It is written containing a lot of information which is unexplained throughout the play. We are not told clearly where he is apart from the fact that he is in a castle, what he is doing there and his intentions of going into the red room, who he is and as to why the Red Room is so important and mysterious for the narrator to go to. As I have said before we are not told the names of any characters throughout the whole story. There is a lot of undisclosed information not revealed to the reader until much later in the story. Also the story starts in the middle of a conversation of a few old folks and there is no real scene set on first 2 pages, adds to the sense of mystery and suspense. Another example being “The great Red Room of Lorraine Castle, in which the young duke had died,” The reader has no idea as to why the young duke had died in the red room.
The information given to us about the characters also outlines the effect of a mystery story, and it has a very good effect too. This is because we are not told any names at any point in the story, not even narrators i.e. the man who takes the risk of going to the red room this definitely creates uncertainty. It describes each character simply by his or her appearance. All the characters in the play are also old folk. The fact that all the characters go unnamed does create suspense. For example “the man with the withered arm” the word withered meaning shrunken or emaciated gives a good spooky effect. Similarly; “the woman with the pale eyes” and “the man with the shade” also create that unnamed effect, which make reader read on. This gives the idea of 3 grotesque and distorted old people and part of the setting, implies the oddity with a sense of decay r death about them. This makes the narrator uncomfortable. All of the characters are described by these phrases repeatedly throughout the whole story, and repetition of such things in mystery stories has a very good effect. When the old woman repeats ‘This night of all nights’ this creates uncertainty, as to say the night he has chosen to go there is the worst of all. The narrator also has a sense of cocky, smug and overconfident feeling about going there “it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me,” at this point in time the reader already gets the feeling that his underestimation will have an effect later on in the story. “I half suspected the old people were trying to enhance the spiritual terrors of their house,” this again shows his overconfidence, but is what he undone by later on in the play. “I caught a glimpse of myself…abbreviated to an impossible sturdiness in the queer and old mirror,” This now gets into the mind of the reader that he will definitely have something done to him. The other characters are also described as fairly spooky people, due to their descriptions of age and wrinkled skin. “…second old man entered, more bent, more wrinkled, more aged even than the first. He supported himself by a single crutch, eyes covered by a shade…lower lip, half averted, hung pale and pink from his decaying teeth,” A description like this brings out the sense of fear a person seeing a character such as that would feel like. It gives you a zombie feel. “…her eyes fixed on the fire” this gives an effect of a witch staring into the fire or her cauldron. All these descriptions of the old people give the reader the sense that their appearances are the result of going into the red room. “Are you really going?… said the man with that queer unnatural tilting of the face” the use of words which add sense off oddity like queer and unnatural, again enhance the effect of a mystery story in it’s use of such words. When he gets to the Red Room his tensions start to build up gradually and he becomes more and more aware of his surroundings as he advances “Systematic examination of the place… to form a kind of barricade before me, and on this lay my revolver to hand,” he is so concerned that he could be in need of a weapon. As the tempo speeds up the reader can almost imagine himself being there in place of the narrator, because of the building up of tension in his mind; “I was now almost frantic with the horror…my self possession deserted me.” Frantic and desertion of his self possession bring out the fear in the mind of the narrator.
There is a lot of complex vocabulary and complex sentence structure in this story as with many other mystery stories. A lot of extravagant language is used for the description of characters and scenes, some might argue excessive, and also they are used to develop the story and take it forward. There are usually a lot of long sentence in times of description. Also a lot of short sentences are used in times of action and suspense, which has a quick, choppy and to the point effect. A lot of figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, and personification are used to set the scene and create a vivid vision of the scene in hand, or show character’s state of mind and thinking for a reader. “The pallid silence of the landing,” this has a good effect because it is not possible to have a pallid silence, and is a metaphor used to create further mystery and confusion in the readers mind. “I heard the sound of a stick and a shambling step on the flags…and the doors creaked on it’s hinges,” here the writer is sharing sounds with the reader, “stick” suggesting old age, “flags” emphasising cold stone of flooring “door creaked” conveying to the reader of an eerie noise.
Short Sentences are used to great effect at times of tension and to increase the tempo of the situation dramatically and to make our frame of mind the same as that of the of the narrator’s. Examples of this include “There was no mistake about It.”, “The candle fell from my hand.”, “The fire!”
The use of lots of verbs at times of tension and action are very effective, especially when they are used in single word sentences. They create a fast tempo and add to the suspense and build of tension. The verbs are jam packed into the sentences. Also the pace of the story speeds up dramatically as we get closer and closer to the end; the high tempo follows the fast heartbeat and racing mind of the narrator at time of action. The use of words such as “rolled”, “snatched”, “screamed”, “staggered”, “crushed”, “sealed” all show his frantic panic of the happenings towards the end where nothing seems to be going right.
The main ideas and factors which create mystery and tension in the story discussed about the Red Room are also very similar to that of The Signalman and The Pit and the Pendulum. The time of is usually at night; which is a time for mysterious things to happen, unnerving events take place and suspicious happenings with over exaggerated shadows and supernatural events. Because of the effect of darkness on mystery stories, they are usually set at night. It is night where there is fear and makes the character in a nervy state of mind, terrifyingly scared and anxious, and it is all of these that make him unsure about himself. “…figure was a foreshortened shadow down into the deep trenches”. “…so steeped in the glow of an angry sunset,” the use of angry before the sunset gives the idea of a nightmare to come. The fear created in characters due to the previous factors make the character take irrational, illogical and absurd decisions, which are not required at all, and which ultimately lead to their downfalls. Darkness is a sign of the extinguishing and quenching out of hope which takes away the confidence of character. It is due to all of the above that it becomes very obvious that the story should be set at night.
Therefore in this story, the 2 main characters nearly always arrange to meet each other in the night, and the shifts of the signalman are also nearly always at night – which we know is a time of darkness, and darkness being the theme in the Red Room. The reader gets to feel the effects of the night and the darkness straight away, because early into the story the narrator cannot really visualise where the tunnel is or make out the signalman very clearly, and he doesn’t seem to know a way of getting down to the signalman standing below him. The use of height can also add some fear for the reader and the narrator. Not only that, but the first few sightings that the signalman has of the Ghost or phantom, are always in the dark. This ties in with the theme we looked at in The Red Room of supernatural and mysterious events occurring in the dark. Again we see the emphasis that is put on the darkness inside the tunnel, especially during the lurking darkness at night. This creates a feeling of unknown information, unknown secrets, and recalls the reader to think of the possibility of scary goings on in that tunnel that he doesn’t know much about.
Darkness is the main theme in this story too which we know is when crimes are committed and indicates that something very bad is on the verge of happening. Darkness as we saw from the Red room too, creates sign of unfamiliar happenings.
Where the story is located is also plays a major role in creating mystery and tension as we saw from the red room. An isolated location and the isolation of the main character create a good effect of mystery and suspense. It makes the reader always read on intently for the upcoming events in the book, and puts him in the driver’s seat as the character is alone and anything is possible. Loneliness due to isolation of the setting means there is no-one to interact with thus creating doubts in the character’s mind of what is coming next. Loneliness is linked with time night time as it is when everybody sleeps and the outdoors are isolated. The fact that there are two characters, makes it less frightening for the two, even though they are on deserted railway line “Just then came a vague vibration in earth and air quickly changing into a violent pulsation and an oncoming rush,” the sudden unexpected arrival of the train from a vague vibration to a sudden onrush of a huge vehicle. However with mystery stories u really never know what could happen, one of the two could be something evil, we just don’t know. Just the fact that the signalman’s working hours are at night, adds that little bit more to the plot. This gives the reader a lot to think about, and sends a message the theme of darkness and night all point in the direction that something mysterious and suspicious is going to happen. “Crooked prolongation of this great dungeon…terminating in a gloomy red light,” here the reader straightaway gets the spooky feel of the place, and is a warning of the dangers to come in the story. The fact that we know that he works on a deserted railway line on his own, put insecurity into the reader’s and into the signalman’s mind too. “Oozier and wetter…gloomy red light” both of these describe the location as a spooky and isolated location with wet surroundings. “Oozier,” the sound that this word makes is spooky in itself, but the leaking out of the water slowly adds to the run down and dilapidated effect of the location. The only times that the signalman has any company is where he is talking with the narrator. The narrator also gives a sense of his isolation from his experiences of army and jail which he mentions indirectly. This is when he is surprised in the advancements in technology that has happened, such as the development of the railways, whilst he has been at army or in prison. The narrator himself describes the location and the signalman with long and lonesome words. The appearance of the sceptre is always when the signalman is alone which again adds to the loneliness of the 2 characters and gradually builds up the doubts in their mind until the fears and happenings overcome them, with vile things happening to them. The use words like “solitary … saw”, “lonesome … occupy”, signify the nature of darkness and night, when you are most likely to be attacked, and isolated locations being where most crimes occur, builds it up in the reader’s mind.
The pit and the pendulum as with the other two stories are set in an isolated location and the isolation of the main character has a very good effect to create suspense and mystery. This isolation means there is no one for the character to interact with whereas the loneliness results in doubts in characters mind. This is what happens in the dark when everything is deserted, and it is illustrated in this story.
The main characters isolation means he has no one to share his thoughts with and this gives him sentimentality. “The tall candles sank into nothingness…their flames went utterly out” .It is a kind of torture itself; the fact that he is so lonely. Because he is underground, with solid walls around him, it gives impression of being caved in and claustrophobia and this gives the impression of being buried alive thus creates panic in his mind, which are all the ingredients that go into making good mystery, horror and ghost stories. “A fearful idea now suddenly drove the blood into torrents upon my heart…catching some faint ray of light” .As well as this, there is nothing he can do to stop the torture, he can’t escape; and there are no means of committing suicide apart from jump into the well. Although however, it is unknown what is in the bottom of the well. The situation is worsened by the fact that he has heard rumours about the dungeon. “My outstretched hands at length encountered some solid obstruction. It was a wall, seemingly of stone masonry -very smooth, slimy, and cold.”, “my chin rested upon the floor of the prison... my forehead seemed bathed in a clammy vapor, and the peculiar smell of decayed fungus arose to my nostrils.” Here we see that although he is scared he is trying to get used to the surroundings.
The whole story is in 1st person, which as I’ve explained lets us know only what the narrator knows. “I was sick unto death with that long agony: and when they at length unbound me.” The character is not in a fully conscious state of mine following his drugging. As we are hearing the story from his point of view, we do not find out any clear cut information. “I felt that my senses were leaving me. The sentence- the dread sentence of death…”.The story is delicately described with the use of complex words however it lacks any foundations. “… Sound of inquisitorial voices seemed merged in one dreamy indeterminate hum”. The lack of any ideas of forthcoming events in the story creates fear and suspense too. For example “I felt my senses were leaving me”, “the sound of the inquisitorial voices seemed merged in one dreamy intermediate hum”, “I presently heard no more”, These phrases give us the impression that either he is mad or he has been drugged (more likely).The lack of information again creates cliff hangers because we are not told the forthcoming events or the plot. “I saw them writhe with a deadly locution….I saw too for a few moments of delirious horror…” The first person style writing does the utmost to bring out the suspense and cliff hanger situations because of the limited information that the character knows and that information is also transferred to the reader therefore neither is sure of what’s to come.
There are a lot of references to light and dark. Light and dark symbolize many things for example light indicates hope, whereas dark signals the extinguishing of hope. “I saw the lips of the black robed judges”. We also know that they both (light and dark) combine to produce shadows; thus can create doubts in the character’s mind. Light is seen as friendly and comforting, while dark brings uncertainty and criminal events. In this story, however, this pattern oddly seems to be the other way round. Whenever light appears it signals that something bad is going to happen. When the pendulum is coming down, the light with which he can see it with is another form of torture in itself. “…but still al was blackness and vacancy”. Near the end of the story, it is the source of the light, the “sulphurous light” under the walls that sets on fire and nearly burns him alive. Since darkness is always there in the story we expect terrible things to happen. The effect of darkness is caused by the lack of windows or any forms of light in the dungeon. “Was I left to perish of starvation in this subterranean world of darkness”? There is no light apart from a very faint glimmer. Another representation of darkness is the “darkness of knowledge”, due to the fact that we know very little about what is going on, as is with the main character. This creates a lot of suspense and tension. The final representation of darkness is the darkness and blindness of fainting and going to sleep. He blacks out several times during the story and sleeps a lot of the time too.
There are just a few examples of light that he sees in the story. Firstly, in the courtroom, he sees the candlelight, as a source of hope that would somehow drag him through what he was facing. “And then my vision fell upon the seven tall candles upon the table…their flames went out utterly; the blackness of darkness supervened”. However, these soon go out and this can signify the extinguishing of all hope. The second example is the “sulphurous light under the walls”. Even though this didn’t provide much light, it enabled him to see around the dungeon. However, at the end of the story, the sulphur burns and nearly burns him alive, “Sulphurous light which illuminated the walls”. When we think of sulphur, we generally associate it with hell and volcanoes, and it does not give much hope. When he throws the piece of fragment down the well, we also see a brief moment of light. “While a faint gleam of light flashed suddenly through the gloom, and as suddenly faded away”. The main character does notice the light reappearing somewhere above him and going out. This is proof that he is being watched in the dungeon, as the soldier at the top must have been checking if the main character himself had fallen into the well. When light finally comes, it is for a terrible cause to come. “These colours had now assumed, and were momentarily assuming, a startling and most intense brilliancy…gave to the spectral and fiendish portraitures an aspect that might have thrilled even firmer nerves than my own”. He is tied down, and the pendulum is swinging above him. He has to watch as his death slowly and silently approaches,” A deeper glow settled each moment in the eyes that glared at my agonies…A richer tint of crimson diffused itself over the pictured horrors of blood”
Light and dark create a lot of tension in this story as there are a lot of unknown things. We never know what is going to happen next, because both are portrayed as a negative thing, unlike the Red Room, where light was a symbol of comfort. The contrast in darkness and light has a very deadly feeling to it.
The colour red suggests blood, danger, hell and the devil. “These colours…intense brilliancy… that gave to the spectral and fiendish portraitures an aspect that might have thrilled even firmer nerves…demon eyes, of a wild and ghastly vivacity”. During the story and when it approaches towards the end of it the main character keeps mentioning the sulphurous light at the bottom of the walls. “Unreal! Even while I breathed there came to my nostrils the breath of the vapour of heated iron … I gasped for breath!” Sulphur produces a dark orange colour flame when burnt and is usually associated with hell and toxic fumes from volcanoes. This gives us the feeling that something is going to happen because of that sulphur as it is not there for nothing. Indeed, towards the end, it is set on fire and the fumes and heat produced give great pain to the character.” I shrank from the glowing metal to the centre of the cell.”
The imagery is very helpful in describing someone and setting the scene in a story as is the case with this story. “Descent as of the soul into Hades,” It can be good for describing things if they are either very good or very bad. Since torture and pain are the main themes of this story, a lot of devilish and hellish imagery is used, ultimately setting the scene up very well, “I saw the lips of the black judge…… no sound succeeded”
He sees the judges as distorted and ghoulish, as if they are some form of supernatural being. “…the soft and nearly imperceptible waving of the sable draperies which enwrapped the walls of the apartment…then my vision fell upon the seven tall candles upon the table”. The dungeon is underground, and is made of sulphurous walls at the bottom, and both of these things give a negative image into our mind. As the wall in the cell heats up towards the end of the story, it’s like being burned alive, and the imagery described makes it possible to visualize as to what actually is going on. There is also an image of time on the ceiling of the dungeon; and is a picture of the grim reaper. This is almost signifying that time is running up in his life, and that he has not got long to live. “…heat rapidly increased, and once again I looked up, shuddering as with a fit of the ague.”
These all give a very vivid impression of what is in the dungeon and gives a very good picture in the head as to what it was like in the pit.
Usually at times of great tension and suspense the author takes the plot away from the action and talks about some secondary things, thus giving us an anti-climax. “Perspiration burst from every pore…the agony of suspense grew at length intolerable...”.This effect is used well as it takes the action of away from the reader to give him a “breather” and brings back the suspense and tension with a bang. “Cautiously moved forward…”.The reader is unscathed and relaxes however is caught unaware when all of the tension and drama returns with in a sudden rush “Then silence, and stillness, night were the universe…I had swooned; but still will not say that all of consciousness was lost”. For example, when the main character falls asleep or faints, the author takes way all of the tension for about 1 or 2 lines, before it all returns again when he wakes up. ” Agitation of spirit kept me awake for many long hours…but at length I again slumbered. Upon arousing, I found by my side, as before, a loaf and a pitcher of water. A burning thirst consumed me…”
This keeps us interested in the book and gives us some time to recollect our thoughts and questions. “I found beside me a loaf and a pitcher with water…I was too much exhausted to reflect upon this circumstance, but ate and drank with avidity.” It is a good way to keep the reader on the edge of their seats. “I staggered onward for some time…when I stumbled and fell…My excessive fatigue induced me to remain prostrate; and sleep soon overtook me as I lay.”
Withholding information is a good way of keeping the reader interested and guessing in the story. Unknown pieces of information are what urge the reader to continue and keep him interested in the story. “…or what fate, perhaps even more fearful awaited me? That the result would be death…”If we withhold information, then the reader gets drawn into the book and thinks about what is going on in the story, and what is to come. “How at least shall we distinguish its shadows from those of the tomb?” He wants to read on to find answers to the questions that have been raised in his mind. This can also be done when vital pieces of information go unnoticed by the reader and later on leave him pondering. “…to await the next sacrifice, which would not take place for many months?”
For example, in this story there are many unanswered questions at any point in the story, but some questions however, are answered near the end. “While we marvel whence they come?” We don’t know anything about the main character i.e. who he is, what his name is, what his age his, who his family are, hence next to nothing. We don’t know why he was captured, how he was captured and who captured him. “…subterranean world of darkness; or what fate, perhaps even more fearful, awaited me?” We don’t know where he is and why he is being tried in a court. “And that gulf is… what?” We also don’t know why he was in a confused state of mind at the beginning of the story.
Since the story starts with the main character in a drugged condition, we get very little introduction to what has happened before the start of the story. “…but where and in what state was I?” Therefore we are left with a lot of unanswered questions from the start; some of which are answered and some of which aren’t, but the majority unanswered, and these work very well in creating tension and suspense.
Most stories revolve around characters, and as this story is written in the first person, the narrator is the main character and is the most important. In most stories the characters are described very descriptively and with a lot of detail. However, in some cases, it is left to the imagination of the reader to imagine what the character looks like, and either none or very little information is provided about the character.
For examples, in this story there is only one character all the way throughout, and he is the narrator as well. However, not once in the story does he reveal any personal information about himself or how he got to his present situation. We don’t know his name, his age, what he looks like, who his family are, and how he ended up in a torture prison. It is left completely down to the reader to predict these things.
For example; to refer to himself he uses “I” because the story is written in the first person.
“I WAS sick; sick unto death with that long agony”. To describe the judges he uses vivid language such as “I saw the lips of the black-robed judge…”, “thin even to grotesqueness; thin with the intensity of their expression of firmness, of immoveable resolution; of stern contempt of human torture”. These are the only characters that he describes, and this description is really useful in creating an image of the judges from his point of view, as he sees them in his semi–conscious state of mind. “…decrees of what to me was Fate, were still issuing from those lips…I saw them writhe with a deadly locution…”
This is a good technique as when we think of the main character, we can think of him in whatever way we like, and not just in one definite description. As well as this, precious time isn’t wasted by the reader as he doesn’t have to read the description of the character, and the quick tempo of the story is maintained. If a description was put in it would seem pointless too, it would also take away some of the effect of the writing, because a person who is about to die wouldn’t waste time giving a full length description of himself.
The use of lots of short sentences at times of tension and action are used to good effect to increase the tempo and suspense. “It vibrated within 3 inches of my bosom!” They are densely packed into the paragraphs, and are meant to follow racing mind and increasing heart beat of the character, but to a certain extent the reader too!
For example; when pendulum is just three inches away from him he seems to go in a total frenzy. “Down – steadily down it crept.” He knows that he has to think of something fast or he will die. He can’t lose his cool. “I struggled violently- furiously – to free my left arm…I might as well have attempted to arrest an avalanche!”
All make us read the paragraphs faster and make our heart beat faster and our mind race like the characters. “I shrunk convulsively at its every sweep.” We feel very involved in the story, and experience similar physical effects as the character. “Down – certainly, relentlessly down! Down - still unceasingly – inevitably down!”
The use of good language in the form of a lot of complex vocabulary and complex sentence structure in old mystery stories is very common. A lot of extravagant language is used for description of characters and scenes and also they are used to develop the story and take it forward. There are usually a lot of long sentence in times of description and a lot of short sentences in times of action and suspense. A lot of figures of speech such as similies, metaphors, litotes, and personification are used to set the scene and create a vision of the scene or character in the reader’s mind.
The use of lots of verbs at points of tension and action also create fast tempo and suspense. They are packed into the sentences and also follow the racing mind and increasing heart beat of the character.
For example when the pendulum is just about to hit him, the mice are crawling all over him and slowly loosening him. Here are some of the verbs used “hurried”, “leaped”, “overran”, “clung”, “pressed”, “swarmed” “writhed”, “stifled”, “chilled”. At moments of a lot of tension because his life is severely threatened and if he does not succeed in his plan he will die.
There many verbs used here are some of them; “suffocating”, “glared”, “diffused”, “panted”, “gasped”, “shrank”, “rushed”, “threw”. This all make us read sentences faster – and tries to make our heart beat faster and our mind race like the characters. It suddenly involves us into the story; we can experience what the character’s feelings are. It has a similar effect to the use of short sentences, and when both are combined they are used to perfection, and are very effective.
This story as with the Red Room and the Pit and the Pendulum is set in the 1st person. 1st person narration, has the greatest effect on this style of story because we can experience all off the emotion of the character through himself, especially due to the fact he is one of the two who are there, if there were a lot of people other forms of narration are effective. We get a real feeling we are in his place, and keeps the reader involved in the story. As with the Red Room, the reader only has access to the information known by the narrator, which brings suspense. “There was something in that man that daunted me,” this is an example to show that the reader gets to know everything that the narrator is thinking.
He is positive of the sightings being tricks of light and sounds, which have had disturbances over the microphone. Since it is in 1st person, the narrator only knows what the signalman knows, and if it was in the 3rd person we know a lot more, so the sense of disbelief also adds to the tension by the use of 1st person writing. As a result, we also have to follow his path of thinking as we are not provided with any more information than the narrator already knows. The first person narrator always leaves questions in our minds and there is a lot of unknown information, not only to the narrator but it adversely affects us, because of our knowledge being the same as his. It lures us to read on and to discover what the missing information is, and in what ways and how it may affect he story.
As with the Red Room the contrast of dark and light work well. There are a lot of references to light and dark. Light and dark symbolize many things; light indicates hope and happiness, dark signals the extinguishing of hope and all happiness. When they both combine shadows are formed, and shadows can mean anything in such a story and also can create doubts in the character’s mind. “The gloomier entrance to the black tunnel…barbarous, depressing and forbidding air,” the use of “gloomier”, “black”, “barbarous”, and “depressing and forbidding air”, really signify to the reader of the type of place it must look like, and the horrors created about the air capture a reader right into the book. Light is seen as friendly and comforting, while dark brings uncertainty and criminal events. The use of light and dark, really pave the way on the flow of the story the reader has in mind, any form of light usually indicates positive things are going to happen, while on the other hand, darkness indicates something negative may happen
The two main colours red and black are used and are really what you would associate with the 2 colours of hell, and generally symbolize blood, danger, Hell and the Devil. The use of darkness should act as a warning to the character’s however when they don’t follow this sign, is when untoward things start to happen.
The use of imagery through imaginative vocabulary is very good in creating the scene and describing a place, and creating an image of the place in the reader’s mind. It gives a very vivid image and so the reader can visualise everything the narrator is describing in the 1st person. The use of a lot of descriptive imagery in an attempt to create an image of the terrible weather conditions, surroundings and darkness can also capture the imagination of the reader very well. For example “Unusually precipitous,” gives strange sense of peculiar weather. Imagery gives a very good impression of what the scene of a story is to the reader, and really gives the feeling of being there in the setting of the story. Also “solitary station”, adds to the remoteness.
The Suspension of mood can lead to an anticlimax Usually at times of great tension and suspense in a story, the author takes the main plot away from the action and talks about some secondary things, giving us an anti-climax, and hence keeping us guessing, which again creates suspense. “His manner seemed to make the place strike colder,” a thought may come in the mind of the reader of the signalman being able to control things like temperature and other climatic conditions. This definitely brings a chill down the spine of the narrator. This is a good way of catching the reader unprepared, as it takes him away from the action for a while, what you may call a “breather”, however brings back the tension in a sudden rush, catching him unaware with the use of short words, and one worded sentences. The reader is lead to think nothing is happening at this point in the story, but when the tension re-occurs he/she is caught unaware when all of the tension and drama returns with a big bang. This keeps us interested in the book because of the sudden changes in mood and flow giving some time to recollect our thoughts and questions, building up in the story, and also what may await next, and this is the great thing with mystery stories, you never know what is going to happen next! “…and he wiped the drops from his heated forehead,” this is a sign of fear, and nervous tension of the signalman. If the writer has got it right there will be suspense through most of the story. If it is used to good effect as it is in this story and the red room too, it can keep the reader very much into the book, keeping him on the edge of his seat.
The preservation of information is a good way of keeping the reader interested in the story, and if only limited amounts are told. If the reader was told everything at the beginning, then there would be no point in the reader to continue reading as he knows what is going to happen, and the obvious path the story is following. However if we withhold information, then the reader gets drawn into the book and is always thinking about what could happen next. It makes the reader wanting to read on to find answers to the questions the reader has raised in his mind, and also to understand the plot to the fullest. “What is its warning against? What is the danger? Where is the danger?” When there are lots of unexplained questions that the narrators themselves don’t know about, it certainly creates a lot of build up of tension, and suspense, with both the reader and the narrator not knowing what’s to come next. In some cases a reader may miss vital information to the plot, due to the concentration and how much he can be into the story. The reader wants to continue reading and wants to find out what the information that is being withheld is, as it is often an important piece of information, however it can be missed just like that whilst reading, which is what mystery stories are all about, i.e. keeping the reader guessing of the mysteries and waiting for them to unfold. They are kept interested in the book and which can sometimes also provides an element of surprise that the reader thinks about, making him invent new questions and ideas in his own mind. “…of a conscientious man, oppressed beyond endurance by an unintelligible responsibility.”
Most mystery stories revolve around characters, and because this story is written in the 1st person, the narrator being the main character and therefore is the most important. In most mystery stories the characters description is usually very intense, creating images in the minds of readers. In most stories the characters are described very descriptively and with a lot of detail. However, in some cases, it is left to the imagination of the reader to make an image of what the characters looks like, with either very little or next to nothing written about the appearances of characters. In this case we are given quite a good description of the signalman and we can foresee what the signalman will look like however information is lacking and there is not enough to create a clear image of what he actually looks like. “Waiting for me to appear…expectation of and watchfulness of attitude,” the reader is made to feel that the signalman has had something done to him, and is waiting for someone to come to him. “Drawing nearer to him…was a dark swallow man, with his dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows,” the use of “dark” and “heavy,” describe the signalman with a distinct solidarity of working at this lonesome place. “His low voice…fixed eyes, Saturnine face…that he was a spirit not a man,” the description of a character that the narrator has just come across puts suspense in the readers mind and the narrators too, due to the distinct oddity of his face and expressions. “He replied…but without sound,” this gives the reader an idea that he is a ghost with words like “without sound”. We are told nothing about the narrator, mainly due to the fact it’s written in 1st person and describing himself isn’t what someone would do unless something awkward was happening to them. This entitles us to think of the main character i.e. the narrator in any way we choose to, because we are not given definite descriptive details about him. The quick flow of a mystery story is kept by this, because of shortened descriptions, or none in this case of the main character. “Involuntarily I pushed my chair back…” as the appearance of ghosts increases so does the narrator’s reluctance to do anything. He is losing the will to live by coming to this place in the first place. “He bit his under-lip,” this is a nervous gesture shown by the signal man and shows stress to a reader. As does similarly this “His eyes were prominent and strained.”
There is usually a lot of complex vocabulary and complex sentence structure in this story as compared to the Red Room, and this at first may bore the reader, but as the story advances forward it works well. The use of excessive language for description of characters and scenes and to develop the story and take it forward, does not always give a positive result, although gives good description of events and characters. The use of long sentence in times of description and use of short sentences in times of action and suspense are what set mystery stories apart, because of the variation in language techniques. “So little sunlight ever found its way to this spot, that it had an earthy, deadly smell…and so much cold wind rushed through it, that it struck a chill to me, as if I had left the natural world.” The use of descriptive words is very good, and in this example is trying to say that this spot of the location was so dark and the lack in light gave an earthy and deadly smell in the same way as rotting plants when they are deprived of sunlight, and decay with an earthy smell. As with the Red Room a lot of variation of figures of speech such as similies, metaphors, and personification are used in the setting of the scene and creating that edge to description of characters, the surroundings, to give us a clear image in our heads. The variations in language in mystery stories work well when there is a contrast between complex long sentenced structures as compared to short and snappy sentencing. The good content of imagery through words is important too to create an image in the reader’s mind. The use of good variation in language in a mystery story is vital to keep the reader interested and wanting to read on. “It was the mental torture of the man,” here a reader gets the impression that his mind is trapped and there is no way out.
The use of Short sentences always works extremely well, especially as the story is at its peak tempo wise. A lot of short sentences at times of tension and action increase the tempo and suspense are packed into the paragraphs. They work well with the racing mind of the character and his sudden rush of blood at points of tension. The short sentences and single word sentences increase the speed at which we read the book, and it is this that creates the vision of the reader actually being in the shoes of the characters.
The use of Verbs also adds to the tempo of the story. The use of lots of verbs at times of tension and action to create a fast tempo and suspense, especially when they are used as single word sentences works well. It is used at times of increased heart beat of characters, during shock, and also has an adverse effect on the reader as a result of it. These again as above make us read sentences faster and our emotions towards the feelings of the character are transfixed into different positions, as each single worded verb sentence is used. “Resisting the slow touch of a frozen finger tracing out my spine,” the verb tracing especially when used with a frozen finger, replicates the horror in which a spooky finger touches him in the same was as trying to trace the outline of his back. Also something frozen which is rubbing on tracing paper will give that crispy/ripping of paper sound. So the use of verbs which act as sounds and also imagery signifies the use of single words and the limited use of the working so well to create such a vivid and sound filled description.
The Pit and the pendulum is set at night most of the time; a time for crime and strange happenings. It is generally seen as a time of shadows and supernatural events. It also brings darkness, which is the sign of extinguishing of hope, which is represented by light, “tall candles”. In this story, it is almost always dark, “the blackness of darkness supervened”. Because he is underground, there is no natural light as there are no windows, but there almost always a very faint glow of “sulphurous light” until a few pages later. He is unsure about what his surroundings are and experiences continuous disturbances repeatedly. This in turn almost leads to his death when we see him nearly falling down the well. At this point it is very nerve racking because he is alone in a small confined prison, underground, there is very little or no light, and does not know what the bearings of the prison cell are “the blackness of eternal night encompassed me”. There is also the possibility that there could be unknown and hidden dangers which he is not aware about, “the intensity of the darkness seemed to oppress and stifle me.” The image of darkness takes away all of his confidence and drains it away slowly but progressively and leaves him with no hope.
The ingredients going into making a first class mystery stories are mainly its build up of suspense and fear, a good plot, the roles of characters and how they are described, the use of language in the story, the use of imagery and also the narrative are very important. All three of these stories show good qualities in all of these key factors discussed, however, the one in my opinion which was above all was The Red Room. This is simply because of the pace of the story, which is well set out, and doesn’t drag along, which the signalman does to an extent. The Red Room’s pace means that a reader is always thinking and straining into the fact of the matter, whereas the Signalman is a longer story which isn’t as dramatic. However neither of them can be criticized to a great extent, as they both follow the criteria of the above titles.
To summarize we can say that the main factors going into creating tension and adding suspense into a mystery story are the use of variated sentence lengths, the plot, the setting, the characters, the time of the day, imagery. These all create tension and suspense, often ending with cliff hangers due to the preservation of important information.
