“Lost Hearts”           “Explain the way Mr. James creates suspense and tension in Lost Hearts.” The story “Lost Hearts” is written by M.R.James. This short story is bolt unforgettable and intriguing. Within the story M.R.James uses violent descriptions and shows ghostly figures to create tension. Throughout the story unexpected things take place. The reader gets intrigued the author brings the obsession Mr.Abney has with pagans and religions. This put a question into the reader’s minds of why he could be obsessed. We learn about the disappearance of the other two children who have already been in Aswarby Hall, and their ghostly sightings. Soon we realise the third victim will be young cousin Stephen.                                                                                                                       The writer shows how large and imposing the house is by, describing the “red-bricked house.” This is done to create curiosity and interest. The sinister atmosphere within the story gives us an impression that this house is by its self and is isolated. I know this because we are told that “Surrounded by a flat park,” This quote shows that this house is very un-welcoming and is un-easy for a chill to stay in. The atmosphere of Aswarby hall is very strange. The “fires” gives the idea of hell being like a danger. The quote “tall and narrow windows,” gives me that impression that not much light enters the house so it must be very dark inside. There is a sense of secrecy within the story which makes you feel there is something being hidden inside.                                                                                                                                                                                                              M.R.James uses different techniques all through the story. M.R.James describes Abney as being “austere recluse,” ‘elderly.” This raises issues of why Mr.Abney would want to keep a boy here who is young when Mr.Abney needs looking after himself.  Mr.Abney at first seems a kind person to be around but as the story progresses we see a very different and unusual phase of Mr.Abney. The first thing within the story that makes the reader focus more is the fact that Mr.Abney has a very weird desire about asking Stephan the younger cousin how old he is. When Stephan enters the house the first thing Mr.Abney asks him is “how old are you?” he repeats himself twice to make sure. This tells us that Mr.Abney needs to know Stephan’s age or a reason. Mr.Abney makes sure that Stephan is twelve by saying “sure it’s twelve? Certain.” This indicates to us that the author is trying to confuse the reader to show that Mr.Abney has bought Stephan for a reason.                                                                                                                                 In the story there is little known about Mr.Abneys background and where he came from and what he did. But we are aware of his strange religious practices and obsessions he has with pagan religions. The author grabs the reader’s attention by telling us “Mr.Abney is an expert in Greek, myths and religions, no one knew more of the religious beliefs of the later pagans that did the owner of Aswarby hall,” This fascination with pagan rituals adds to the suspense in the story. This shows the reader that Mr.Abney is an expert in Greek myths and religions. We are told he is a “professor of Greek at Cambridge”. This puts a question into our minds that a professor like Mr.Abney what would he be doing in the middle of the woods all by himself? Later on we realise that Mr.Abney has a big library all about religions. The writer does this to make us think what has religions got to do with Stephen being here and why has Stephen seen all this? Was Stephen meant to see all these things or was it all a coincident?                                                                                                                                 In many ways there is an opposite of Mr.Abney in the house that is Mrs. Bunch. All the way throughout the story Mrs. Bunch is very naive and gullible. She does not know what is going on. She is also protecting Stephen all the way through. She’s the kindest in the house, at the start of the story she says to Stephen “master’s as kind as a soul as ever I see!” This tells us that she respects Mr.Abney and she thinks that he is kind and she does not think that he is strange in any way. However as the story progresses, Stephen has a dream. He tells Mrs. Bunch about it and she gives him
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advice and tells him to “shut his bedroom window at night.” This tells us that Mrs. Bunch is an un-certain and is not so sure about Mr.Abney after all. We are also told the Mrs. Bunch tells Stephen not to discuss this issue with Mr.Abney.                                                                                                                    Another character who also adds mystery to the story is called Mr.Parkes. The reader is not told much about Mr.Parkes expect that he lives down in the cellar. The strange thing is that why does Mr.Parkes live down in the cellar when there is a big house for him to stay inside, he could stay ...

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