Ray Bradbury uses the device of tension and relief convincingly. He does this by using short and long sentences he mixes them around creating tension and relief. An example of this is when Lavinia Nebbs is walking home and she has to cross the Ravine she is scared that the Lonely One will catch her. Ray Bradbury here uses short and long sentences for example here is a short sentence “I’ll be safe home.” And here is a long sentence used “Home. Oh safe at home. Safe, safe, and safe at home! The effect is that it makes you feel safe for the moment, but anything could happen. Ray Bradbury has also given the story an unusual ending, it is not a happy ending but it is a good one because you do not know what will happen next.
Wilkie Collins however uses a different structure in creating tension because the story is leading up to a happy and resolved ending as the narrator is telling the story, this means the tension can only last for a certain amount of time, this should be before the ending as this is the time when he gets attacked. Wilkie Collins also uses long sentences frequently in the story.
In both stories there are examples of prediction and the foreboding of terror. In a Terribly Strange Bed an example of this is when the protagonist says “Probably they had expected to profit by my intoxication.” This suggests the protagonist knows the old soldier is trying to steal his money. He is predicting the foreboding terror. Where as in the Whole Towns Sleeping an example is when Lavinia Nebbs says “Someone’s on the steps behind me I don’t dare turn around.” This suggests Lavinia is predicting that the Lonely One is behind her.
In a Terribly Strange Bed the characters play a role in creating tension because of the things they say an example of this is when the protagonist says, “Was the bed moving?” this creates tension because you want to know if the bed was actually moving. The main narrator seems drunk and giddy this gives the effect of the bed moving being a dream or something he is imagining.
It could be argued that in the Whole Towns Sleeping there is a character development of Lavinia. She begins the story being fearless, she is not scared of the Lonely One and what he is going to do, she is described as being “as cool as mint ice cream.” This suggests that she is very cool headed yet by the end of the story there is a feeling that she is very scared of the Lonely One and what he is going to do if he catches her, she seems to be scared of something she wasn’t scared of at the start of the story. In the Whole Towns Sleeping there is a constant reminder of time while Lavinia is walking home, she is constantly counting her steps and how long it will take her to get home “fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen steps” this creates a feeling of her keeping the time, “three minutes from now I will be putting my key in the front door.” This also shows Lavinia counting time. This suggests that the characters are being used to create a sense of time.
It is my opinion that the Whole Towns Sleeping has more realism because of the fact the murderer is not a bed he is in human form but never takes any specific form, which makes it more exciting to read. There is a better use of feeling in the story The Whole Towns Sleeping because when Lavinia is walking home she goes through a lot of feelings she goes from being scared to being calm and relaxed. I think its better because the feelings vary from bad to good. An example of this could be found in the use of senses because when Lavinia is walking home she uses hearing because she is listening to see if she is being followed “she heard a man’s voice singing far away,” this suggests she is listening to what’s behind her.
In the ’Whole Towns Sleeping’ time is used frequently. Time of night is often referred to for example when Lavinia is walking home she is walking in the dark late at night, this creates a scary atmosphere for Lavinia because of the Lonely One only attacking at night. When Lavinia is walking home she estimates how long it will take her to walk home “three minutes from now I’ll be putting my key in my front door.”
As she is walking home she also counts her steps creating a feeling of her keeping time “one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine steps.” This suggests that she has the end in sight, it also creates a pulse as she is counting her steps.
In the Whole Towns Sleeping adverbs such as slowly and quickly aren’t used much, they are however used when Lavinia is walking home “walked a little faster,” that is one example another is “Faster, Faster.”
In the Whole Towns Sleeping the moonlight is used occasionally. It used mainly to outline a threat or danger for example “coming down the street towards her in the dimming moon lights was a man.” This shows that there is a suspicious man possibly the Lonely One. Another example is “a man under the light,” this again shows that there is another suspicious person.
In a Terribly Strange Bed time is not referred to as often as the Whole Towns Sleeping. Adverbs such as slowly and quickly are used a few times in this book “faster,” this word is used a few times I this story. In the story a Terribly Strange Bed the moonlight is mentioned a lot for example “the moonlight shining into the room reminded me of a certain moonlight night in England.”
“Brightened by a lovely moonlight pouring straight through the room.” This is a good thing for the narrator. In this story the moonlight is used to describe the feelings of the narrator. In this story there are hardly any references to time and the progression of time.
In both stories similes are used there is one example from the Whole Towns Sleeping where Lavinia is described as being “as cool as mint ice cream.” In a Terribly Strange Bed an example of a simile is “as if I had been drinking liquid fire.” This suggests he is going to die.
In the Whole Towns Sleeping there is frequent repetition for example “safe at home. Safe, safe and safe at home.” Another example is the word “I’ll” this word is used a lot in the Whole Towns Sleeping. Where as in a Terribly Strange Bed there is little repetition. In both stories it can be argued that they both use some of the five senses for example in the Whole Towns Sleeping when Lavinia walks home through the ravine she uses the sense of hearing “She heard,” the story also uses the sense sight “she saw.”
In a Terribly Strange Bed the senses used are sight “I turned round and saw,” the sense of touch is used “I poked.”
In the Whole Towns Sleeping there is historical and cultural context. Bradbury wrote this story in 1955 he uses a women as the hero and the victim because of women not having the same rights as men, in this story I think he is trying to say that women do have uses and should not be treated as possessions. He also makes Lavinia very strong minded I think he is also trying to say that women are not weak and stupid, but they are strong and clever. Lavinia is a very strong character “as cool as mint ice cream,” she is not scared of anything at the start of the story but as the story ends she gets weaker and weaker.
In a Terribly Strange Bed was written in 1854, at this time after the French Revolution there was a lot of hatred between France and England. Wilkie Collins also writes in the gothic genre. In the gaming house an example of evil is a man who is described as having vulture eyes “with the vulture eyes,” this is evil as vultures are predators who scavenge and that is evil.
I preferred the Whole Towns Sleeping because, I preferred the human murderer from the bed, because you never know what form it will take and also it is more realistic than a bed murderer. The Whole Towns Sleeping does not have a happy ending I liked that, whilst a Terribly Strange Bed had a happy ending which I thought was a bit boring because it was not original as most stories have a happy ending and I liked the change.