“The Red Room” written by H.G Wells in 1894. Between the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, a particular style of writing was becoming more popular. This was gothic. Gothic literature attempts to horrify the reader and always engages in the paranormal. “The Red Room” displays some gothic qualities with the castle, haunted rooms, ghosts and witches etc. Contrasting to the other two stories, this tale is not linked to the era in which it was set; this may have been done perhaps so that Wells could explore the ageless nature of fear itself. Therefore there are very few references which indicate that it dated back to this time. Also, it is greatly emphasised how old and conventional the objects and scene in the castle and the surrounding environment. Wells borrowed from the fictional tradition of Gothic literature when he wrote “The Red Room”, intentionally being mysterious about its particular period or location.
For the setting in “The Signalman”, it is in a railway cutting with a “gloomy, depressing” tunnel. There are steep sides with a zigzag path on it. Here everything just seems normal but you can feel that there is something suspicious about the place. Also the environment is compared to a “great dungeon”. Automatically, you think of darkness, denseness and cave like. All these images add to the idea of tension. The signals are controlled by sending telegraph signals up and down the line and communicated to the operator by a system of bells. The signalman has to change the signals mechanically by means of a set of levers. It sounds as if it is lonely, eerie and especially melancholy. The story does not start like a traditional story or even end like one which contributes to the eeriness of the story. The cutting itself is “extremely deep, and unusually precipitate.” The narrator refers to the “clammy stone” and how “it became oozier and wetter as I went down.” The mouth of the tunnel is described as having “a barbarous, depressing and forbidding air.” These details, combined with the cold wind and loneliness of the place, add up to a feeling of dread and foreboding consequently adding the effects of suspense and tension.
In terms of language, Dickens uses words which show it is gloomy, depressing and eerie, for example “forbidding air” and “left the natural world” gives the impression that it is like a grave, a forbidden place to be in and very dark and gloomy. It also has repetition for example “There was… There was… There were… There were” which shows that the things are solid, touchable and not imagery, and “Why not tell me… Why not tell me?” shows that he his mentally tortured by the responsibility. Dickens also uses emotive words like “tombs” which is like a reminder of death and “supernatural” has a winding tension to it, which I like most of all.
“The Signalman” is a short story about a man who works for the railway company. There is also another character in this story. The Gentleman is the other character in the story. We never get to know his name. This is one way Charles Dickens built up tension, by making the Gentleman a mysterious character. We similarly never get to know the Signalman’s name either which adds to the mystery. As for the characters in ‘The Signalman’, there are two and they seem quite normal and not very strange and out of earth. The narrator in ‘The Signalman’ is a person in a high class and very educated. He feels that the signalman is very lonely and that he is afraid. The narrator feels sorry for the signalman. It seems to me that he is a person who does not know what he is dealing with or what is happening to him. The signalman taught himself “a language” and worked at “fractions and decimals and a little algebra”. In the story, the signalman sees a “spectre”; the way the ghost stands under the light is a strange way. It makes the signalman eerie and I ask myself why the “spectre” stands under the “danger light”, waving to the signalman and at the same time covering his face in a movement of “mourning”. It does all this to warn the signalman about something or probably death. This also adds mystery about the “spectre”. Tension is built in the beginning of “The Signalman” and is increased when the signalman looks at the tunnel in a “most curious” way and especially towards the “danger light”. It makes you wonder why he is doing that. Repetition also builds up the tension for example; “I am troubled… I am troubled”. Dickens then winds up the tension when he says that he feels that the “feeling is passed on” to him in a “supernatural way”, that seems it is a good sign, that the narrator is beginning to understand what the signalman feels. Tension is builds up when he says “he would walk for an hour, half an hour doing down, the other back” then he will go to his “signalman’s box”. That made it more personal. All kinds of questions are asked in your head, so you want answers very quickly therefore it drove me to read on and that’s what I like in terms of tension.
“The Red Room” is in “Loraine Castle” which is dark and isolated. The spiral staircases, large windows, long corridors, door covered in baize and statues makes the place more dangerous and no one can help if someone is in trouble. Spiral staircases shows that they would not know what is coming round the corner. Long corridors and a door covered with baize shows that sound cannot travel a lot, so there is no escape. In Wells’ story I like the idea of the spiral staircases that keeps you in suspense; therefore you do not know what will happen. In “The Red Room” there are two pervious stories about staying in ‘The Red Room’. The first story is that a young duke stayed in the room then came out running, opened the door and “fallen headlong” down the stairs. It happens because he wants to conquer the “ghostly tradition” of the palace. The second story is that a “timid” wife who her husband scared her to death, just for fun. H.G. Wells thinks that it is “half-credible”. In this story there is no ghost, but Wells gives it away when he says it in the end. In “The Red Room” it is all about the fear of standing in one room without any light. The hero in “The Red Room” wants to reason everything out but still is afraid. He keeps finding reasons, but the “room” makes him think the shadows are strangling him. At the end there is no “tangible” ghost. This shows a twist to the end of the story and subsequently would hold the reader in suspense.
As for the characters, there are three old people and the hero. The hero is a 28-year-old man, does not believe in ghosts and “will relieve you from the task of entertaining” him. He is brave and has the courage to go in that room on the “night of all nights”. There is an old lady and two very old men. The old lady has “pale eyes”, which keeps staring in the fire; she also rocked her head from “side to side”. The first old man has a withered arm, wrinkled and has “red eyes”. The other old man has a stick, “shambling steps”. He is even more bent, more wrinkled and more “aged” than the first one. His lips is drooping, he had “decaying yellow teeth”. He has a “queer unnatural tilting” and “rocking” face.
In this short story the language is exaggerated and has gothic words. There is alliteration on the letter ‘d’ in the phrase “deafens and darkness” which seems it is dramatic and daring. The phrase “the nights of all nights”- makes you seem that there is something curious about that night. When the narrator “walked down the chilly, echoing passage”, you get the image of darkness, and cold temperature which adds the tense effect. Also, the sounds used throughout the story give the sensation of an eerie atmosphere. Examples of these could be, “rustling”, “silence” and “wild crying”. Wells also uses metaphors, which build up the tension and suspense for example “legends that had sprouted”, “tongue of light” and “ocean of mystery”. In the ‘The Red Room’ I like the language except the exaggeration and the gothic words.
Wells built up suspense once with a natural pause when he says “stood in the corridor” then stopped. He has built up suspense by describing things around him and a bit more, for example “sweeping up… one fled before me” and “long, draughty” underground passages. There is no ghost but something “worse, far worse” is there. In ‘The Red Room’ my prediction that the hero will come out alive was right, because almost all traditional stories have the same idea despite the different characters and stories.
In the two stories above, both have been the case of which they are entirely set in the same place, whereas in “The Man with the Twisted Lip” we meet different scenes and environments as you progress. Firstly, we are given a pleasant explanation of Dr. Watson’s home e.g. ‘cheery sitting-room’. This contrasts greatly to the next location we are exposed to - the next scene being Upper Swandam Lane which is described as a “vile alley lurking behind the high wharves”. This shows unpleasantness and creepiness which is nothing like the doctor’s home. A couple of lines down, we are told that he approaches a “steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the mouth of a cave”. The “black gap” may indicate a dark area of which is unknown and the fact that the steps are “leading down” may be interpreted as like going down to hell. All these points add up to the unearthly feelings experienced as the reader develops on through the story and gives a sense of tension.
The atmosphere contributes towards making the tale as sinister as possible. Doyle uses small, short sentences and a lot of commas, which show pauses, for this effect for example, when explaining the plot to the others he says, “Holmes stooped to the water jug, moistened his sponge, and then…” When reading the descriptions of the opium den, immediately you can see that the adjective are all negative e.g. “vilest”, “murder-trap” and “cave”. These words give the impression of a discomforting environment which ultimately adds to the pulsation given by the story. The atmosphere is then intensified with the additional sounds. Examples of these unsettling sounds are “rattle of wheels”, “clink of horse’s hoofs” and “whistled shrilly”. These words add the eerie atmosphere already present therefore bringing out the best in it. Another word relating to sound is “silence”; this is mentioned several times throughout the tale and definitely gives the sense of spookiness. On the second line of page 43, we are told of “flickering oil lamps”. Instantaneously, when we think about flickering lights, we think of a freaky mood and it suggests that something awful is yet to happen. Later on, in the next paragraph, there are a compilation of images thrown at us which all imply dimness and scariness. Some of the phrases in this paragraph are “black shadows”, “burning poison”, “low, monotonous voice” and “glimmered little red circles of light” which is my favourite as it elucidates how disorientating the room appears. The words in this section suggest hellish like elements and give the sense of a nightmarish atmosphere which is dark, spine-chilling and depressing.
In “The Man with the Twisted Lip”, there is quite a bit of imagery used in the sense that Doyle uses metaphors and similes often. Firstly, Doyle likens the entrance to the opium den as a “gap like the mouth of a cave”. This indicates that the gap between the slop shop and the gin shop just appears to be like a dark hole which is like the opening of a cave. This attracts the reader and causes him to read on which tension and suspense is all about. When you think of a cave you think of shadowy, suppressing images which withdraw a significance of apprehension. Also when Watson enters the opium den, he compares it with “the forecastle of an emigrant ship”. This perhaps gives the idea about the drug is taking them to somewhere new and exciting which contrasts to the place they actually are in.
The climax to “Twisted Lip” is more subtle, no chases or fights, it’s simply the suspense as it is written through the eyes of an almost 'secondary' character. Doyle uses a good technique to keep the suspense on the readers, he writes that it looks as if Holmes does know what happened and as it is narrated by Watson, the truth isn't found out until Watson finds out which is in the last few paragraphs after Holmes gets to the police station and shows that Boone the cripple is Neville St. Clair. This is especially successful after the long speech between Holmes, Neville's wife and Watson. Holmes mostly generates the conversation, but this long conversation brings everything into a summary and can put the reader on the edge of their seat.
All these tales are first person narratives which means they can share senses and feeling. The sense of what is hot and cold was also used effectively in these three tales and gives the reader a sense of the thermal images. An example of this from “The Red Room” is “walked down the chilly, echoing passage”. We always associate ominous and eerie moments with coldness. The use of smells are employed a lot in “The Man with the Twisted Lip” especially when describing the opium den and makes the text that little bit more interesting which keeps the reader continuing.
“The Man with the Twisted Lip” has a writing style is very effective but differs quite strongly to the other two stories even though most of the writers focus their climax on more suspense rather than action. The main reason being the long talking periods in “The Man with the Twisted Lip”, which do build suspense, but the other tales spend more time with narration, this can give the character more depth, but can make the story seem a little sparse or sterile, and as it is a short story, this doesn't happen.
I prefer ‘The Signalman’ story because I like stories with a mysterious ending to them or any mystery in the story itself. Just like in the beginning of “The Signalman”, the signalman thinks the narrator is a ghost and the narrator thinks that the signalman is a ghost too. It is like you don’t know who to trust anymore and what is right or wrong. Not like in “The Red Room” when the three old people stayed together when the hero went out of the room, looking at him at an eerie way. At that time you know that what the hero did was wrong and something bad is going to happen to him. “The Man with the Twisted Lip” captured this aspect also, but not as well as “The Signalman”. I mostly like it when I do not know anything or what will happen and especially keeps me in suspense.
