The story starts with the narrator talking to an old man, with a “withered arm” There is also an elderly woman in the room who keeps “staring hard into the fire” as if she is transfixed. The third character is “more bent, more wrinkled, more aged” and appears to be more mysterious than the others. With all of the characters having deformities it gives the idea that the old people are sinister and that they are hiding something from the narrator. For example the man with the withered arm repeats himself on many occasions, saying,” It’s your own choosing”. Which makes the reader wonder whether they are they trying to warn him about something. All the characters have a ghostly appearance about them, giving the impression that they are not human. This makes the narrator very uncomfortable about being around them. Once again this mention of supernatural beings adds to the mystery and tension of the story.
The next part of the story is where a lot of the reader’s unanswered questions
become clearer. We now know that the narrator has come to this castle to go to the red
room to live out his vigil. The comments made by the other characters just before he leaves make the reader wonder what is so bad about The Red Room.” Are you really
going”- “ This night of all nights”. When the narrator finally sets off on his journey to the red room it is described in great detail, which continually creates tension for the reader. The name The Red Room itself suggests danger and death especially with the colour red being used, which is traditionally associated with danger and death. The beginning of the journey is down a “long, draughty subterranean passage” which is “chilly and dusty”. His candle “flared and made the shadows cower and quiver”.“The echoes rang up and down the spiral staircase”. The very thought that the shadows are cowering and quivering make the reader wonder what supernatural forces are at work to make these scary objects become scared themselves. The room itself is very distant and isolated from the rest of the house, which creates growing tension the further the narrator travels. Once again the shadows are described as almost human like. ”and a shadow came sweeping up after me, and one fled before me”. Moonlit openings and strange statues that create ‘ the impression of someone crouching to waylay me’ all create tension. This vivid description is vital in creating setting and atmosphere for the reader.
When the narrator arrives at the Red Room it is in a ‘ shadowy corner’’ and there is a staircase leading up to it, which enhances the fact that is it isolated and maybe even haunted. We finally understand the reason for his journey. He is in Lorraine castle about to carry out a vigil (which many of his predecessors did not manage) which was to try and conquer the deadly ghostly tradition that is associated with the Red Room. Once the narrator is inside the room it is described in infinite detail, “its shadowy window bays, its recesses and alcoves, with an ocean of mystery beyond it”. There is a distinct lack of light in the room and that enhances the fact that without light the narrator cannot see into the darkness. With not being able to see the whole room the reader’s imagination is allowed to come into play and imagine what could be hidden in the lurking darkness. He describes the darkness as ‘germinating’ almost like it is a disease slowly moving towards him to swallow him. He starts lighting candles that barely do anything in the darkness. We finally see the narrator actually becoming scared of the room.” I was in a state of considerable nervous tension”. He even begins to sing to drown out the deathly silence that starts to create ‘unpleasant echoes’. Towards the end of the story all of the lights and candles in the room start to go out one by one until there is total darkness.
In comparison to the rest of the story the ending was an anti-climax as it was
not a ghost that forced him and his predecessors out of the room but fear itself. All
through the story there is vivid description of the setting, which constantly builds
tension and atmosphere for the reader.
