In Charlotte Brontë’s ‘Napoleon and the Spectre’ it starts with a sentence written in the second person, which the same as ‘An Arrest,’ drags the reader into the story, causing him to read on, “Well, as I was saying, the emperor got into bed.” This seems like a casual start to the story but it hooks the reader and causes him to read on.
In ‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band,’ Sherlock Holmes verbalizes to Watson that a lady has come to see him early in the morning, looking perturbed, “It seems a young lady has arrived in a considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me.” This sentence brings in suspense by using the adjective “considerable” because it shows how desperate she was to see Sherlock Holmes. The verb “insist” also has the same effect, making the reader wonder why she has come to see him.
Likewise, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses this technique again in his second story, ‘A Case of Identity’ also creating apprehension, “From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove buttons.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses descriptive language such as verbs to create an atmosphere of tension.
On the contrary, Ambrose Bierce uses simple language but still creates trepidation by his sentence patterning. The sentence is put in chronological order, taking the reader step by step through the process of his escape, “From the county jail where he had been confined to await his trial he had escaped by knocking down his jailer with an iron bar, robbing him of his keys and, opening the outer door, walking into the night.” By taking the reader through the process of the escape, it keeps building up suspense until eventually it reaches a climax. This is when the amount of suspense created reaches its peak. It is a very effective technique used by the writer.
‘Napoleon and the Spectre’ has various methods of creating suspense. Charlotte Brontë performs this by using fearsome adjectives, “This threat produced no other effect than a short, sharp laugh, and a dead silence followed.” The adjective “dead” illustrates the room as being so quiet it was almost lifeless. In addition, the words “a short, sharp laugh” show how the presence mocks the emperor.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses detailed descriptions to portray his characters, setting a clear image, “… and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation, her face drawn and gray, with restless, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was short with premature gray, and her expression was weary and haggard.” He uses lots of adjectives such as “restless” and similes “like those of some hunted animal” to show that the woman is anxious and frightened, but we don’t know about what. This leaves the reader in suspense and therefore making him read on to find out.
In his second story ‘A Case of Identity,’ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses the same method of displaying his characters, “… there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her ear.” The personality of this woman is not described so as to build up anticipation. The reader, not knowing whom the person is and what she plans to carry out also creates a feeling of mystery.
In contrast, Ambrose Bierce does not use any details to describe his characters. The reader is left to visualize the character himself.
Charlotte Brontë illustrates the Spectre as gruesome,
“It was that of a tall, thin man, dressed in blue surtout edged with gold lace. It wore a black cravat very tightly round its neck, and confined by two little sticks placed behind each ear. The countenance was livid; the tongue protruded from between the teeth, and the eyes all glazed and bloodshot started with frightful prominence from their sockets.” This paragraph builds up suspense like ‘An Arrest.’ It continues till it reaches a climax. Charlotte Brontë describe the Spectre first as a “tall, thin man,” and then describes him as “it.” This creates mystery as well as suspense because the reader does not know exactly what it is.
