Dickens describes the path using specific individual words where he writes: ‘the cutting was extremely deep, and unusually precipitate. It was made through clammy stone that became oozier and wetter as I went down.’ These are unusual qualities of stone which creates tension here as an element of unnaturalness is coming about.
The word ‘oozier’ allows the reader to imagine the true extent of the dangerous wet conditions the gentleman is facing. The word ‘oozier’ is also onomatopoeia, which means the senses are involved when reading this passage as you can almost hear and feel the clammy stone squelching on his way down. The fact that the description of the journey to the signalman is relatively long means it gives the gentleman enough time to question the signalman’s behaviour. This passage is an example of Dickens strong and effective descriptive writing as it incorporates all senses to suggest an unwelcoming and dangerous environment. Both stories keep the reader in suspense with dramatic description, and have short and long sentences that allow the effect created to be manifested. In the signalman’s responses to the narrator in the beginning of the story did not exceed more than three words or were simply gestures such as ‘yes’ in which he had replied without sound, ‘I was doubtful’ or simply pointing at the red light as a reply. In ‘The Red Room’ the long sentence ‘I entered, closed the door behind me at once, turned the key I found in the lock within, and stood with the candle held aloft, surveying the scene of my vigil, the great red room of Lorraine Castle, in which the young duke had died’ allows the reader to see the slight panic in the man as he entered the room.
‘The Red Room’ and ‘the Signalman’ both have a characters that begin the story with no belief of the supernatural but towards the end were both wrapped in a supernatural presence. The story in ‘The Red Room’ centres on an unnamed protagonist who chooses to spend the night in the remote Lorraine Castle where it was by experience that he had come to conclusion that the room was indeed ‘haunted’. In ‘The Signalman’ it took the narrator to see the ghostly spectre himself for him to believe.
H.G.Wells changes the characters feelings and ideas in ‘The Red Room’ when the main character is walking to the red room that is supposed to be haunted. There is suspense built there and when he enters the room, he doubts himself about being afraid of the ‘Red Room’. The same paranoia we see in ‘The Signalman’ when he claimed that he heard the bell ring but the narrator was convinced that he himself had not and that the signalman was suffering from ‘disease of the delicate nerves that minister to the functions of the eye’.
The charters in both stories are haunted by something or someone. Dickens describes the signalman in a way that you first think he is a ghostly figure due to the way his attention was mostly fixed on the bell or the red light so it is clear here that Dickens is using pathetic fallacy to engage the reader. Likewise those of the lady in ‘The Red Room’ when the old lady has her attention fixed on the fireplace and won’t look away, even if she is talking to the unnamed character or the other two custodians.
Both author’s use of language also plays a very important role in creating suspense and tension in the passage. In ‘The Signalman’ he describes body language in detail. ‘He had his left hand at his chin, and that left elbow rested on his right hand crossed over his breast’. This passage emphasises the train workers reluctance to speak with the gentleman and creates a clear picture of the workers reluctance to speak with the gentleman and creates a clear picture of the man’s hostility towards people that may want to approach him. It also makes the man seem quite unfriendly and suspicious.
Charles Dickens uses alliteration to intensely describe an oncoming train. Dickens does this to emphasise the unwelcoming atmosphere, he writes: ‘Just then, there came a vague vibration in the earth and air, quickly changing into a violent pulsation,’ it is the alliteration of the ‘v’ sound that allows the reader to almost hear the train, emphasising the hollow atmosphere. This quote also incorporates senses as you can hear the sound the train is making and therefore can to some extent relate to what the traveller must be thinking about the surrounding environment.
There are many different ways such as repetition of certain phrases or words, metaphors and similes which the two authors use to allure the reader. The two authors use the same strategies but in different ways to create a vast amount of tension up to a climax that forces the reader to be engaged right to the last word.
