Compare and contrast two charity advertisements. How does each advertisement aim to persuade the public to support the charity?

Authors Avatar

How do H.G Wells and W.W Jacobs create tension and fear in “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Red Room”? 

The “Red Room” by H.G Wells and “Monkeys Paw” by W.W Jacobs are both examples of gothic fiction. Gothic fiction was a very popular writing in the Victorian Times. There are numerous features of gothic fiction such as out of the ordinary characters, strange settings, supernatural activities etc. Most gothic fiction are about supernatural activities, in ‘The Red Room’ it was about the mysterious room that is said to be haunted and in the ‘Monkey’s Paw’ it was about the weird events that happened after wishes made to the monkey’s paw. Both H.G Wells and W.W Jacobs have a sense of tension and fear in the story. I would be examining the tension and fear both authors used in their stories.

Tension and fear in a story usually creates a strong and usually negative atmosphere. It intrigues the reader. In the “Red Room”, H.G Wells uses tension and fear to captivate the reader in several ways.

One way H.G wells builds up tension and fear in the “The Red Room” is by the behaviour of the characters especially the narrator. The narrator does not believe in ghosts. He is very conceited and superior. This gives an impression that he is very brave and would never change his mind on anything until he experiences it. He says “I can assure you…. that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me”. It implies that he is very certain that there is no such thing as ghosts. The word “assure” indicates how convinced he is about the non-existence of spirits/ghost. It shows the kind of personality he has, sticking his words, never changing his mind and very stubborn. He also said to prove that ghost exist, he needs to see a “tangible” one to frighten him. “Tangible” evokes he is very obstinate in believing in ghost. It also suggests that he would never believe in ghost as ghosts are not solid (that is impossible). As the reader see the narrator as strong and brave guy, whenever he feels panicky or scared, the reader start to sense fear and tension.

The three old custodians of Lorrain Castle is another factor to fright and anxiety in the story. The description of the characters by the narrator makes them seem sinister and strange at the beginning of the story such as the ‘man with the withered arm’. This phrase is used to describe one of the caretakers. By describing the character with such adjectives, H.G Wells is creating a mysterious atmosphere and dread. The custodian’s dialogue “It is at your own choosing” worsen the sense of creepiness in the room where all the characters were dinning. Repeating the phrase shows he is pointing out clear that he would not be responsible for he deeds that would happen to the narrator if he enters the Red room for it is risky.  This makes the reader nervous as he/she doesn’t know how dangerous the Red room however the man with the withered arm knows something that the reader doesn’t creating a sense of edginess.  

Join now!

The setting of 'The Red Room', 'Lorraine Castle', is extremely typical of the Gothic genre.  Castles are generally large, dark and now the reader knows the Red room would be situated in similar areas, as the narrator is given a rather long list of directions before he encounters the Red Room. The passageways seem to lead him far away down the castle even if he needs help, it would not be available that night. “You go along the passage…until you come to a door…a spiral staircase… door covered with blaze… long corridor to the end… the Red Room”. This ...

This is a preview of the whole essay