There are three other inhabitants of Lorraine Castle, an old man, an old woman, and another old man but we never know their names. The young man has doubts as to whether the red room is actually haunted. The three old people think that the room is haunted and so don’t think of going there. Although the older people may be wise they still think it is haunted because of stories that they have heard. The man with ‘the withered arm’ repeatedly tells the visitor, ‘it’s of your own choosing.’
The old man is trying to warn the visitor but at the same time he is leaving the decision to him. It is as though it is their duty to warn the man of what they believe is to be his death. Another example of repetition is where the old woman keeps on repeating,’ This night of all nights.’ Another reason why this is important is because it helps to make us think why was that night important and it helps to increase the reader’s sense of curiosity.
The location for Lorraine castle to be in is also important because it is an appropriate scene for the story since it has rooms, corridor, and spiral stairs. On his way to the red room, he comes across what looks like a figure in front of him, only to find it an ornament of a ‘Chinaman on the buhl table’ then as he approaches the red room, the tension builds and he enters very quickly closing the door behind him of the red room. He finds himself in a huge red walled room. As he arranges the room, tension is allowed to fall giving the reader a moment to breathe. As he becomes gradually more aware of the shadows in the room, the tension rises again,’ The shadow in the alcove at the end in particular had an indefinable quality of a presence, that odd suggestion of a lurking, living thing, that comes so easily in silence and solitude’. The shadow is personified and seems to have a tangible, sinister presence in the room.
Once again this shows us how darkness if far more frightening than being able to see and knowing what is there. Tension is built by way the young man shows his feelings. To conquer his fear of the unknown the man places a candle in the alcove of the corner of the room, ‘At last to reassure myself, I walked with a candle into it’
Here he is referring to the opening line about having to find a very tangible ghost.
Tension mounts as he begins to talk to himself, but after to the eerie echoes, he gets more nervous and he feels the need for more candles. He then gets some and places them around the room. His spirits lift but there is also tension through his humor. He then describes ‘cheery and reassuring flames’ but he is beginning to get nervous and he jokes how he should warn any ghost about tripping over a candle, ‘I could him not to trip over them’.
Then it happens. The first candle goes out, casting a black shadow on the wall. The second candle goes out and tension in the story is increased, as there is uncertainty about why the candle went out. Although the man does not feel any draft, he claims that it was a draft that blew it out. He tries to reassure himself by lying to himself although he has a deeper feeling that he may not be alone. As he goes over to re-light the candle, it goes out, then another and another. Then one is extinguished in front of him while he is looking at it, ‘Shadows seemed to take another step towards me’
The darkness creates the tension and fear, ‘an invisible hand seemed to sweep out’. When the man says that the shadows take another step towards him, he means that fiction is closing in upon him and as it does, he is been drawn away from rational, logical thought.
However at the end, the man literally becomes a reflection of the old people as he allows fear to overcome him. Panic mounts as the room plunges into shadows with him racing around trying to keep up with the candles going out. Clumsily he knocks his thigh against the table and due to this, fear really begins to get a strong grip on him from this point onwards and so he loses control. He loses his battle for truth as he lights the fire with the last remaining candle. Due to panic and fear overwhelming him, he runs into something else and knocks himself out. H.G.Wells uses tension to make the story interesting and keep the readers attention towards the book. The story has number of meanings and themes.
H.G.Wells employed effective methods to help create and maintain tension in the most brilliant of ways.
