Discuss the techniques through which H.G Wells communicates tension in "The Red Room".

Discuss the techniques through which

H.G Wells communicates tension in “The Red Room”

The title “The Red Room” immediately gives a sense of danger, because we associate red with warning and danger. This quickly creates a feeling that the room is dangerous. This attracts our attention because we want to know why the room is red and if it is dangerous. The writer starts the story with the reader immediately in on the scene, there is no introduction, but we do meet all the characters, though their names are never mentioned. We meet a young man, who is to stay in the Red Room, an old women and two old men.

From the first line we get the idea that there is a ghost in the room “I can assure you’ said I ‘that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me”. This also tells us that the man is not scared by ghosts or such things. The story is straight to the point as to keep the reader involved and interested.

The younger man does not seem to have a problem with going into the Red Room but the old lady and two old men are convinced there is something in the Red room and will not go in as they are obviously scared.

H.G Wells also uses repetition to create tension. The first example of this is on the first page when he repeats “It’s your own choosing”. This repetition is used again as the man is leaving to go to the room. The old man is warning the man but he is saying that the decision is the man’s. Another use of repetition is when the old woman repeats “this night of all nights”. Although we don’t know what is awful about this night we are curious to find out.

The location of the story is important, it is set ...

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The location of the story is important, it is set in a castle and we often associate castles with history and sometimes terrible deaths. The duke of the castle obviously had a horrible death and the old people think that he is the cause of the haunting. Also castles are very large with many corridors and rooms, this adds to the feeling of uneasiness and lack of knowledge of the castle.

As the man makes his way to the Red Room he becomes less and less rational as the feeling of insecurity sets in. Although the man knows there is nothing there he still becomes taken in by the blackness of the whole castle. Still we have not actually seen or heard that anything is there.

As the man continues down the corridor he becomes more and more aware of the shadows around him. This shows that the darkness is more frightening than being able to see what is going on around and knowing what is there.

Tension is also built by how the young man expresses his feelings. To try and conquer his fear of the unknown the man places a candle in the corner where he fears there is something “I walked into it, and satisfied myself that there was nothing tangible there.” Here he refers back to the first line about tangible ghosts.

More tension is built as the man begins to talk to himself. He listens to the eerie echoes and becomes more frightened than before. In the Red Room the tension is building all the time, the man is getting more nervous and putting more candles out to try to reassure himself. The man is getting more anxious and jokes about how he should warn any ghost about tripping over a candle on the floor. “It occurred to me that when the ghost came, I could warn him not to trip over them.”

Then it happens. The first candle goes out, casting a black shadow on the wall. The second goes out and the tension is boosted and there becomes a sense of uncertainty as to why the candle went out. The man tries to convince himself that it was a draft that blew the candles out but he has not felt any draft beforehand. The man tries to reassure himself by lying to himself although he is getting a deeper feeling that he may not be alone. As the man re-lights the candle it goes out then another and another. One is then extinguished in front of his own eyes. “shadows seemed to take another step towards me.”

The light in the room seems to symbolise truth. Without the light of the candles there is no truth in the room. And as the room goes into darkness the man panics even more because he realises that he does not remember where the door out of the Red Room is. As the shadows get nearer the man he becomes further away from the truth that was going with the light. The warmth of the fire seems to ward off the evil, but when it goes out the man thinks that evil can reach him.

As the man is rushing around trying to keep up with the candles going out panic is building. The use of short, sharp expressions in this part of the story highlights the tension in the room even more. “I dashed at the alcove, then into the corner, and then in to the window”. The mans downward fall comes when he hits his thigh on the table, here he loses control. This point seems to be the tension climax of the story.

The tension seems to unwind after the climax, the man wakes up out of the room with the elderly people around him.

There was nothing really in the room the man only thought there was. The red room builds its own tension. The only reason the man became scared was because he believed there was something in the room. The mans fear took over and the only reason he thought there was something in the room was because he had been told there was.