Tension and Suspense in 'The Red Room by H.G. Wells

Authors Avatar

In H.G Wells’ The Red Room tension and suspense are created through the characters, the plot and the setting. The setting is typical of Gothic and Victorian ghost stories. In these times there was no electricity so use of candles for light created an eerie atmosphere. They had no modern technology like televisions for entertainment so they used books and story telling. Also people in Victorians times were less educated than we were now so they relied more on religion than science which made them more gullible which adds to the suspense as they were more likely to believe this story.

Join now!

Short stories usually have to start well to attract a reader’s attention and keep it throughout. The best way to do this is to begin with an enticing level of tension and keep building up throughout the story. Wells uses literary techniques such as short clauses and good word choice to build up the suspense.

The story is based on three old characters warning a man not to stay in the isolated red room, but him being over confident that nothing haunts the room, he goes and stays there over night.

Talk about connotations of colour in the title!!!!

...

This is a preview of the whole essay