The Red Room

Discuss the techniques used by Wells in The Red Room to create a

feeling of suspense and terror.

The title "The Red Room" immediately makes the reader think about the

story, it is important and leaves unanswered questions. "What is the

red room?" "Why is it red?" Red is associated with fear and danger.

The title raises so many questions that it has the effect of making us

read on, wanting to find answers to our questions.

The writer has to attract the reader's attract and keep their

attention throughout. In order for any story to work, tension has to

be built in the text, to keep the reader asking themselves questions

and wanting to read on. The reader will be able to have a strong

influence from the writer's first and last lines. It is essential that

they are well thought out. This is the first line:

"I can assure you, said I, 'that it will take a very tangible ghost to

frighten me'."

From this first line, the reader gets two pieces of information.

Firstly that this story involves a ghost, or some involvement of the

supernatural, and secondly that the character is an educated and

well-read man, who may also be young and arrogant.

This point increases the tension and stops the reader from putting the

book down. Also, as it is a short story it is immediately setting the

tone for the rest of the story.

In the first page we are introduced to four characters. A young man,

an old man and his wife, and another old man. We never know their

names. The young man is sceptical about the red room being haunted.

The three elder people believe that it is haunted and dare not even go

there. This is the perfect example of how opposites build tension.

Firstly, we have the young against the old, which also sym...

... middle of paper ...

...rrogant vocabulary. The

fact that the old people have and older vocabulary allows the reader

to think that they have got something to do with the room supposedly

being haunted and again heightens the suspense. Around the main focus

of the story, the language relating to the young man's experience is

described in very short sentences with a lot of punctuation.

The first time I read this, I did not feel that it held my attention,

but now that I have read it again another few times, I can see that

Wells has used some great techniques to capture the readers attention,

to create suspense and terror, I feel that by holding the readers

attention for longer her can therefore build suspense and scare the

reader. I found myself reading on quite eagerly. I feel that this was

due to the literary techniques, to terrorise readers and his ability

to lengthen suspense.