The style of the narration is a key feature in the build up of atmosphere and tension, for it is the narrator’s style that produces all the description in ‘The Red Room’ and ‘The Signalman' and it is this description that creates the atmosphere. This is extremely evident at the start of ‘The Signalman', ‘the gloomier entrance to a black tunnel, in whose massive architecture there was a barbarous, depressing and forbidding air’. The narrators description includes copious amounts of dismal words that make the reader feel on edge and almost assures the reaer that something terrible will happen. in ‘The Red Room’ and ‘The Signalman' the narration is in the first person which allows us to know, see and feel what the narrator feels, thus keeping us in the shadows and so building tension. The narration of ‘The Red Room’ could be said to be more effective at building tension than ‘The Signalman' because the narrator is experiencing it first hand whilst the narrator of ‘The Signalman' is being told the story and thus reducing the tension. This would appear to be very different to the style of the narration in ‘The Inexperienced Ghost'. The narrator there is being told
the story but there is much more character dialogue and so the narrators feelings aren’t as prominent. However this does aid tension later on in the story as discussed before. It is at the end t the narrator’s feelings become much more prominent and so the tension increases. It is clear from this that the style of the narration is fundamental in the creation of atmosphere and tension. This is accomplished by it happening to the narrator and the build up of the narrator’s input of feelings.
Setting may be the most prominent feature when building up tension and atmosphere. The writers use effectively metaphors, similes and personification to create a setting that helps to create atmosphere and tension. It is extremely evident in ‘The Red Room’ and ‘The Signalman' and it is this that really makes them ‘scary’. In ‘The Red Room’ there is classic ghost story description, flickering candles, oppressed shadows, strange house, moonlit corridors and subterranean passages. These all amount to the building of tension and of atmosphere in the house as they put you on edge because you know something weird and supernatural will happen. In comparison, ‘The Signalman' includes a lot of this gloomy description and also includes the isolated setting of ‘The Red Room’, ‘his post was in as solitary and dismal place as ever I saw’. An interesting similiarity is the subterranean setting of ‘The Signalman', ‘the cutting was extremely deep’, and the sub-terranean passages of ‘The Red Room’, ‘the long, draughty subterranean passage was chilly and dusty’. By using words like gloomy and chilly the atmosphere becomes foreboding and the tension builds and builds as the reader does not know what will happen yet. In ‘The Red Room’ shadows are personified, this makes them even scarier, when they could just be described as ordinary shadows but instead re made to appear human and sppoky, ‘made the shadows cower and quiver’, ‘a shadow came sweeping up after me, and one fled before me into the darkness overhead’. It is clear that setting is of importance to atmosphere and tension because it is the base that these feelings are built on. By being described a gloomy dreary place you are more likely to have tension and atmosphere than if you were in a jolly place where everyone was happy.
The primary characters in ‘The Red Room’ and ‘The Signalman' increase the atmosphere and the level of tension very prominently.This is due to the curiosity the writer gave them.This is due to the curiosity the writer gave them In ‘The Red Room’ the narrator is clearly the primary character. However, in ‘The Signalman' there are two primary characters, both keyed into the main plot, the narrator and the signalman. in ‘The Red Room’ the narrator is never described physically (just like in ‘The Signalman’), however he does appear to be extremely inquisative and seems to be setting out to prove this legend false. The old man suggests this towards the end, ‘You believe me now…that the room is haunted?’ this seems to highlight the mans curiosity. The narrator in ‘The Signalman' is just as inquisative, it would appear that he just wanted to waste his time chatting to a signalman, ‘Is there any path by which I can come down and speak to you?’. The narrator of ‘The Red Room’ is very logical in his reactions to the ghost, he tries to explain the phenomenon whilst being someone who does not believe in ghosts. I think that this detracts from the tension at first as it is quite funny, ‘“Steady on!”, I said, “These candles are wanted”’. However, when you realise what a frenzy he is in trying to reassure himself of logic and yet being confronted with an illogical situation the tension and atmosphere do increase because you see how frightened he is. The narrator of ‘The Signalman' is different however because he does not appear to be nearly as scared as ‘The Red Room’ narrator was except at the start when he is wary of the signalman. This initial dread appears in ‘The Red Room’ as well. The narrator and the start of ‘The Red Room’ is daunted by the old people and describes them grotesquely. The fact that the narrators are scared and cautious at the start makes increases the tension for the continuing story. The primary characters are key to developing tension and atmosphere. It is their opinions that the reader is taking on.
Secondary characters are not as important at creating tension and atmosphere as primary characters though they do still play a fundamental role in this. The shrivelled old people at the start of ‘The Red Room’ are described in huge detail, ‘the man with the withered arm’. They are described as bent, distorted figures, intent on spooking the narrator out, for example, ‘and never seen the likes of this house’. Also there is a lot of awkward silences between the old people and the narrator. The old woman is described the strangest, she seems to just stare into the fire and repeat the words, ‘This night of all nights!’ Secondary characters can add some atmosphere to a story, they are not very prominent in ‘The Signalman' as the signalman is a very important character and therefore primary.
There is a lot of dialogue in ‘The Red Room’ and ‘The Signalman' and also a lot in ‘The Inexperienced Ghost' it all adds to the atmosphere and tension, however in ‘The Inexperienced Ghost' it detracts from the tension. In ‘The Signalman' you hear most of the facts of the story through dialogue, from the signalman. Some of the signalmans’ first words were, ‘“I was doubtful,” he returned, “whether I had seen you before”’ this immediately changes the mood, what a strange thing to say to anyone. It increases the atmosphere by making the reader uncomfortable. Similarly in ‘The Red Room’ the conversation at the beginning clearly made the narrator uncomfortable and so the reader feels uncomfortable and nervous also. When the narrator was in the red room his frantic speaking increased the dialogue by showing how scared he was, ‘“What’s up?” I cried, with a queer high note getting into my voice’. Dialogue can seriously add atmosphere, it is the only input a secondary character gets other than their description and so is likely to show a lot about them.
In conclusion it is clear that between ‘The Signalman' and ‘The Red Room’ tension and atmosphere are created similarly, though this is not the case of ‘The Inexperienced Ghost' even though it does create atmosphere and tension. I conclude that the best creator of atmosphere and tension is the setting, as it is this detail that bulks a story out and is the background to all the added on intricasies of dialogue, the narrator and the primary and secondary characters.
