Pre 1914 Prose "The Red Room"- H.G. Wells
How does H.G. Wells create atmosphere and build up the tension in "The Red Room".
In "The Red Room" H.G. Wells bases his short story on aspects of Gothic fiction, however this type of fiction was popular between 1760-1820. This story includes mystery, horror, cruelty, spiral staircases and long corridors that are all elements of Gothic fiction. Wells borrows characteristics from this genre and uses many techniques to create atmosphere and build up the tension in "The Red Room".
In the opening of "The Red Room", we are suddenly thrown into conversation and it is very abrupt, "I can assure you." H.G. Wells does this to make us read into the conversation and the word "ghost" in the first line grabs our attention. The story is written in first person, this helps to experience the story in a different way to if a narrator was telling the story. We only witness what the protagonist thinks, feels and witnesses. Throughout the story it adds to the air of mystery because we only know what the protagonist knows, so we get his first hand experience
H.G. Wells describes the characters in depth. The protagonist is overly confident and very sceptical, "it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me." This adds impact to the story as his confidence is destroyed throughout the story. Other characters include "the man with the withered arm", "the old woman" and "the man with the shade". We never learn the real names of the characters because this is what the protagonist has named them. This adds mystery to the story because we wonder, "why the man has a withered arm?" or "why he has a shade". These character are significant to this Gothic story because they are deformed and horrific, all elements of Gothic fiction. The old woman has freakish characteristics such as "pale eyes wide open" and "she swayed her head from side to side". The man with the shade's characteristics and actions are abnormal, "his lower lip, half averted, hung pale and pink from his decaying yellow teeth", "poured out a glassful with a shaky arm that splashed half as much again on the table." Wells uses a metaphor, "fashions born in dead brains", to put emphasis on the fact that the characters should belong to a different era. These characters are typical of Gothic fiction and help set the scene for this short story.
How does H.G. Wells create atmosphere and build up the tension in "The Red Room".
In "The Red Room" H.G. Wells bases his short story on aspects of Gothic fiction, however this type of fiction was popular between 1760-1820. This story includes mystery, horror, cruelty, spiral staircases and long corridors that are all elements of Gothic fiction. Wells borrows characteristics from this genre and uses many techniques to create atmosphere and build up the tension in "The Red Room".
In the opening of "The Red Room", we are suddenly thrown into conversation and it is very abrupt, "I can assure you." H.G. Wells does this to make us read into the conversation and the word "ghost" in the first line grabs our attention. The story is written in first person, this helps to experience the story in a different way to if a narrator was telling the story. We only witness what the protagonist thinks, feels and witnesses. Throughout the story it adds to the air of mystery because we only know what the protagonist knows, so we get his first hand experience
H.G. Wells describes the characters in depth. The protagonist is overly confident and very sceptical, "it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me." This adds impact to the story as his confidence is destroyed throughout the story. Other characters include "the man with the withered arm", "the old woman" and "the man with the shade". We never learn the real names of the characters because this is what the protagonist has named them. This adds mystery to the story because we wonder, "why the man has a withered arm?" or "why he has a shade". These character are significant to this Gothic story because they are deformed and horrific, all elements of Gothic fiction. The old woman has freakish characteristics such as "pale eyes wide open" and "she swayed her head from side to side". The man with the shade's characteristics and actions are abnormal, "his lower lip, half averted, hung pale and pink from his decaying yellow teeth", "poured out a glassful with a shaky arm that splashed half as much again on the table." Wells uses a metaphor, "fashions born in dead brains", to put emphasis on the fact that the characters should belong to a different era. These characters are typical of Gothic fiction and help set the scene for this short story.
