The Path Through the Cemetery

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” This quote relates to the stories for a few reasons. The first reason is, if Ivan had not been so scared and was rational about his actions than maybe he wouldn’t of ended up dead. The second reason is if Billy Weaver had realized his mistake and fearlessly taken control of the situation, then his fate would have ended up differently. “The Path Through The Cemetery “ is about a timid man named Ivan who overcomes his fear, at the expense of his life. The second short story “The Landlady” is about a young man who falls into the clutches of an evil woman, who is later on in the story responsible for his death. In one of the stories the author uses fear to teach us that if you don’t face your fears, they can consume you. Whilst in the other story, the author used fear to ignite warning signals in the readers mind.

One way the story “The Path Through The Cemetery” by Leonard Q. Ross reveals that being fearful can consume you is shown in the character Ivan. For instance, in the story Ivan was terrified of crossing the cemetery even though it would save him time. This is shown when Lieutenant addresses Ivan and says, “You are a pigeon Ivan. You’ll walk all around the cemetery in this cold – but you dare not cross it.” Another example of Ivan showing fear is when he was crossing the cemetery and thought something had grabbed hold of him. “The wind was cruel and the saber was like ice in his hands. Ivan shivered under the long thick coat and broke into a limping run. He recognized the large tomb. He must have sobbed – that was the sound that was drowned in the wind… Ivan started to rise from his knees. But he could not move. Something held him. Something gripped him in an unyielding and im...

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... out differently in each of the short stories. For example, in “The Path Through The Cemetery” Ivan dies because he was deathly afraid of crossing the cemetery but did so anyways for a challenge. But in “The Landlady” Billy Weaver dies because he did not fear the Landlady and completely disregarded his instinct that something may be off about her.

Fear is used in different ways throughout both stories. In “The Path Through The Cemetery” the author taught us about the dangers of what can happen when you let fear take control of your life. In the other story, “The Landlady” the author created a sense of fear for the reader because the main character did not feel it. The authors both use fear to teach an important lesson throughout their stories. Leonard Q. Ross taught the readers to face their fears and Roald Dahl taught us to pay attention to our surroundings.