The characters in The Red Room are very different. The main character of The Red Room is also the narrator. He is presented as a very arrogant man because he tells us that “it will only take a very ‘tangible’ ghost to frighten me.” This quote shows that he thinks he is brave and this is what makes the reader think he is arrogant. However, later we find out that even the shadows frighten him. Also we know more about his thoughts and feelings because he uses the first person narrative and less about the other characters’ thoughts and feelings. We do know the other characters have some sort of deformity “…more bent, more wrinkled , more aged than the first … his eyes were covered by a shade…” These descriptions make the other characters seem mysterious and grotesque. However, it is important to point out that these are the sort of characters that the reader would expect to find in a ghost story. Therefore, in terms of character, it must be said that The Red Room is the more effective ghost story.
Secondly, the structure of both texts has to be evaluated. All stories and films are roughly comprised of four elements. They are the Exposition, Complication, Climax and Resolution. In Don Juan, the tension is high throughout the Exposition, Complication, and Climax. The tension in the Resolution drops just a little even though it is the end of the story. Therefore, this is not an usual structure for a ghost story as the reader would be hopeful of the Resoulution being a low tension moment.
On the other hand, The Red Room is a more typical structure for a ghost story. The tension is high in the Exposition, Complication, and Climax, then in the final part of the text, the Resolution ends with a low tension moment. This is what the reader would expect to find in a good ghost story.
“…and that is, in all it’s nakedness – FEAR!”
This quote tells the reader that The Red Room is haunting him by fear and that the Resolution is a low tension moment. Overall, the The Red Room is more effective in terms of structure because it is what the reader would expect of a ghost story and this is what the structure is like in most stories.
Finally, the language of both texts has to be analysed. In Don Juan, the tension is built up quickly by the use of short simple sentences,
This is the point in the story where the reader finds out that the ghost is passionate after the night with Don Juan.
The Red Room is the opposite of Don Juan. It has long complex sentences “The old woman sat staring hard into the fire her pale eyes wide open. ‘Ah,’ she broke in : ‘and eight and twenty seven years you have lived here and never seen the likes of this house, I rekon’” in which there are connotations of colour but the colours are different compared to Don Juan “his red eyes”. There is also some personification of the shadows
“…… my candle flared and made the shadows cower and quiver….” This is what creates the fear in the narrator and builds tension in the reader. The effect of this is it builds tension quickly with the fear that it creates. Also it contains many dated words like “sconce” the effects of using dated words is that the reader want to find out what the words mean and it gives the text more excitement.
Therefore the Red Room is the more effective ghost story in the sense of the language in the text as it builds more tension considering the personification, connotations, and other types of figurative language for example, there are some uses of metaphors and similies also.
In conclusion, The Red Room is an effective ghost story in terms of language. For the reason that it is more effective of building tension considering figurative language and personification which was used in the text.
Summing it all up The Red Room is the more effective story in terms of character, structure and language because