The Red Room
The Red Room The Red Room by H.G Wells is a short story and the plot is structured around the themes of conflict, mystery and a test. It conforms in all respects to the gothic genre. It is set in a gloomy ancient castle with secret rooms and passages, riled over by an owner tortured by a guilty secret (which is hinted at right at the end of the story). "There is fear in that room of hers-black Fear, and there will be-so long as This house of sin endures" In addition, The Red Room has the necessary stock characters in the form of the old people as well as a super natural element. The subject of ghosts is introduced right at the beginning when we hear a discussion between the characters-three old people and a young man. (The young man narrates the story). It is clear from the beginning that the old people-who are the stock characters /caricatures, have two functions in the story. The first is to represent decay; one old man has a withered arm, and the other old man is even "more bent, more wrinkled, more aged even than the first" and has a lower lip which "hung pale and pink from his decaying yellow teeth." They mirror the important factor in creating the mood and physical environment. The other reason for their presence is to provide conflict. They rake an opposing view to the cocky self-assured young man who doesn't believe their claim that the castle is haunted, even
"The Red Room".
"The Red Room" I will be studying H.G Wells' ghost story, "The Red Room". I will be writing how he builds up an atmosphere of fear and how the young man is reduced from self-assurance to panic and terror. The story was written in 1896, in first person narrative. In summary, it is about a young man's overnight stay in an apparently haunted room. H.G Wells' choice to write this story in first person narrative is because only knowing one viewpoint restricts the reader's knowledge. Many key details are omitted resulting in an element of mystery. One example of this is the way you do not get to hear much about what the strange old caretakers of the house are thinking and are restricted to knowing only the young mans thoughts and feelings. At the beginning, the young man's self-assurance and confidence is demonstrated by his dialogue, behaviour and his attitude towards the old people. Firstly he states, "I can assure you", that it will take a "very tangible ghost to frighten me". This shows how overly confidant he is about entering the room, and his sarcasm about his belief in the non-existence of ghosts. This is also displayed by the way he is introduced at the start, "stood up before the fire with a glass in my hand." He stands in a confident, relaxed position. He is very sure of himself and half suspected the old people were trying to enhance the spiritual terrors of the
The red room
The Red Room H.G Wells is an author who not only wrote 'The Red Room' but also wrote 'The Invisible Man' and 'War of the Worlds'. The Red Room was written in 1896. During this period people were superstitious and believed in ghosts and spirits. This relates to the story because the old people in this story believed that the red room was haunted. In the story tension is sustained, the man who is also the narrator goes into the red room to see if it is really haunted. At the end of the story the man said the room wasn't haunted, it was just dark, that made people begin to believe the room was haunted. The writer uses personification, e.g. 'shadows cower and quiver'. Shadows can't really cower and quiver, but this makes the story seem more interesting and intriguing. The writer uses repetition, e.g. 'it's your own choosing', the old people in the story keep repeating this quote, by repeating this tension is built up. The red room is about a sceptical twenty-eight year old man who plans to spend the night in The man in the story is totally convinced that the supernatural is not another dimension, but a result of human fear. He is sceptical and believes everything can scientifically be explained. He does not believe in the supernatural because there is no explanation behind it and if it cannot be proved it does not exist, according to him. The story is written as first
The Red room
The red room The Red Room' was written in 1896 by Herbert George Wells (1866-1946). Although a short story, it has elements of the Gothic novel, which had been invented predominantly by Horace Walpole in the previous century. This genre has influenced poetry, literature and even filmmaking up to the present day. A Gothic novel is deemed to be: 'A type of romantic fiction that predominated in English literature in the last third of the 18th century and the first two decades of the 19th century, the setting for which was usually a ruined Gothic castle or abbey. The Gothic novel, or Gothic romance, emphasised mystery and horror and was filled with ghostly-haunted rooms, underground passages and secret stairways.' 1 The Victorians themselves seemed to have a particular affinity with idea of death in general, prompting many Victorian ghost stories and Gothic novels to be written at the time of 'The Red Room'. The obsession is present in much Victorian literature and historical documents. Led by Queen Victoria, elaborate mourning was a common process at the time, especially amongst women. The Queen herself continued fetishistic rituals for four decades after the death of her husband, Albert, even having the servants changing his linens every day after he had died. Another factor that contributed to this obsession was the alarming death rate
The Red Room.
The Red Room The title "The Red Room" immediately attracts the reader's attention; it is symbolic but leaves unanswered questions. "What is the red room?" "Why is it red?" We associate red with fear and danger and maybe blood. Is this room dangerous? Overall, the title raises so much curiosity that it has an overwhelming effect, wanting us to read on and find answers to our questions involving the title. The short story writer has to attract the reader and keep their attention throughout. In order for any story to work, tension has to be built in the story, to keep it interesting. In a novel, the writer has to structure and create tension building it up and letting it drop and picking it up again. Too much fast-paced action in a film kills the essence of it and for the viewer, it can become almost funny to watch. For a short story, however, it is able to build tension and sustain it without completely dropping down to the original level. The best way of building tension is to increase the tension then drop down slightly but not as low as at the start. In adding more drama, little by little, the story gains tension but the reader is also reminded of the excitement as he is released from the drama from time to time. In a short story, the reader will be able to have a strong influence from the writer's first and last lines. This makes them very important and are well thought
The Red Room
The Red Room In this essay, I am going to discuss whether atmosphere and suspense enhance the power of the narrative in the 'Red Room'. H.G. Wells wrote the story in 1896. This was a time when Britain was an empire. Some people say that on one level it symbolised fear of the unknown, an attack from outside and eventual decay of the empire. By atmosphere, I mean; how has the mood been set? How have words been used to create a vivid picture? By suspense I mean how has the writer used words to create the effect that makes you want to read on? The story can be split into four sections, the first being where the narrator is in a room with three old people who are in the house that he is staying in. The 'old people' are talking to him about the 'Red Room'. The narrator says he wants to spend the night in the room. They try to talk him out of it by saying, 'It's your own choosing', but he still wants to go. In the second section the narrator is making his way to the 'Red Room'. He leaves the 'old people' behind and makes his way to the room. The third section is set in the room. He lights many candles because of the vast darkness of the room, but they start to go out. He keeps relighting them but they keep blowing out. The room is being haunted. The narrator fails to relight all of the candles as they are being put out too fast. He is left in darkness and is petrified. He wants
Which is the better suspense story, "The Red Room" or "The Landlady"?
GCSE WIDE READING ASSIGNMENT Which is the better suspense story, "The Red Room" or "The Landlady"? The Red Room is a short story which is written by H.G Wells. It is a story about a young man who decides to go into a room which is believed to be haunted. The old people who live in the house which has the haunted room believe that is haunted but the man himself does not believe that it is haunted. As the story continues, we find that the man does go into the haunted room. He takes some candles and matches into the room with him to feel more safe and also because then he can see the room in the darkness. When he reaches inside the room, he lights up many candles which he palces around the room, and he also lights up the fireplace. Soon he starts to find that the candles that he has lit are beginning to blow out in all directions of the room and feels as if soeone is blowinig then out. He can not see anyone and he starts to relight the candles. He also begins to feel as if there are shadows behind him. Soon the candles start to blow out very quickly and then the fireplace also is blown out. He is left in the room with no light and he can not see anything. He bangs into the furniture in the darkness and collapses. The next day, the man wakes up to find that he is downstaires and out of the haunted room. He realises that the old people were right and that there are ghots in
The Shawshank Redemption
Andrew Tinney 5g2 Specialist study Title: "Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption" Author: Steven King Line of argument: Introduction I first became aware of 'The Shawshank Redemption' as a film which I saw in the cinema a few years ago and liked it so much I bought the video and have watched it many times. When I saw the film I was unaware that it had been taken from a novella written by the renowned author Stephen King. I was surprised that it had been written by Stephen King as I had always thought he had only written horror novels such as Pet Cemetery, Shining, Carrie, I have carried out some research into this author and he has written some astonishing novels and like 'Shawshank' not all of them are horror. His book 'Misery' which was also made into a film is a tense thriller (with a bit of 'blood and guts' in it). 'Shawshank' is one of King's few mainstream efforts, it contains no supernatural occurrences and graphic murders. It's a deceptively simple tale of friendship, injustice and the indomitable human spirit, and King plays with our fears of living out our lives within four high walls like a master puppeteer, leaving us no choice but to become entwined in the fate of his protagonists. Story Overview In the late 40s Andy Dufresne is a young and successful banker, content with life. Unfortunately the sky falls in when his wife and her golf pro
The Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption The Shawshank Redemption is a film based on a book by Stephen King set in an American prison starting in 1947. The film looks at the lives of the two main characters Andy Dufresne and Ellis Redding, their existence within the harsh prison system and their unlikely friendship. In this piece I will explain how these two central characters are represented in the film and how the director Frank Darabont is able to use different techniques of film making to enhance scenes and portray different aspects and emotions. Andy Dufresne is the first central character we meet in the film. He initially appears as a respectable middle class, well educated, white man, but somewhat emotionless. He appears very calm, almost boring unlikely to do anything extraordinary (except perhaps murder his wife). It is this first impression, which sets the scene for the film, so the viewers are even more surprised by how this character changes, having already prejudged Andy as a dull and quiet man. Ellis Redding (Red) the other main figure is an unlikely friend for a man from Andy Dufresne's background. Red is a middle-aged, black, career criminal who much later admits to being "the only guilty man in Shawshank". He is the old lag, a "man who knows how to get things", a man who knows that his appearance in front of the white male fifty-something parole board is just another
The Shawshank Redemption
Cynthia M. Gonzalez Mr. Garcia Night School Class English 1 I INTRODUCTION Doesn't everyone in prison say that they are innocent Well do you believe them? The ones you do not may be Innocent but we do not know until they prove it. And when. They do at times it may be too late. II EXPOSTION Andy's wife Linda Collins dufresne suddenly decided to Take golf lessons in 1947.At Falmouth Hill Country Club Linda took lessons for four month and her instructor was Glenn Quentin. Andy found in August 1947that Glenn and his Wife had become lovers. They argued bitterly. On September 10,1947 Linda wanted to divorce Andy. Linda went to spend the night at Glenns. The next morning the cleaning woman found and Linda and Glenn dead in bed. They were found shot four times each Red is a guy who can get anything for you. He came to Shawshank when he was twenty years old. He committed murder. He was young good looking and poor. He killed his wife by loosing up her brakes but he did not expect her to pick up the lady next door and her son. He also did not expect to get caught. He is a cool person and every one is fine and okay with him. People new that they could not play around with him cause then when they needed something from the out side he would not get it because like I said he was the one who got everything. Inciting Incident As soon as Andy walked inside Shawshank the first