Which text, A Story of Don Juan or The Red Room is the more
effective ghost story? Discuss with reference to structure, character
and language.
In this essay, a comparision will be made of two texts, 'A Story of
Don Juan' by V.S Pritchett, a twentieth century text and 'The Red
Room' by H.G Wells which is a pre- twentieth century text. In order to
compare them it will be necsessary to analyse the character, structure
and language of each text to determine which text is the more
effective ghost story.
Firstly the characters of both texts have to be examined. 'Don Juan'
has two main characters, Don Juan and Quintero. Don Juan is a happy,
lively womaniser and it is written that he may have had to sleep alone
for one night. "It is said that on one night of his life Don Juan
slept alone althought I think the point may be disputed." This
quotation illustrates Don Juan's reputation as a womaniser. When he
was a guest at Quintero's house, he thought he would have to sleep
alone for one night because there were no women in Quintero's house as
even the servants were male. In contrast, Quintero is an angry, upset
widower and he wants to get back at Don Juan. Whilst Don Juan has
liaisons with inumerable women, Quintero has lost the one woman that
he truly loved. The reader is led to think that Quintero is planning
something for Don Juan and this increases the level of tension as the
reader doesn't want anything bad to happen to Don Juan because he is
the likeable character of the story.
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.
Alfredo Corchado — is the author of the book named " Midnight in Mexico:A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness”. We are, probably, all interested in finding out the facts, news, and gossips about Mexico. This country was always associated with something mysterious. For me personally, the title of the book seemed to be very gripping, I was interested in revealing the secrets of life in Mexico, thus I decided to read this book. I was really curious, what can Alfredo Corchado tell me about the life in this country, the country, where the constant massacre is the picture, people used to see. In his book, the author tells the reader about the real situations, which took place in Mexico, reveals the secrets of the people’s lives and tells the story from the “inside”. He describes the way he lives his life, and does his work. The " Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness” is a memoir. Author tries to transform his own experience into the story line. Corchado shows the reader the darkest episodes of Mexican society, while relying on his own experience.
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