Similarly, ‘The Red Room’ also uses language to build tension and suspense. One of the main effective uses of language in ‘The Red Room’ is the use of personification; “made the shadows cower and quiver”. The shadow embeds fear into the reader, as the shadows seem alive, which creates tension as the reader wonders what will happen next. Furthermore, the fact that the phrase makes it seem that the shadows are scared of something. This is emphasised by the fact that the reader would normally associate shadows with blackness and fear, makes the reader feel uneasy and heightens tension. It is almost as if fear is afraid of fear itself. Moreover, the use of vocabulary further heightens the suspense; “pallid silence”, “ponderous blackness”, “germinating blackness”. All of these words embed a sense of fear into the reader throughout the story which occurs in both stories.
The setting of the stories also creates tension and suspense; “the great red room of Lorraine Castle, in which the young duke died”. The fact that it is set in a castle is not only typical of a gothic genre, but it builds suspense by saying; “in which the young duke died”. This makes the reader feel that death is imminent. It heightens tension as it makes the reader feel as if the narrator will die at the end of the story. Furthermore, there is a great absence of description at the start of the story. This can be compared to the start of ‘The Monkey’s Paw’, where there is also little mention of where the house is. Moreover, another comparison between the two stories is the fact that the two both start in the middle of a conversation. This is to a greater extent in ‘The Red Room”, where the first line is dialogue, but in ‘The Monkey’s Paw’, there is a small section of description before the dialogue occurs. This all leads to the build up of suspense as it leaves the reader speculating and generates ambiguity.
The dialogue used also builds up tension and suspense:
‘As I wished, it twisted in my hand like a snake’
‘Well, I don’t see the money,’ said his wife
From this we can see that by having a section in dialogue, it heightens the tension at that point and quickens the pace of the story. Furthermore, we can see that a simile has been used which helps the reader to visualise what Mr White went through. We can also see that the punctuation used in the story also helps to create tension and suspense, “What’s that?” By italicising the text, it adds emphasis onto it and shows the reader that the character is shocked and speaking in a raised voice. This intensifies the tension and makes the reader want to read on to find out what happens. The fact that the story is in a narrative perspective also creates tension and suspense. As the story is written in the third person, the reader is more removed from the story and the emotional impact. This is a definite contrast to the Red Room, which is written in the first person. The story is more emotive if in first person, as it is as if you are looking through someone’s eyes and sharing the same feelings that they experience.
Equally, dialogue in ‘The Red Room’ is also used by the author to create tension. At first the narrator is sceptical and doubtful about the red room and its alleged supernatural powers; "I can assure you ... that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me". This creates suspense throughout the story as the reader expects the smug non-believer to be a victim of the story which compels the reader to continue reading. However, as the story continues, we see that there is very little dialogue in the later parts of the story. Conversely, the fact that the story is written in the first person compensates for the lack of dialogue in the later parts of the story. The fact that the story is written in the first person, means that you are more emotionally drawn into the story because you are experiencing the same emotions as the narrator. Also, when a story is written in first person, we begin to trust the narrator more as we only have his point of view. We can also see that where there is dialogue, it is the narrator speaking to himself; “‘Steady on!’ I said. ‘These candles are wanted’”. This creates tension as it makes it seem as though the narrator is reassuring himself that nothing bad is going to happen to him.
Tension and suspense is also created through the use of shorter sentences; “His wife sat up in bed listening. A loud knock resounded through the house.” By using short sentences, it adds pace to the story which aids the build up of tension and suspense. Furthermore, we can see that there is a contrast between sentence structures in key areas. When the tension and suspense is building to a climax, the sentences become shorter and sharper to create pace. However, directly after a climax, there is usually a period in the story where there is a descriptive passage which includes longer sentences and longer words:
There was an air of prosaic wholesomeness about the room which it had lacked on the previous night, and the dirty, shrivelled little paw was pitched on the sideboard with a carelessness which betokened no grief belief in its virtues.
This sentence is in severe contrast to the sentences that lead up to a climax in the story. Whereas the shorter sentences want to build up tension and suspense, these longer sentences want to reduce the tension and suspense so that you are not prepared for a climax.
This can be compared to ‘The Red Room’, where tension is also affected by sentence structure. H G Wells uses short sentences to build up pace when leading to a climax in the story; “I stood rigid for half a minute perhaps”. The fact that short sentences have been used, adds pace to the story which forces the reader to read on, creating tension. Furthermore, another way of creating tension is by using commas in long sentences; “The three of them made me feel uncomfortable, with their gaunt silences, their bent carriage, their evident unfriendliness to me and one another.” Commas have been used to compel the reader along to the end of the sentence, thus generating tension. Moreover, in areas where the author wants to reduce tension, after a climax preparing them for another tension point, the author uses long, descriptive passages; “A bronze group stood upon the landing, hidden from me by the corner of the wall”. This descriptive passage is an effective way to relieve tension and prepare the reader for another climax point; it can also be compared to ‘The Monkey’s Paw’, where there are also descriptive passages after a climax in the story.
Another way in which the author creates tension and suspense is by withholding information; “’Well, it’s just a bit of what you call magic perhaps,’”. The way in which the monkey’s paw is initially described intrigues and builds up suspense as not much is mentioned about the paw. Furthermore, we can see that tension and suspense is also created by delaying the delivery of key facts; “’Badly hurt,’ he said quietly, ‘but he is not in any pain.’” By delaying the mention of the White family’s son’s death, it adds suspense and compels the reader to continue reading. Also, the fact that the descriptions of all the characters are not very detailed, gives the characters ambiguity which makes the reader want to find out more about the character as it is implied that that character is mysterious and evil; “a tall, burly man, beady of eye and rubicund of visage”. The fact that the man is “rubicund of visage” suggests that the man is drunk and therefore creates suspense as details about the character are limited.
This is similar to the way that HG Wells creates tension and suspense in ‘The Red Room’. Immediately, we can see that the story begins mid-scene which creates suspense as it ambiguous and leaves the reader wanting to find out more; “I can assure you”. We can also see this in the ending of the story. The ending of this story is an anticlimax as it does not provide all of the answers that are put in the reader’s mind throughout the story, which leaves the ending of the story open to speculation. Furthermore, the fact that we do not find out any of the names of the characters heightens tension from the start; “the old woman”, “the man with the shade”. This also creates suspense as ambiguity is created in the reader’s mind.
We see that there are several conflicts in the story. One of the main contrasts can be seen at the beginning, “the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlour of Laburnum Villa the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly.” We can see that there is a contrast between the outside of the house, where it is dark and dreary, and the inside of the house, where it is happy and cosy. This gives the reader a suggestion that something bad is going to happen. Furthermore, we can see that there is a contrast between superstition and scepticism. In the Victorian times, people were very superstitious and would have believed that the monkey’s paw could actually have a magical effect. However, Jacobs contrasts this by having a rational family that has a cavalier attitude to the monkey’s paw. This would have created tension and suspense as the readers of the time would have known something bad was going to happen as the White family would have been seen as outcasts.
This can also be seen in ‘The Red Room’, but to a lesser extent. Instead of having more subtle conflicts, the main contrast in ‘The Red Room’ is the contrast between light and dark; “little tongue of light…that failed to pierce the opposite end of the room”. This shows that there is not enough light to fully illuminate the room and therefore there are uncertainties. This creates tension as the reader knows something may be lurking in the shadows which could harm the narrator. This can be compared to ‘The Monkey’s Paw’, where there is also this conflict to aid the creation of tension and suspense. Furthermore, there is also a conflict between old age and youth. This is seen at the beginning of the story where the narrator seems to be the only young person, with everyone else being old.
In conclusion, the two stories both use a number of different methods to create tension and suspense. The main similarity between the way in which these two stories create tension and suspense, is that they both use language to create a sense of foreboding. Furthermore, the reader’s interest is maintained in this story by having a good plot structure. There are peaks and valleys of tension in the story which intrigues the reader and makes them want to read onto the end. However, there are also many contrasts between these stories. The most obvious contrast is the fact that ‘The Red Room’ is written in the first person. This makes the reader feel more emotionally involved with the story, whereas ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ is written in the third person and means that the reader is less emotionally involved.