In “The Red Room”, there are many techniques used such as personification, this is used when H.G Wells includes the line, “A monstrous shadow of him crouched upon the wall and mocked his actions”. This is personification because shadows can’t crouch upon a wall and mock somebody’s actions. The author does this because it makes the character feel like there is somebody else there in the room with him in the red room. The technique reflects real life because we see shadows all the time, everywhere we go and it makes the character feel more anxious. The character in play doesn’t believe in supernatural beings like ghosts and this makes the character begin to question his beliefs.
Another technique used is a metaphor, there is a metaphor used when the author was describing a candle, he wrote, “My candle was a little tongue of flame in its vastness”. This is a metaphor because the author was comparing the character’s candle with a tongue of flame; this makes the character feel intimidated, lonely, paranoid, scared, vulnerable and isolated because there isn’t much light and it really enhances the darkness of the setting.
Another technique used is a simile, the simile used in the story is, “and as I thrust the candle between the bars, darkness closed upon me like the shutting of an eye”. There is also a personification in that quote but the simile ensures that the reader can picture exactly what the vision is like. It makes the room seem very dark and it makes the reader feel intimidated and the character would feel scared, frightened and again it makes the reader and the character question their beliefs.
A further example of a technique used is repetition. The example of repetition in the story is when the old characters keep on saying, “it's your own choosing” at the beginning of the story, just before the man goes to the red room. It is as if the old people want him to go in to see what it is like but they wouldn’t go in themselves so they are therefore warning him of the possible dangers of going in there. The repetition builds up the suspense because it makes the reader carry on reading because they want to find out what it is like in the red room and why it is so dangerous in there and they want to know the history of the red room. They want to find out about the legendary deaths that took place in that room. It makes the reader realise something is going to happen in the red room so it then increases the tension.
The final technique used in “The red Room” is the setting; the setting of this story is typically gothic because it is set at night in a haunted castle which has history of murders that have taken place in the castle. The example from the story that I have chosen is, “large shadowy room, with its shadowy window bays, its recesses and alcoves, one could well understand the legends that had sprouted in its black corners, its germinating darkness”. This typically gothic setting makes it a scary atmosphere, it shows the darkness of the castle at night and it increases the fear that the character has and so it therefore makes the reader more attracted to the room and the story making them want to read on. This quote causes imagery because it helps the reader imagine the scene and what the room would look and feel like so it makes the reader feel apprehensive.
The gothic elements used in “Confession Found in a Prison” are death, murder, blood and the man was alone in a dungeon while he was writing before his death, which is a typical gothic setting.
One of the techniques used in “Confession Found in a Prison” is a metaphor; the example used is, “his mother’s ghost looking from his eyes”. This metaphor is used to describe the way the man felt about the boy’s mother and even though she was dead, he could still see the boy’s mother and he didn’t like it. The metaphor makes the reader realise this and it also makes the reader perceive that the man is going to do something to the boy so that the reader then wants to read on to see what happens. The metaphor therefore builds up enigma and tension.
Another technique used is a simile; the simile used in the story is, “like the memory of a dark dream”. This simile describes the way he feels now the woman has died, the simile is saying that he remembers her but he doesn’t want to remember her and it feels like she is haunting him. The simile causes the reader to feel like they know more now about the way he felt about the woman and the way he feels now. It makes the reader feel like they know that there was a history between them and that it didn’t do the man much good because he didn’t like being untrustworthy or less likeable than his brother who always seemed to be perfect.
The next technique used in the story is personification. The personification that is used in the story is, “if a breath of air sighed across it, to me it whispered murder”. This personification indicates to the reader that the man is beginning to regret what he did to the boy. It suggests that the man now has the boy’s blood on his hands and he can’t stop thinking about it because any time anything happens near where the body lay, he didn’t like and it reminded him of what he did and also the reason he did it.
The next technique used was the typical gothic setting when the man is writing in the dungeon. The story says, “Alone in this stone dungeon with my evil spirit”. This is a typical gothic setting because he is alone and he is in a dungeon which is thought to be scary and horrific and sometimes haunted. He also refers to himself as another person away from his evil spirit because he didn’t want to kill the boy, his evil spirit did. This setting encourages the reader to realise that the character is sorry for what he did, however it also makes the reader remember that he did kill the boy and was caught out and he will suffer the consequence of death the next day himself. It reminds the reader that it is a gothic story.
The last story called, “The Superstitious Man’s Story” isn’t what is described to be typically gothic, however, and it does include gothic elements. This story isn’t typically gothic because it doesn’t definitely have murders or doppelgangers; the story just persuades the reader to assume that those things are the solution to the story. This is clear because in the story when the villagers say that they had seen the man, they could have been mistaken. Thomas Hardy only uses one technique in the story which is a simile. The simile is, “sleeping as sound as a rock”. He uses this simile to show that there was no sign as movement so there is no real proof he was there.
In “The Red Room”, H.G Wells uses the techniques repetition to convince the reader that there is something significant of that room. He uses personification, for example when he describes the shadow to be mocking the characters action so that the reader can imagine that in the room it feels like you’re being followed. He uses an effective setting in the red room with dark, daunting colours. Finally he uses metaphors and similes to help the reader picture the room as he describes it.
In “Confession Found in a Prison”, Charles Dickens uses similes and metaphors to emphasise the man's feelings, he used personification to describe his feelings of guilt and regret when he says that the wind that passes whispers murder to him. He also uses an effective setting when he describes the dungeon that the character is present in when he was writing the story.
In Thomas Hardy’s “A Superstitious Man’s Story”, Hardy uses just a simile to prove to the reader that there is a possibility that the man might not have been there because there was no sign that the man was there.
In my opinion, I found “The red Room” the most effective story because the techniques used such as the similes and metaphors really helped me imagine the picture and the scene the story was describing. Also it used many other techniques like the setting described and personification that made me feel suspense and exhilaration whilst reading the story. It also had the best storyline because it had a secret history of murders and deaths that were not exposed; they were just hinted when the old people were warning him of the red room and its effects it has on people. It also has two sides to the story; it has a supernatural side because of the history and noises and shadows that couldn’t be explained. The second side is the realistic side when he gets out of the castle and he realises that it wasn’t ghosts or spirits in the room that were making him uncomfortable but it was just his mind playing tricks on him.
