Is 'The Red Room' by H.G Wells a good ghost story?

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Jade Edney 10R Archway school                English coursework

        The Red Room

        

Firstly, I am going to discuss ‘The Red Room’ written by H.G. Wells. The story was written in 1896, within the Victorian era, and is written with in the first person narrative. I am going to write how effective ‘The Red Room’ is as a ghost story. As this story is written in Victorian times, the impact of a Victorian reader would very terrifying as novels were new and strange around that period of time. The narrator is the central character of the story, and as it says at the beginning of the story that he is 28 years of age.  

        Following on, as it is written in the first person narrative, it helps the reader to picture and imagine the scene and setting as they’re there. To a Victorian reader, this would certainly be strange and frightening but effective as they most likely wouldn’t have experienced this style of reading before as it was new around that period of time. As I previously wrote, the narrator is the central/main character of the story as is also 28 years old. The story is based on this unnamed narrator who chooses to spend this night within Lorraine castle. The narrator will rest in a room said to be haunted; in an effort to disprove the various legends and rumours claimed about it.

At the beginning of the story he is inside a room with three infirm elderly people inside with him, the owners of Lorraine castle. An old man with a withered arm, an old woman and another old man with shade. He and the beginning of the story is reminded constantly of this ‘haunted room’ and that ‘it’s his own choosing’ to enter the room and try to warn him not to sleep in this room.

After talking and spending time with these old people, the central character finally decides to attend this room and spend the night. He attends the ‘long, draughty subterranean passage’ to the room, where the central character begins to immerge fear himself as at the beginning of the story he is confident, undoubtful and fearless, that he will not see a ghost. His fear seems to take control over him and his thoughts and begins to panic and hallucinate of fantasy appearances and shadows moving around him. The myths of ‘The Red Room’ and the legends and tales of the death of ‘the young duke’ and ‘a timid wife’ are on his mind and frighten him. When he reaches the room he is still frightened and urges himself to stay awake to ‘reassure himself nothing is there’ and he talks to himself showing a side of craziness. The flames flitter and the shadows continue, the central character continues to visualise appearances.  He panics and becomes hysterical, the flames go out and must relight them; in a slight panic he relights the fire with a candle but fails and the ‘darkness thrusts upon’ him, ‘sealed his vision’ and ‘crushed the last vestiges’ from his brain. He then looses his footing and stumbles across the room, screaming. And then he remembers no more.

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The next morning, he wakes up to find the old man with the withered arm watching his face. The old woman pouring out some medicine. In the morning his memory continues to be forgetful as he cannot remember their faces remarkably well. ‘I seem to remember you, and yet I cannot remember who you are.’ They then explained about the room and his memory came into place, slowly. He then claims the room is haunted but by fear, ‘fear that will not have light or sound, that will not bear with reason, that deafens and darkens and overwhelms.’

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