In the structure of the story we constantly are made to be fearful of what we will find by the suggestive comment of the woman and the man with the withered arm. Some examples of the way the old woman and the man with the withered arm, second old man and the narrator are described are:
The old woman is not really described all that describes her is how she
“Sits and stares at the fireplace.”
The man with the withered arm is described as being a:
“Man with a withered arm”
The second old man is described as:
“More bent, more wrinkled, more aged, even then the first.”
Related to the first old man I described.
Also he supported himself by a:
“Single crutch”
Also he was described as having something with covered his eyes:
“his eyes were covered by a shade.”
But why were they covered by a shade? It is night time; there is no need for a shade to be covering his eyes. Was he trying to hide something?
Maybe H.G. Wells added that description to the second old man because it was to add a bit of suspense to the character and to make us feel threatened by him. The real unease is made by the old woman who tells the young man that if he chooses to go into the red room on that night:
“you go alone”
Making you feel that it is an extra specially evil night.
The narrator is trying not to appear afraid as he knows that being nervous is part of letting your mind believed that the room is haunted. He tries to be cheery, like when he puts lots of lighted candles around the room so that when the ghost came he would:
“Worn him not to trip over them”
Talking aloud also helped release his nervousness:
“By Jove that draughts a strong on”
It is a typical setting for a ghost story, for example, “Queer old Mirror” in the house, “a man with a withered arm”, a second person with a stick, and a “shambling” step on the way into the room. A “spiral staircase” is part of the description to the “red room”. “Candles” used to light the way makes it a dark, eerie atmosphere. The long “draughty subterranean passage was chilly and dusty” all examples used to create a Gothic like scene.
Language style is very important in setting the scene and also letting us know what age this was set in, like when the old woman says:
“This night of all nights”
The narrator’s language is very formal:
“I will relieve you of the task of entertaining me”
He says before he goes the red room. The comment “By fore” is a very Victorian comment to make, no modern vocabulary used.
The atmosphere is set by the old woman when she says:
“Eight and twenty years you have lived and never seen the likes of this house.”
As the reader it makes you put emphasis onto the words.
“Never seen the likes of this house.”
This is used to bring a chill to the mind. Describing someone with a “withered arm” adds to the atmosphere of the room as well. As I have said before the mention of candles adds to the atmosphere as being dark, Shadowy and Chilly. H.G. Wells also mentions:
“Echoing passage”
This is used to give the feeling of big and dark places. His description of the layout of the house makes us feel that we have walked backwards in time. The narrator is also unnerved by the atmosphere and his imagination is working overtime. The expression “A bronze group” gave me the impression of someone crouching to waylay me. The best atmosphere description I could find was in the red room.
“Candle was a little tongue of light in its vastness.”
This set an eerie ghostly atmosphere. The candle flame allows a little light and so we get more colour description,
“Reds and blacks.”
H.G Wells has a good use of words to form images in the readers mind. The description of the second old man makes him sound quite horrible.
“His lower lip, half averted hung pale and pink from his decaying yellow teeth.”
The narrator walks down the corridor as the moonlight coming in the window makes things look like a silvery illumination, is a good use of words to cause imagery. H. G. Wells tells in great detail the layout of the red room so we can tell what spot he is standing in, in the room. When the candles suddenly went out, he felt the darkness or the room immediately when he said:
“The black shadow sprang back”
The use of the word “sprang” makes you feel the suddenness of the darkness and brings tension back into the story. As the reader I know that the narrator is getting quite nervous:
“A queer high note gets into his voice”
These words were used to describe the darkness as candles were going out was so accurate. For example:
“Like a ragged storm cloud sweeping out the stairs”
Words used again to describe sudden darkness. The darkness became a:
“Stifling embrace”
too much for him to cope with.
In my opinion H. G. Wells writes a very descriptive story. He manages throughout to convey a feeling of nervous tension and when he thinks that things are beginning to relax he introduces another unsettling point to the story. He keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you wonder how the story will turn out. His use of descriptive words:
“Deafens, darkens and overwhelms”
makes the reader see this story in their minds my.
