Vendetta, by Guy de Maupassant - The Wasteland, by Alan Paton - Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck - All of these texts use dramatic tension. Investigate the techniques the author uses to maintain the readers interest and create suspense.

GCSE English

DRAMATIC TENSION.

English Coursework

Christopher Hampton

Class 10 L

Vendetta, by Guy de Maupassant

The Wasteland, by Alan Paton

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

All of these texts use dramatic tension. Investigate the techniques the author uses to maintain the readers interest and create suspense.

I intend to investigate the ways the authors have created dramatic tension in their works. Two of the works are short stories, one written by a French author in the nineteenth century (Vendetta by Guy de Maupassant) and the other set in South Africa in the twentieth century (The Wasteland by Alan Paton). The final story is a short novel written in America in the twentieth century (Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck). All three works are set in the country of the author and are set in the time that the authors wrote them.

I have read the three texts and have identified a number of techniques that all three authors have used in their stories to create dramatic tension. The techniques used include unexpected twists in the storyline, creating psychological tension in the reader, revealing inner turmoil in the characters of the story, stillness, silences and dramatic pauses to create suspense in both the story and in the readers. Other ways of creating dramatic tension used by the authors include the characters being trapped or escaping a dangerous situation in the story, so the character or personalities of the people in the story and the setting or location of the story are used to create tension. The authors can use the sense of time to create tension, by having the characters acting in a hurry or rush, or having several pieces of action happening at the same time, creating suspense. Confrontation between characters in the story is a method used to create tension. The reader knowing something about a character in the story that another character does not know yet is another way of making dramatic tension.

All these methods can be used to create dramatic tension. I will first identify which stories have used which skills then I will talk about the effectiveness of these methods as used by each author. In my conclusion I will summarise my findings and come to an opinion as to if the ways the authors have used dramatic tension is effective or not and how it determines my interest in their stories.

In The Wasteland, Vendetta and Of Mice and Men dramatic tension is used throughout the stories. I will discuss each story in turn. Each story can be split up into a number of different sections. Each different section serves a different function as the author tells the tale, and builds up the tension as the text moves towards its conclusion.

Vendetta can be split up into 5 separate sections. The first is from line 1 to line 19. This section describes the location for the rest of the story. It creates dramatic tension by setting the story in a dramatic, dangerous coastal region. The cliffs and the wild sea are on the edge of the country and let us think the village and the people in it may also be on the edge of society and the law. The second section, Lines 20-56 further introduce us to the widow’s family and then the stabbing of the widow Paolo Saverina’s only son. The dramatic tension used here is the unexpected twist of him being stabbed by his friend and betrayed by him. The third section, lines 57-80 is when the mother is deciding what to do to revenge her dead son. The dramatic tension used is psychological, the inner torment of the mother and the decision she has to make. In the fourth section lines 80-151 is the preparation for the revenge by training the pet dog to become a killer dog. The dramatic tension is the suspense of wondering first what she is training the dog to do, and then how she will use the dog to help her get her revenge on Nicholas Ravolati. The final section, lines 151-the end is the revenge of the widow on the helpless Nicolas. The tension is created by the audience now knowing what will happen, although the character of Nicolas does not.

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The Wasteland, a short story by Alan Paton, is split up into four sections. The first, lines 1-22, functions to set the scene for the story. The author describes how the young men wait and then close in on the old man, an example of outside events closing in on the character in the story to create dramatic tension. There is psychological tension as the old man has to decide what to do. The second section, lines 23- 76 is the chase through the wasteland of the title. There is dramatic tension in this section because the man is trapped and is trying to escape, the surrounding themselves, the wasteland, create dramatic tension and there is a scene of hurry and urgency as the old man runs away. The third section, lines 77-108 is the discussion between the young men who were chasing the old man. There is tension as the old man is under a van overhearing the conversation and may be discovered at any moment. There is also an unexpected twist because he finds out the person he hit with his stick was his son, and that he has killed him. The final section, lines 109-the end is when the old man realises what he has done and he is also reflecting on it. There is dramatic tension when the young men put Freddie’s body under the van where his father is hiding. At the end the old man says “people arise, the world is dead”, because he has realised that the world is a wasteland where a son will rob and murder his father for a few pounds, and that a father can kill his own son and nobody, except him, will care.

In Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck divides the book into six chapters. I am only going to discuss dramatic tension in the last chapter, pages 89-115. The final chapter is subdivided in to 10 sections to tell the story. The first section describes Lenny talking about his dead dog. Although Lenny does not know it, we know this has happened because Lenny is both simple and very strong. We know this will cause trouble with George and Slim, and tension is building up because of this. The next section Lenny is talking to Curly’s wife. Further tension is building, as we know she is no good and will cause trouble. George has warned Lenny to keep away from her. The third section is when Lenny kills Curly’s wife. This murder is dramatic itself, and we know trouble is about to start for Lenny and George again. Then Candy discovers the body and fetches George who knows that Lenny has killed her. Candy talks to Curly’s wife but the reader already knows she is dead. In the fifth section George and Candy discuss what to do. George knows he has to do something, and leaves. The reader is left in suspense not knowing what he will do. Then Curly finds his dead wife and swears that he will kill Lenny slowly and painfully. After this the hunt for Lenny starts. The dramatic tension is due to the sense of urgency and the limited time Lenny has to hide. In section seven George finds Lenny and there is psychological tension and his inner turmoil, as he has to decide what to do about Lenny. Section eight is when George has made his decision and is going to kill Lenny himself. The outside events are closing in on George and Lenny. In section nine George kills Lenny, a sudden and dramatic event that is unexpected, as George had always looked after Lenny before. Finally the book finishes with George reflecting on what he has done to Lenny.

All the techniques the three authors have used are very effective in producing the desired effects and there are many similarities in the way the authors use dramatic tension. Each author sets his story in a dramatic location. The way the scene is set and the way the locations are described are very useful in making the reader picture the sort of situation the stories characters are in. The unexpected twists used by all the authors are designed to keep the reader interested in the story and the characters and to keep reading, because if there is an unexpected twist you are suddenly interested whether there are going to be any more and how the story will carry on.

In Of Mice and Men in the first chapter George tells Lenny to return to the pool should there be any trouble. The story ends with Lenny’s death by the pool. Not only does the reader suspect there will be trouble, but also they realise the plot is circular, ending where it begins. Lenny’s troubles are all caused by his strength and feeble mind. We hear about the girl at the ranch they have left, and then there is the dead mouse, then the dead dog and finally the death of Curly’s wife, each episode more serious. All through the story there is a theme of violence, so we are not surprised the story ends in violence. Curly is brutal and wants to fight everyone, including his wife. The death of Candy’s dog is brutal and is a forewarning of Lenny’s death. Crooks’ is treated very badly and is very bitter. Curly’s wife is unhappy and frustrated and we are told she will cause trouble, as she is “jail bait” and always giving men “the eye”. She is destined to cause trouble just as George is destined by his strength to be in trouble and Curly will be involved in any violence.

Lenny is not purposely violent, although he does kill lots of animals and finally Curly’s wife, and he is most interested by looking after the rabbits and having a small farm with George. George does not believe it will ever happen, then Candy’s offer makes it seem possible, before their dream is destroyed by the killing of Curly’s wife and

When you know more than the characters in the story it makes you feel that you are almost part of the story and so you feel more involved and more likely to continue reading. If the character is in danger and has to escape the drama makes you want to know what will happen to him so you read on. If the story is always interesting and never boring, the reader wants to keep reading as fast as possible. And finally if the character is in inner turmoil and has to make a choice you as the reader want to know what choice the character will make so therefore you will read on to find out.

The methods used to create dramatic tension are similar with all three authors. When setting the location cliff and wastelands and the Wild West are chosen. The authors describe the setting using adjectives to heighten the tension. For example in Vendetta the widow’s house is described as mean, and clinging to the rock. The coast is “bare” and the sea “white and foaming”, the wind “restless” and the foam of the waves “like torn shreds of linen, floating and fluttering on the surface of the waves”. This is a very dramatic and lonely and frightening scene, the sort of place where something strange and terrible and unusual or evil might happen, as it does in the story. Next we learn the widow’s house is on the very edge of the cliff, opening onto a “wild dreary prospect”. The widow acts as if she is on the edge of the law, by planning her own revenge and not calling the police and her method of revenge is certainly wild, as wild as the location. When the widow’s only son is murdered, by his friend, her reaction is unusual. It keeps the reader in suspense and only slowly do they realise what was going to happen. When the son is murdered it is the dog that is upset and howls all night while the widow is silent, plotting her revenge. As the author wants to concentrate on the revenge, he does not say much either about the murder, or the funeral. Tension is created by the author in the contrast of the widow going to church in a Christian way, and making confession and then taking communion to absolve her sins, with the terrible brutality of the revenge. The revenge is described in full detail, the victim’s throat being torn out by the dog. After this both the dog and the widow are happy, but the reader is disturbed as she seems to have got away with murder but she is able to sleep soundly that night.

Time pressure is used to good effect by John Steinbeck in the last chapter, when the chase for Lenny is going on. George has found Lenny, because he told him where to hide, but while he is making Lenny happy by telling him about “the rabbits” and “living on the fat o’ the land”, he is also preparing to kill him with Carlson’s gun and can hear Slim and Curly approaching. He knows if he does not act quickly, things will get worse for both of them, Lenny will die slowly and George will get some of the blame, as he was Lenny’s friend and brought him to the ranch.

In The Wasteland, the action happens at night. This is because we believe bad scary things happen at night, while in broad daylight everything is safer. This is probably true, as if it was light other people would have seen the old man in trouble and would have helped him, and the old man would not have killed his own son, as he would have recognised him. The old man saw the young men waiting for him by the lights of the bus. The bus with its lights is safety, while the dark night is danger. The bus “went down the dark street like an island of safety in a sea of perils”.

In all the stories the action leads up to a dramatic moment. The death of Curly’s wife, the revenge of the widow with the dog killing Nicholas and the old man hitting and killing his attacker. Each of these scenes is dramatic, but all of the story before is really setting the scene. In the Wasteland and Of Men and Mice this is followed by an unexpected twist in the story the reader could not have guessed at before, such as George shooting Lenny himself, or the old man finding out he had killed his own son.

I have enjoyed reading all three stories but I enjoyed The Vendetta the most because it is a very exciting story and so much happens that is interesting. Even if it is only a short story I found it a very interesting and thrilling read. I think all the authors succeed in making the reader interested in the plot and how the story will develop. The three authors also successfully describe the main characters so the reader has empathy with them and their predicaments and the authors do this by the clever use of dramatic tension. The techniques the writers have used to create dramatic tension and the different sorts they have used I have discussed already in this piece. I think the writers are very clever and really talented to write such very short but interesting stories. So I have concluded that Guy de Maupassant, Alan Paton and John Steinbeck are extremely able writers and use dramatic tension very well and effectively. Also I now realise the proper use of dramatic tension is very important when writing.