically. To help the suspense there is no gory description, little conversation and has been written in the first person so you feel empathy. The ending, as I have already mentioned, the ending is very paradoxical. Unlike a classic thriller/horror, there is no monster or creature waiting. It is a twist and is completely unexpected. This story would be for an educated audience as there is plenty of difficult language.

In ‘Examination Day’ Slesar builds up suspense in a very different way. He uses red herrings and the suspense is a very slow process. A typical example is the title. You expect people to want to do well in exams. This is what people still think up to the point where the protagonist’s father begins to answer the protagonists’ simple questions

abruptly and incorrectly. This is shown by: ‘Dad…how far away is the Sun?

Five thousand miles.’

This is the point in the story where the reader senses something bad about the exam. The atmosphere in the home of the family is very tense. This is shown by: ‘The Jordans never spoke of the exam…Mrs. Jordan first

mentioned the subject…the anxious manner of her speech

caused her husband to answer sharply.’

There are plenty of red herrings within this story. One of the main ones being: ‘The government wants to know how smart you are…

I get good marks in school…

This is different…’

This makes readers once again think that the exam is there to pass by getting high marks. This is thought because the protagonist suggests that he can achieve high marks, which would normally mean you pass.

From here, the tension is built up consistently and efficiently right up to the ending. There are several points, which suggest how official and important the examination was. Here are examples of this:

‘Your classification number is 600-115…the voice was clipped; a brisk official voice…there was a young man wearing an insignia-less tunic, seated at a polished desk…’

The ending of this story is very effective. It puts you out of your perplexity and is short and sharp. It tells you why the parents of the protagonist were worried and nothing is left unexplained.