In the opening scenes the two stories are the same in the way that they both introduce the characters straight in with dialogue. Almost as if we have just entered the conversation and it is a normal day for them. For example in “The Red Room” its says “ I can assure you it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me.” This makes us wonder what has already been said, and puts us straight into the action. Also this makes the story seem more real to the reader. In “The Monkeys Paw” Mr White says “Hark at the wind.” To his wife, this shows us, and includes us in a cosy family scene (that is controversial to the later unhappy broken family scene, as if start and end are opposite). This makes us feel relaxed with the story. But also we wonder what could happen to make this happy scene turn sour, as we know it’s a horror story.
But on the other hand the stories are very different in their structure. For instance in “The Red Room” it starts building up the tension straight away. With the old people the old people warning the young man not to enter the red room. We are therefore already aware of where the danger lies and what the main storyline is about. In “The Monkeys Paw” the author builds up the tension slowly. So unlike in “The Red Room” we have to wait to find out the plot. I think this is a good method as the reader becomes hooked, wanting to know what happens. But the other method is good to because you wonder if the red room is entered by the young man and what is so dangerous about it.
The development in “The Red Room” makes tension and atmosphere build up. This is because as the young man walks through the passage he sees a strange statue and his fear begins to show. Then to add to this the lights and shadows start to change as if his fear grows. This is good as it’s showing the fear constantly building up, so that the resolution makes more sense in the ending. The development in both stories is the main build up and it is the section in the stories, which create the most tension. All of the tension builds up to the climax.
In the climax the “Red Room” is much faster moving compared to “The Monkeys Paw” .The pace is important because it grips the reader and stops them from being bored. The tension builds up a lot especially when he starts to question himself about weather ghosts could really be real.W can see this gradual change in his mind about the ghosts when he says” A monstrous shadow of him…”. By the way he refers to the shadow as a human “him” we know that he is thinking of the ghost.
The climax in “The Monkeys Paw” is when Mrs White suggests that they should use the second wish to bring Herbert back. But her husband says no and gets very upset. In the climax of “The Monkeys Paw” it says:
“His brow was cold with sweat, he felt his way round the table and groped along the wall until he found himself in the small passage with the un-wholesome thing in his hand”.
This passage of text is a major source of tension. Especially when it says “ un-wholesome thing”, it makes it sound as if it isn’t all there, its incomplete. Also when it says “brow cold with sweat” this shows his emotion, and makes us think what will be the consequence of his actions.
The resolution is the ending to the story. In “The Monkeys Paw” it leaves us on a cliffhanger. It does this by not telling us what the third wish was. But it leaves us enough information to keep guessing. We know that he does something to cancel the second wish, but we don’t quite know what. This adds in the mystery element. In “The Red Room” the young man awakens surrounded by the old people. But what he experienced in the room didn’t match up to what the old people said. Because they thought it was a ghost in the room. But the young man says it was fear. This is a very clever way to end the story, because it gives the story a moral.
I think that “The Red Room” was the beat ending because it wasn’t what we expected. Also it teaches us a valuable lesson and ties the story together very well.