The Red Room by H.G.Wells

The Red Room Charles Facey

The Red Room by H.G.Wells

In the story ‘the Red Room’ by H.G.Wells suspense is created in many different ways. The short story has many similarities to a traditional gothic story. He writes in the same style of a gothic story. The story also is structured in many ways, which creates suspense. The setting of the story creates a feeling of suspense and fear. The language and style of the story compares with typical Victorian language, which creates the feeling as well. Atmosphere in the story is one of the main ways suspense is created along with imagery.

The story evolves round an old, derelict house that appears to be in the middle of nowhere. This creates suspense as no one knows where the narrator is exactly and the descriptions of the house also create suspense as it sounds like a typical gothic building. The house has many passages and spiral staircases. These are described on the narrator’s journey to the Red Room. ‘The echoes rang up and down the spiral staircase,’ and ‘I heard the sound of a stick and a shambling step on the flags in the passage outside.’ A typical gothic scene would have many old structured spiral staircases and dark passages. This is another way that H.G.Wells creates suspense. In the story ghosts are the main theme. Typical ghosts in gothic days might have been considered a ‘white sheet floating’. The ghosts in this story are very basic no real descriptions just talk. This creates suspense, as the readers don’t know what is going to happen and what is going to cause it. The Red Room is described as the haunted room. ‘If you will show me to this haunted room of yours.’ The way the room is talked about like this by the characters creates suspense. Darkness is a continual theme in the story and so are shadows. From the text the descriptions of darkness create an enclosed feeling for the reader and the narrator, like a gothic tomb. This creates suspense in a way that fear is because of not feeling safe in the darkness.

‘One could well understand the legends that had sprouted in its black corners, its germinating darkness.’

This is a preview of the whole essay

‘One could well understand the legends that had sprouted in its black corners, its germinating darkness.’

Another main way in which suspense is created is in the structure of the story. At the opening of the story there are four characters, the narrator and the three old people. The way they are all described in a grotesque way creates suspense. ‘Said the man with the withered arm,’ and ‘He supported himself by a single crutch, his eyes were covered by a shade, and his lower lip, half averted, hung pale and pink from his decaying yellow teeth,’ and finally ‘I caught a momentary glimpse of his eyes, small bright and inflamed. Then he began to cough and splutter again.’ The three old people create a slight feeling of suspense when they talk about the room and what happened in it. In the story it sound as if the three people are trying to put the narrator off staying. The old lady says ‘Ah, and eight-and-twenty years you have lived and never seen the likes of this house,’ she also says ‘A many things to see and sorrow for.’ These comments might discomfort the narrator and put him in a fearful position, which creates suspense also for the reader. The story is in the first person here are some examples to show this. ‘I heard the sound of a stick…’ and ‘I half suspected the old people.’ Because the story is in the first person it makes it sound like a diary or a journal. Suspense is created because of the story being in the first person because the audience doesn’t know any more information than the narrator who is visiting the red room. The audience would have no idea of what should happen next so they are not expecting the shocks of surprises. In the short story the room is described and mentioned in many ways, which create suspense and engage interest. Here is an example ‘eight and twenty years you have lived and never seen the likes of this house.’ The lady is trying to say that he has never seen the kind of things that she has seen inside the house. This might make the readers or narrator worry. The lady also says ‘A many things to see and sorrow for.’ The room is mentioned as if it is disliked but important to look after. The mentions of the room create suspense because of this sad dark feeling.

In this short story there is alternating tension and alternating cheeriness of the narrator. The tension starts as soon as he enters the room he locks the door and this shows that he is afraid of anything else coming in to the room. He is worried about his security and safety so he locks the door ‘I entered, closed the door behind me at once, turned the key I found in the lock within, and stood with the candle held aloft.’ Also the movement of holding the candle aloft shows that he is worried and so surveys the room in great detail. This act of being afraid might create tension in the audience. This might make the audience feel afraid for and with the narrator. Another phrase, which shows he is scared, is line 21 on page 46.

‘I pulled up the blinds and examined the fastenings of several windows before closing the shutters, leant forward and looked up the blackness the wide chimney.’

In the short story ‘The Red Room’ by H.G.Wells the scene where the candles start to extinguish is on page 5 of the story. The candles go out very rapidly in the story they go out one by one. At first the extinguishing is blamed on a draught of wind ‘that draughts a strong one.’ Which does not create suspense, as there is no suggestion of any supernatural happenings taking place. On the fourth of fifth time a candle goes out the narrator actually sees it go out and this might make your heart beat faster as you are worried and it creates suspense as you stand for 5-10 seconds completely still to see if you can hear anything that suggests presence of another being in the room. The suspense really starts to begin when the narrator walks over to the 4th and 5th extinguished candles as he says ‘there was no mistake about it. The flame vanished, as if the wicks had suddenly been nipped between a finger and thumb, leaving the wick neither glowing or smoking, but black.’ This quotation suggests that very presence. The ending of the Red Room story is a classical finish, which involves the ‘I woke up the next morning’, this way the story doesn’t get too complicated and also no explanations of what happened in the Red Room need to be thought up as an ending.

English