In ‘The Red Room’ he describes how ‘the grand staircase picked out everything in vivid black shadow or silvery illumination’; the use of ‘silvery illumination’ is a rather ghostly connotation and spawns a mysterious feeling in the reader. This imagery draws the reader in as you visualise this sudden, paranormal ‘illumination’, lighting the room, creating a mysterious atmosphere and a tense anticipation in the reader due to this description of the setting.
HG Wells, however, uses a different technique to create a suspenseful mood in ‘The Cone’ by using his descriptions of the setting to foreshadow the climax of the story. He describes the ‘big ironworks’ as a ‘turmoil of flames and seething molten iron’, foreshadowing to the murder of Raut when he is in ‘turmoil’ himself and falls into the furnace and is engulfed in a ‘swift breath of flame’. The constant reference to ‘fire’ and ‘flame’ sets a nervous expectation within the reader that the fire of the furnace is going to have some sort of play in the outcome of the story.
Another way in which Wells generates a suspenseful mood and atmosphere is through his use of dialogue.
When HG Wells has the narrator of ‘The Red Room’ say ‘There is neither ghost of Earl nor ghost of Countess in that room, there is no ghost there at all; but worse, far worse –‘. This creates a tense feeling within the reader because you wonder what could this thing worse than a ghost be. This example of Wells’ use of dialogue adds to the air of mystery of ‘The Red Room’, as the way in which the narrator conveys his point is very mysterious to a Twenty-First Century reader, this is because the language is so different to our modern day dialect. The Victorian way of speaking did have a mysterious feel to it due to the word order; this is reflected in the mysterious aura created by it throughout the story.
‘The Cone’ also features Wells’ technique of using dialogue to create a suspenseful mood and atmosphere. When Horrocks describes the boiling water below, ‘Blood-red vapour as red and hot as sin; but yonder there…it is as white as death.’ It is as if Horrocks is telling Raut that he knows all about Raut’s sordid affair with his wife and is suggesting to Raut what we now know is going to occur in the dramatic dénouement of the story. As a reader you suspect that Horrocks is going to seek revenge by making an attempt on Raut’s life and this in turn creates tension and suspense.
The structure of the stories themselves also helps to create a mood and atmosphere of suspense as we always feel that both stories are building to something.
HG Wells continual build of mystery and suspense in ‘The Red Room’, from the moment the protagonist narrator utters the words that ‘it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me’, to the constant ghostly happenings and ambiguous characters, everything points to the fact that the protagonist is going to endure a traumatic experience. However, the mystery and suspense comes from the fact that as a reader you are never quite sure of exactly what is going to happen to him.
HG Wells also allows us to predict the murder of Raut at the climax of ‘The Cone’ through the structure of the story itself. His constant references to ‘fire’ and ‘the ironworks’, where Raut ultimately meets his maker, combined with Horrocks’ constant hints that he is planning to kill Raut for Raut’s affair with his wife, leads us to anticipate the dramatic dénouement of ‘The Cone’. Mystery and suspense is created by this because as a reader we are always uncertain as to whether Horrocks threats are just that, threats, or if he actually is willing to kill Raut for his crime of passion, until the final page of the story.
HG Wells is a master of the long sentence used to suggest the actions of the characters or reflect the mood of certain sections of text. He uses this to good effect at dramatic points in both stories. During the narrator of The Red Room’s traumatic experience near the end of the story, Wells launches into one such long sentence to firmly build suspense. He begins with a subordinate clause ‘I turned to where the flames were still dancing between the glowing coals…’ He continually adds additional clauses and phrases onto his complex sentences, adding to the characters panic all the time, ‘as I thrust the candle between the bars darkness closed upon me like the shutting of an eye, wrapped about me in a sifting embrace, sealed my vision, and crushed the last vestiges of reason from my brain.’ As the characters plight worsens the reader becomes tenser and suspense is created.
HG Wells uses a similar technique in the dramatic dénouement of ‘The Cone’. He uses a foray of long sentences to describe the turmoil of Raut when he is clinging to The Cone’s chain and ultimately, his life. ‘He clutched to the chain…A circle of glowing red appeared about him, and a tongue of flame, released from the chaos within, flickered up towards him.’ Again, as Raut’s plight grows worse, the audience becomes tenser as the suspense as to whether or not Raut will survive, increases.
Aswell as this, Wells technique of using figurative language helps to create a mood and atmosphere of suspense in both stories.
In ‘The Red Room’ Wells uses the metaphor ‘My Candle was a little tongue of light’ to add to the ghostly atmosphere, however, it also provides the association of fire and light with hope which is a contrast to ‘The Cone’ where fire is used to represent a form of punishment, which helps to add suspense, ‘Blood-red vapour as red and hot as sin’.
There are a number of similarities and differences between the two short stories. ‘The Red Room’ is clearly a ghost story whereas ‘The Cone’ is a tale of anticipation and suspense. A tense mood is created in ‘The Red Room’ through a build up of supernatural happenings and ambiguous events, however, The Cone’s suspense is created through Horrocks’ threats and the constant references to fire, hell and sin.
In conclusion, HG Wells uses a combination of different techniques to create suspense in both ‘The Cone’ and ‘The Red Room’. He uses both the openings and the descriptions of the location and characters to create the mood and atmosphere of suspense, and then builds on this with his use of dialogue, structure and use of figurative language.
Matt Turner 11F
