The central character is usually also the narrator of the story, and through them we get a feeling of what is happening around them and the build up of atmosphere. This character is usually naturally wary and unsure of the existence of the ghost for the first part of the story, though not completely close minded to the existence of the supernatural, and by the end of the story they are convinced that such manifestations do exist, and that paranormal events do occur.
The power of description and use of language is very important in there stories, and must do exactly what they are intended to do due to the shortness that is forced upon them. This does not meant that they are lacking however in way, just that they help to move the plot along effectively and develop the story. The descriptions that the writer use often play on the readers senses, by referring to things that we already know but giving them a twist, also the descriptions are also very to the point, and get a lot of information across to the reader in a small space. The writer plays on our stereotypes, prejudice and preconceptions of events, places and people in such a way so as to reduce the amount of time that has to be spent explaining what's going on, but also uses our basic associations as well. For example we identify light and day with 'purity' or 'goodness' and dark and night with 'evil' and 'death'.
All of the above are used for the backbone of the short story, and that is the creation of tension and suspense within the reader. All of these are needed in some way to help this. The tension and suspense helps to move the plot along smoothly, but also to speed it up at the moments which need to be more intense and the usual expected climax to the story.
The stories that I have read are the pre 1900's piece by H G Wells named 'The Red Room', and the post 1900's piece by Susan Hill, named 'Farthing House', both of which fall into the short ghost story category of literature. I expect the main concepts of the stories to be very similar in that they are both based upon the notion of a ghost, and think that they will play on the literary traditions that are applicable to ghost stories. I think that possibly the pre 1900's story will keep to the literary traditions more closely than the post 1900's piece, because literary trends at this time were more rigid. I think the later piece may still use the literary traditions in place but alter and subvert them in order to achieve a good overall effect. Despite these differences there will still be a lot of similarities that are visible, due to the following of the literary tradition.
The titles of the stories are the first thing that the readers see when they start to read the story, so this has to make some kind of impact on them primarily. The title of 'The Red Room' uses colour symbolism to affect the reader. The colour red is associated with a number of things, the most predominant of these in this case being danger, fear and evil. Red is the colour that is used for warning signs, a red traffic light stops traffic, and so on, and when the reader thinks of the colour red when reading the title, all of these things will be brought to mind. This helps to build up tension even before the story begins. The 'Room' section of the title is very anonymous and we are curious as to what is so special about this room and its particular colouring. This title represents the unknown factor in the story, and we automatically fear the unknown, bringing in the fear factor also.
The title of 'Farthing House', immediately calls to the readers' mind the vision of an old style large house, a house of past importance, hence the fact that it is named, unlike the 'red room'. Despite this naming of the house, we can tell that this house will play a major part in the plot as with the 'red room' and this creates suspense, as, like before, we wish to know more about this place, and why it has become feared or believed to be haunted. The name 'Farthing' also represents the age of the house, as it makes reference to old money that is no longer in use.
The openings to both of the stories immediately go into action, in creating suspension and tension, by introducing the main character and also building up the atmosphere.
The first line in 'The Red Room', " 'I can assure you,' said I, 'that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me.' " Sees us emerged immediately into a dialogue, that between the main character and the other minor characters, and it addresses the main subject of the story, that of the sceptical young man, " '…There's a many things to see, when ones still but eight-and-twenty.' ". The mystery of the house is built up by the old woman that comments, " '…you have lived and never seen the likes of this house, I reckon.' ". This makes the reader want to read on and find out more about the house, and what has happened there to make to old people fear it.
In 'Farthing House', tension is built up, but we are looking back towards the event in question, that which the narrator/main character is beginning to recount whilst writing it down. The fact that she has to write it down and wait so long to do just this makes the reader wonder what could have possibly happened that would had made the woman so nervous and shaken, " I daresay it has made me vulnerable too, that this has brought the events to mind…I began to be restless…in a rush I remembered…I went in a daze… ". The language also used in the description of the surroundings is very rich and appeals a lot to the senses, " a light wind blew suddenly across the grass…I caught the smell of it, that most poignant, melancholy, nostalgic of all smells… ", So that the reader can associate to what it would be like to be there, and this help to evoke a mood of uncertainty and unease within the reader.
The characters used in both stories differ in the way in which they are used to contribute to the plot and final outcome.
In 'The Red Room' the anonymous sounding title is shown also through the characters, who remain nameless throughout the story and are merely described in great detail by the young man who narrates, " said the man with the withered arm ". The characters in this story are in place to complete the plot, but more importantly to become involved in the symbolism which is predominant throughout. After we have read the entire story we become aware of the poignant theme of fear and the unknown that is present. The 'supernatural' and unknown represent the fear. When the young man comes into the house he is sceptical of the existence of a ghost in the room, though not entirely as he is indeed staying a night in the room to see what happens. This presents much opposition in the story. The housekeepers are used as a contrast to the young man in order to cause the tension to mount, but this also provides more symbolism.
The first obvious opposition, is that between youth and age. The man comments most profusely on this when describing the old people, and shows his lack of regard for anything which they have to say to him with regards to the room " There is to my mind something inhuman in senility, something crouching and atavistic ". This also draws in the conflict between that of the semi-sceptic and the believers in the myths and the ghost, and also when the old woman comments on the lack of experience that the man has had of life, which is hypocritical due to the fact that she hasn't ever spent the night in the room herself, " And we, who have lived here all our lives, have never set eyes upon it ". All of these conflicts which become even more significant upon completion of the story, all help to build the tension, we are eager to see who will be proved wrong and now because of the factors involved (the man is young and inexperienced but willing to seek the truth, the elders old and wise yet have never seen these things to verify them), we are unsure of how things will turn out.
The old characters at the beginning of 'The Red Room', also add tension to the story by mentally washing their hands of the young mans' actions through the repetition of, " It's your own choosing ". This makes us curious as to why they would need to do this, and this coupled with the phrase of, " this night of all nights ", builds up the tension through this curiosity. The last quote shows this more clearly for we learn that there was nothing significant of 'this' night at all, therefore the sentence was included merely to build up more suspense.
In 'Farthing Hill', the characters are in place more to contribute to the actual plot and to build tension, more than to add to a theme, and therefore we are given a lot more information about them, " I was going to see Aunt Addy…independent always, so energetic, so very much her own person all her life… ". This information is given not only to liven up the story but to build tension also. Throughout the many descriptions (like that of Aunt Addy), we are kept waiting and wonder what is going to happen next, as the plot is slowed down to a crawl. This is obviously done deliberately and in fact most of the information is not that of a necessity but make the woman's story much more credible when she does finally get to the main section. The woman's account in this story is much more emotive than that of the young man in 'The Red Room', because this story is designed to give the reader much more of a feeling of empathy towards the narrator.
In both of the stories the climax of the plot occurs in the location mentioned in the title given at the beginning. This is expected and helps to return to the idea that the title is what sets the initial feeling of tension and want more information in the reader.
In 'The Red Room', the young man is already in the house in which the room is in, but his hosts will not escort him to the room itself. This builds up the tension in the reader- why will they not take him to the room? What's in the room which is so terrible that they do not go there? The room itself it not reached immediately either. As the man walks through the house towards the room, the tension is deliberately built up even more, " their very existence was spectral… ". The house is described by the young man and we can see his fear and paranoia first begin to get the better of him, " listening to a rustling that I fancied I heard…gave me the impression of some one crouching to waylay me. ". This bring the theme of fear closer to the foreground.
Upon reaching the room we can see that it is more or less what we expected, ornate, old and very red indeed. Throughout the 'red room' part of the plot, the writer continually talks of lightness and darkness, making a connotation between light and security, safety and goodness, " There was something very cheery and reassuring in these streaming little flames ", and darkness with evil, uncertainty and fear, " one could well understand the legends that had sprouted in its black corners, its germinating darkness. ". Fear is personified throughout the room and even the young man himself refers to it (or rather the ghost) as having human traits (see previous quote and following), " It followed me through the corridor, it fought against me in the room ". The sentences during the climax of the plot are short and punchy and/or use a lot of punctuation to keep the action moving along a good speed and to emphasise the excitement that is taking place, " to and fro in the darkness, of a cramped struggle, and of my own wild crying as I darted to and fro, of a heavy blow at last upon my forehead… ". All of these things make this scene more effective.
Some of these can be seen also in the 'Farthing House' story. In the minor occurrences of run-ins with the ghost in Farthing house, the narrator always mentions the smell that occurs at the same time, " The only other thing I noticed was the faintest smell of hospital antiseptic…The antiseptic smell was faintly there again too… ". Also the comments on how cold the room was or various situations to do with the ghost, a generally known 'fact' about the presence of ghosts that a reader would presumably know about and therefore would associate it with, " the room felt horribly cold…a rush of air came in to the room, and it went even colder ".
Unlike in the other story however, this ghost isn't depicted to be malicious, just suffering, which is a major difference, as the narrator talks more about how she felt about the ghosts' pain, rather than about how she tried to protect herself from it, " I was desperate to follow her, because I felt that she needed me in some way ". Some sentences still show however the fear that the narrator had, despite wanting to help again in the form of shorter sentences and more punctuation to emphasise this paralysing fear, " But I could not speak to her, my throat felt paralysed. I tried to swallow, but even that was difficult, the inside of my mouth was so dry ".
The ghost is described in detail to the reader so that they will almost feel like they are in the story, it involves them more, and makes the story seem more real and the ghost more tangible, " She was young, with a flowing, embroidered nightgown, high necked and long sleeved ".
The endings to the stories are also different but still follow the literary traditions of short ghost stories. In 'The Red Room', the idea of the theme of fear is brought to closure by a conclusion by the young man and the elder man, about what does actually lie in the room, " 'The worst of all the things that haunt poor mortal man,' said I; 'and that is, in all its nakedness- Fear!'…There is Fear in that room of hers- black Fear, and there will be- so long as this house of sin endures.' ". In these quotes we can see that the writer has wrote the ending so that the tension is picked up one last time, an gives an ominous warning about the house, and the eternal struggle between good and evil or fear. It gives the reader something to think about after they have finished reading this book, and how they would have acted in the young mans' situation and also, wondering what the people who look after the house are going to do next.
In 'Farthing House', the ending is a more emotive one, where the writer returns to the reason why she remember this story in the first place, which is that of a newspaper article. We are left to think about how the woman felt who had been haunting Farthing House and also given an optimistic note by the narrator to end, " But I imagine that she has gone, now that she has what she was looking for. "
I think that as I predicted, these stories did follow the literary traditions set down for short stories and ghost stories, although they both approached it from a different angle, which is more than likely due to the differences in the time periods the separate authors were writing in. I think that they were both effective stories for many reasons. The earlier written story of the two pieces, 'The Red Room', was very effective at representing the symbolism that is associated with fear and ghosts, and provided a lot of tension through use of very descriptive language, that was used to describe the surroundings very well. A good overall moral story for the weakness of the human race. The second newer piece, 'Farthing House', was also an effective piece, and the female writer seemed to make it a more emotional piece, which concentrated more on the mystery of the ghost rather than the fear that it invoked, and also the woe and sense of loss that the ghost felt was very effectively displayed through use of descriptive language and sensory images.
