Fear and Tension in The Whole Towns Sleeping and A Terribly Strange Bed
The essay i have written is a comparison of two short stories. One
written by Ray Bradbury in 1950's and titled "The Whole Towns
Sleeping". The other was written by Wilkie Collins in 1856 and
entitled "A Terribly Strange Bed".
"The Whole Towns Sleeping" is about a middle-aged spinster called
"Lavinia" 37, who goes to the cinema with her friends while a
mysterious killer, is at large. She is fully convinced that the killer
would not strike again for another four weeks because a murder has
just occurred, and they seem to happen at intervals when 'the moon is
full', and superstitiously then 'men do strange things' because of the
influence of the moon on their minds. This brings in the horror
aspects and the superstitions that people believed in, and creates a
false sense of security in Lavinia.
"A Terribly Strange Bed" is about a wealthy young educated man who
lives in Paris. He is used to going to the best gambling houses, but
tires of them with there showy surroundings, and goes with his friend
to a 'seedy looking' gambling house in a salubrious area. Normally he
finds that winning money gives him no pleasure, because he has plenty,
but winning in a seedy gambling house, gives him a sense of excitement
because he meets people who desperately need to win to survive. He
wins a lot of money and is persuaded to stay the night by an old
soldier because he has had quite a bit to drink. While trying to
sleep, the bed canopy descends and he narrowly escapes death. He
realiseshe's been fooled and escapes through the window.
"The Whole Towns Sleeping" ends on a cl...
... middle of paper ...
...terror was, and I wouldn't let myself
think!"
Also in "A Terribly Strange Bed" when the canopy descends Faulkner
says "I looked up motionless, speechless, breathless", this
effectively builds up tension, like "without stopping to draw my
breath, without wiping the cold sweat from my face i rose instantly on
my knees to watch the bed top".
In "The Whole Towns Sleeping" the ending is tense with a cliffhanger,
and we can assume that Lavinia is the next victim of the killer the
people call 'The Lonely One'
In "A Terribly Strange Bed" the ending is drawn from the information
of how the police discover that the employees of the gambling house
have tried to kill Faulkner and the way they have tried to kill him.
The Protagonist has resolved not to be so foolish again and put
himself in such a dangerous situation.
“The Sleeper” uses Greek and Latin mythology to enhance the poem. This gives readers a tremendous level of insight on this poem. This helps readers perceive: how Irene had lived and died, what the griever is feeling, what the griever is trying to say and do, and grasp the underlying Greek and Latin lore. Because of the writing of Edgar Allan Poe, “The Sleeper” was written in dark romanticism and adds a supplementary twist to the mythologies.
Imagine being alone in a dark and gloomy world, trying to survive in a place with no food, no shelter and cannibals waiting for you to cross their paths. Cormac McCarthy confronts these fears in his novel, The Road. Released in September 26, 2006, this novel has been opening reader’s eyes to the reality of survival. An unexplained catastrophe has reduced the world to burnt, sparse land, home to few humans, dogs, and burnt plants. Ash and toxic particles fill the air, never letting the sun fully shine through. The main characters are a man and his young son, who are on a long journey south, trying to escape to warmer weather. They're alone, surviving off the bare minimum the land around them is providing. All of their possessions are pushed ahead of them in a shopping cart with a loose, squeaky wheel. They have enough to get by for a few days and then they must scavenge for more. Groups of cannibals roam the world, taking no pity on anything they come across. As they walk along, the deserted roads, the man keeps one eye on a motorcycle mirror attached to the shopping cart, so they are not attacked from behind. The only form of protection they have is a pistol, loaded with a few bullets. Every day is similar; wake up, eat a little food, pack the cart, look at the map and then start walking. In the middle of the book they run into a group of cannibals and the father is tested when his son is captured by one of them. The father and son go for days without food and very little water. One day they come upon an old farm. Here they find an underground shelter filled with food, water, and beds. They can’t believe their luck and fill their shopping cart to the brim. They stay for a couple of days, but then leave to try to make it to warmer ...
We are born afraid of only two things: falling and loud noises. All our other fears are learned and influenced by the environment and cultures surrounding us. The world we live in helps differentiate the “insanity of man” that we all share (3). Since “we’re all mentally ill” (King, “Why We Crave” 1), it leaves us the decision of our degree of sanity. In his essay, “Why We Crave Horror,” Stephen King thoroughly claims that we humans crave horror to face our fears, restore humans feelings of being normal, and to encounter a peculiar sort of fun.
Winter Dreams follows the life of Dexter Green as he pursues wealth and societal affluence in the hopes of winning the love and affection of Judy Jones, a spoiled socialite from a wealthy family who he first met when he was an adolescent while caddying at an exclusive golf club. As a result of this meeting and the embarrassment he felt in his role as a mere caddie; Dexter makes the irrational decision to quit his caddying job and begin his quest for upper-class social status. The author recapitulates this decision by the protagonist with the following statement; “It is not so simple as that either. As so frequently would be the case in the future, Dexter was unconsciously dictated to by his winter dreams.”
William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream utilizes the technique of multiple characters playing leading roles. The fairy character Puck stands out as a dominant and leading role in the play. Puck is the best fit for the role of the protagonist because he is mischievous and therefore, has the ability to change the outcome of the play through his schemes and actions. As the protagonist, Puck is responsible for creating the major conflict that occurs between the four lovers throughout the play. This is important because the play focuses on the lives and relationships of the lovers. In addition, because of Puck’s interaction with these characters, his actions throughout the play, alters the final outcome. Finally, Puck’s relationship with all the mortals in the play, his connection to his fellow fairies, and the bond he has with his boss, King Oberon make him the best choice for a protagonist.
Most of the people are not aware of what a bad bug is until they start facing the universal bed bug bites problem. For those who do not know what a bed bug is, it is a small insect that sucks blood out of human. It is a parasite that gets its food from the mammals. Most of the times, he gets its food in the form of the birds. If not the birds, he chooses humans to be its next prey. Bed bug is not of one type. There are many kinds of them however; the most important as well as common of them all is the one that creates trouble for the human being. It is known as Cimex lectularius. Bed bugs most of the times come out into existence in the night time when the environment is a bit warm and cozy. When they do not get food and have nothing to feed on, they can still survive for several days. However, most of them bite human and cause marks on the skin of the person they bite. If you have encountered the problem of bed bug bites, this article is written specially for you.
Kim Min-suk, who was the assistant director and screenwriter of the widely known movie “The Good, The Bad, The Weird”, makes his directional debut with “Haunters”. Moreover, Kim Min-suk pens the script of “Haunters” and co-writes the script of the Japanese remake, holding the title “Monsterz”. “Haunters” aka “Psychic” made an appearance at several international festivals like the 2011 (47th) Chicago International Film Festival, 2011 (27th) Warsaw Film Festival and the 2011 (20th) Philadelphia Film Festival.
The theme in both stories, “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Winter Dreams” are very similar. The theme in both stories shows love and sacrifice. The wife describes how her husband's assumptions leads him to misjudge, patronize and dominate his wife. His wife does love him and sacrifices a lot for him. It seems like the wife has no say in the details of her life. In “Winter Dreams” Dexter falls for Judy. For many years he has dreams of her. We learned in the story about a period of time that Dexter rises to success. In the ending of the story Dexter cries mourning the past ans his lost of youth, which he will never be able to reclaim. Winter Dreams shows love and sacrifice. Both stories use the literary device, parenthesis. The stories show an
What if you had to live in constant fear because of the inhumanity in humans? In the story Night by Elie Wiesel, he gave the spine-chilling side of his experience of the holocaust. Elie was taken from his home and forced into a concentration camp. For years Elie and his father endured much pain and suffering. The theme of inhumanity in humans is displayed throughout Elie’s memoir.
This is a documentary film review of the nightmare, which explains the cause of sleep paralysis through the eye witness of several different people. These people are stuck between sleeping and waking. They are unable to move but still knows what is going on around them. As a horror film, its absolutely terrifying and its makes you not want to sleep. But as a documentary it was not a god one because it doesn’t offer any scientific point of view. They could have put Doctors in the film to tell what causes sleep paralysis to happen. But that would have taken away what made the movie scary in the first place.
Nightmares are defined as repeated awakenings from the major sleep period or naps with detailed recall of extended and extremely frightening dreams, usually involving threats to survival, security, or self-esteem. The awakenings generally occur during the second half of the sleep period also know as the REM stage of sleep (Psych Central, 2013). Nightmares affect all ages, but children seem to have such dreams more often. Nightmare disorder should not be confused with night terrors, for they have a different effect on the dreamer. Night terrors are episodes of panic and confusion, with difficulty walking or bringing to awareness, and of which the sufferer has no recollection (Kavanagh, 2010). Major differences between both is that nightmares are vivid images, while night terrors are feelings or emotions that can not be recollected. Also, as stated before, nightmares occur during the REM stage of sleep. In contrast, night terrors occur during the non-REM stage which happens within the first 3-4 hours of sleep. Although both nightmare and night terrors bring great discomfort to the individual, it is important to note that they are different disorders.
I saw the play Little Shop of Horrors by Howard Ashman on Saturday the 7th of December 2013, at my school Dubai International Academy. It was about how a single but dangerous plant makes and breaks the Mushnik's Skid Row Florists business, and the romantic conflict as well as the traitorous characteristics of Seymour Krelborn. The main themes of the play are horror and comedy. I think that the production of the play was very successful as they had the audience locked into the story and overall, it was a very enjoyable and entertaining experience.
All four Sleeping Beauty stories have one thing in common, Sleeping Beauty always pricks her finger on a spinning wheel/flax. In Sun, Moon, and Talia, the story takes place in a country house. Talia gets raped by a king who finds her in the country house and she gives birth to two beautiful children named Sun and Moon. Talia is awoken because one of the twins had sucked the splinter out from underneath her finger. There are several major characters of which include, Talia, Sun, Moon, the King and Queen. In the end the Queen tries to throw Talia into the fire, but instead, the Queen gets thrown into the fire and Sun, Moon, Talia, and the King live happily ever after. In the next story, Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, there is a party for the newborn princess and all, except one fairy, were invited. The eldest fairy,
Children develop normally by stimulation and from the experiences around them. Usually when a child is shut out from the world they will become developmentally delayed, but that is not the case with Jack. In the novel Room by Emma Donoghue, Jacks mother, Ma, has been kidnapped and held prisoner in a shed for seven years and five year old Jack was born there. This room is the only world he knows. But, despite being locked in a room for the first five years of his life, according to the four main points of development, Jack has developed normally intellectually, physically, socially, and emotionally.
Gothic short stories contain elements which allow the audience to experience fear. Fear in literature allows writers to convey a certain theme/message for readers to interpret and forge tension. Alexander Pushkin and Edgar Allen Poe created great examples of terror-related work. Poe’s story, The Oval-Portrait, discusses fear which can apply to real-life circumstances, but in a more delusional way. The short story talks about a man who encounters a journal which explains the story of the strange painting in his room. Whereas, Pushkin’s story, The Coffin Maker, establishes fear by placing dream-based terror. The tale discusses the issues a coffin maker has with people who insult his profession and decides to invite “dead folks” into his home;