The characters in The Red Room are very different. The main character of The Red Room is also the narrator. He is presented as a very arrogant man because he tells us, “it will only take a very ‘tangible’ ghost to frighten me.” This quote shows that he thinks he is brave and this is what makes the reader think he is arrogant. However, later we find out that even the shadows frighten him. Also we know more about his thoughts and feelings because he uses the first person narrative and less about the other characters’ thoughts and feelings. We do know the other characters have some sort of deformity “…more bent, more wrinkled, more aged than the first … his eyes were covered by a shade…”
These descriptions make the other characters seem mysterious and grotesque. However, it is important to point out that these are the sorts of characters that the reader would expect to find in a ghost story. Therefore, in terms of character, it must be said that The Red Room is the more effective ghost story.
Secondly, the structure of both texts has to be evaluated. All stories and films are roughly comprised of four elements. They are the Exposition, Complication, Climax and Resolution. In Don Juan, the tension is high throughout the Exposition, Complication, and Climax. The tension in the Resolution drops just a little even though it is the end of the story. “Those hands, those lips, and those limbs…were burning him. They were of ice no more. They were of fire” This quote shows that the tension is high considering that the reader only finds out what happens to Don Juan at the very end of the story. Therefore, this is not the usual structure for a ghost story as the reader would be hopeful of the Resolution being a low-tension moment.
On the other hand, The Red Room has a more typical structure for a ghost story. The tension is high in the Exposition, Complication, and Climax, and then in the final part of the text, the Resolution, ends with a low-tension moment. This is what the reader would expect to find in a good ghost story.
“The worst of all things that haunt poor mortal in man; said I and that is in all its nakedness- Fear!”
This quote tells the reader that The Red Room is not haunted at all. The writer leads the audience to the conclusion that fear itself is the most frightening aspect of The Red Room. In other words, there is absolutely no reason to be afraid as there is no ghost, therefore, as the secret of the room is revealed the Resolution is a low-tension moment. Overall, the Red Room is more effective in terms of structure because it is what the reader would expect of a ghost story and this is what the structure is like in most stories. However, though this story has a more typical structure, the actual story is dull and boring as there is not enough tension to keep the reader engaged in the story. Whereas Don Juan is able to keep the reader engaged in the story even until the very end.
Finally, the language of both texts also has to be analysed. In Don Juan, the tension is built up quickly by the use of short simple sentences. Also the writer has made use of dark colours and images which portray sadness and death, for example, “The doorway, the walls, the windows of the house were hung with the black and violet draperies of mourning when he arrived there.” This quotation explains that Quintero’s house is full of unhappiness and gloomy like Quintero’s character.
The Red Room is the opposite of Don Juan. It is made up of long complex sentences which are used to help develop a ghostly atmosphere. There are also some parts of the text in which connotations of colour are used in this text as well as ‘Don Juan’ but the colours are different compared to Don Juan. The Red Room has connotations of the colour of red, which symbolises evil, blood and danger. There is also some figurative language used such as personification, that is, the writer describes the shadows as if they are human and therefore, alive.
“… My candle flared and made the shadows cower and quiver…” This quotation illustrates how the narrator personifies the shadows. Also the Red Room contains many dated words like “sconce”. The effects of using dated words is that the reader wants to find out what the words mean and it gives the text more excitement. The dated words also make the story more mysterious. The Red Room is the more effective ghost story in the sense of the language in the text as it builds more tension considering the personification, connotations of colour and the use of dated words.
Summing it all up, after analysing the character, structure and language of both texts, it is fair to say that The Red Room is more typical of a ghost story because it has the characters which the reader expects to find in a ghost story, the structure used is also typical of a ghost story with the tension being low in the Resolution. However, The Red Room is quite disappointing as we find out that there is nothing in the red room but fear itself. In other words, there is no gohost. It also contains the language that a ghost story would need. Don Juan is the more interesting and stimulating of the two stories as Don Juan has a ghost and it maintains the readers’ interest until the very last sentence.
