Hazeera Ishaq
One way in which Stevenson engages the reader’s interest is by creating an eerie atmosphere that makes the reader feel uneasy. The time of day that Stevenson sets for this chapter contributes to the atmosphere that makes the reader feel anxious. “It was a wild, cold, seasonable night of March.” Here we can see that Stevenson has set this scene at “night” because the night is normally associated with darkness and this suggests fear that is building up in the characters. This is a typical gothic setting, which creates a gothic atmosphere making the reader again feel anxious and uneasy.
Another way Stevenson creates an eerie atmosphere is by using the moon as the only source of light: “It was a cold seasonable night of March, with a pale moon, lying on her back as though the wind had titled her, and a flying wrack of the most diaphanous and lawny texture.” Here the setting immediately tells the reader that it is a dark a dreary wild night. The moon being the only light source creates a gothic atmosphere, as it is very common in gothic stories to have only one light source being the moon. The Gothic atmosphere makes the reader feel uneasy and nervous. The fact that it is a “pale moon” suggests that the light is so dim that it is hard to see properly making the characters seem vulnerable and concerned because they cannot see where they are going. The reader shares this uncertainty about not knowing what is ahead of the characters. All this is a contrast to the amount of light given of the moon later on the in chapter. “The scud had banked over the moon, and it was now quite dark” Here the moon emits less light than before. This shows us that as the chapter becomes tenser the moon becomes darker which reflects the characters uncertainty. Here the reader again shares the characters uncertainty because the reader, like the character, does not know if there is anything lurking around because it is too dark to see anything.
