In both stories, the author creates a character who is over-confident and cynical. For example, in The Red Room, the narrator did not believe in the phenomenon that possessed the room and had arguments over the subject with the tenants in the house. He says, “It would take a very tangible ghost to frighten me”. Remarks like this create tension but the comments create conflict and conflicts create tension. He does not believe the warning about the room In ‘the Monkey’s Paw’, Mrs. White does not take the monkey’s paw seriously and makes light of things like that. Mrs. White asks the husband to wish her to have four hands and they all laugh at the prospect of getting what one truly desires. All of that make the story tenser because they make light of that things and does not believe even though they have been warning by someone else. In addition, Herbert White jokes about the monkey’s paw. Mrs. White said, in his absence, “Herbert will have some more of his funny remarks, I expect when he comes home” The reader immediately knows that this is a precedent as to what will happen. Soon, a stranger appears to give the news of Herbert death “.he is badly hurt...but he is not in any pain.”
Another type of character have been created is the person who is unnatural or supernatural. The supernatural means anybody who is abnormal or different from others. The characters that are supernatural always have experience about something.
In ‘The Red Room’, the character who is supernatural is ‘the man with the withered arm’, the old man, the old woman. The three old people build up a certain element of tension and mystery. My reaction to these old people is that they are being portrayed as stereotypes. This is because they are describing as frail, “said the man with the withered arm”. Moreover, they sit around the front of the fire solitary, “sat staring hard into the fire”. Another example of the old people being unnatural and probably the best of the following, “ as the second old man entered, more wrinkled, more aged even than first, he supported himself by a single crutch, his eyes was covered by a shade, his lower lips half averted, hung pale and pink from his decaying yellow teeth”. In the Monkey’s Paw, the equivalent character is Sergeant Major Morris. He appears scared when Mr. White wants to use the paw. Moreover, we does not even know where he came from and he never been on that area before and that makes him all the more mysterious and the readers knows nothing of Sergeant major Morris’s background which gives him an air of mystery.
Both stories are set in isolated places. The setting of ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ is very different to that of 'The Red Room', which starts as a classic ghost story. In this story, there are four main characters. We are not given much description of them. Mr. and Mrs. White live in a small house together with their son Herbert. If we look at “The Monkey’s Paw” the setting is typical for a horror story, “Night... Cold wet... Paths a bog and roads a torrent. Only two houses in the area”. “That’s the worst of living so far out”. With the setting being so stereotypical, it establishes the expectation that something could go wrong and therefore helps to build suspense. “The Monkey’s Paw” just likes ‘The Red Room’ setting, builds on the expectation that something could go wrong, each leaves the reader anxious to know what exactly will go wrong.”Chilly...Dusty...Eerie...Echoes up and down spiral stairs. Darkness overhead”. All are descriptive words used to manifest fear, and fear builds expectation, which builds tension. The location of ‘the red room’ also creates tension because it is quite hard to reach it...“go along the passage for a bit, until you come to a door and through that is a spiral staircase, and half-door covered with baize. Go through that and down the long corridor to the end, and the red room is on your left up the steps”.
The other aspect of the story I will discuss is their structure of the story. Both stories delay the action until end. In ‘the red room’, the action delayed through the rich description but in ‘The Monkey’s Paw’, the structure is delayed through the dialogue. For example, when the narrator eventually reaches the red room, it is still not apparent to the reader what problem is in this room. The tension builds like stepping stones towards the climax, ‘...turned the key...somber room, with its shadowy windows bays...the echoing of the stair and crackling of the fire was no sort of comfort to me...’ In ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ on the other hand, the conversation between the characters, taken us slowly towards the open ending, ‘its Herbert...its my boy...you’re afraid of your own son...I’m coming Herbert, I’m coming.’ Structuring them in this way makes the readers wonder what will happen and think of a lot of question in their mind, which will suddenly create tension.
The last thing I will examine is the languages, rich of use in both stories. In ‘The Red Room’, the dialogues strike me as unrealistic. This is because no one speaks like this “Eighty-and-twenty years”. Even in the time that this story was written, the dialogue used between the old people is supposed to reflect how old they are. The tension in ‘The Red Room’ itself in my opinion is the most effective. An example of the language used is as follows: “vigil”, “hid”, “dying”, “fallen headlong down the steps”, “clung”, “timid”, “tragic end”, “frightening”, “somber”, “shadowy window”, “black”, “peering”, “secret opining”, “unexpected”, “shiver” ...etc. These words all create a sort of mystery along with the tension. The uses of similes, metaphor and personification have also been created. This is the example for those “Fashion born in dead brains”, “little tongue of light”, “ocean of mystery”, “like a ragged storm cloud”, “sweeping out the stars”.
In conclusions, I think ‘The Red Room’ created tension and mystery better because that story makes the readers think a lot of question and makers the reader feel as the narrator feels. It makes the readers feel nervous when they read it because it created a lot of tension. ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ quite good but its quite boring because the plot moves slowly and it have unanswered ending.
* Amalia Rosmadi *
* Earlham High School *
* English Coursework *
