The Signalman by Charles Dickens and The Red Room by H.G. Wells
'To be denied of information as a reader is far more powerful than to
know the truth.'
In this assignment I will be looking at the two short stories written
in the 1800’s: “The Red Room” by H.G.Wells where a man goes into an
apparently haunted room and although he is warned by other old
characters he does not listen and the tension builds up as he goes
into the room where fear gets the better of him in a room which might
not be haunted in the end. The other short story is “The Signalman” by
Charles Dickens. In The signalman a man lives separated from the real
world living a lonely life as a signal man at a train station and
thinks he might be being visited by a spectre. I will examine the
similarities and differences between them in content, style and
language and I will say something about the influences of the writers’
backgrounds and will be comparing how each story creates suspense and
tension within them.
Both stories fit in to the Gothic genre with different elements
associated with the conventions of a gothic genre. The gothic genre of
stories was brought to life in 1764 with Horace Walpole's 'The Castle
of Otranto' during the Victorian ages. It included the classic
conventions in the setting, atmosphere and story line mainly to create
an effect of suspense, tension and mystery used in the gothic genre
since then. The Red Room is the more typical Gothic genre and Wells
makes it clear how ancient and old fashioned everything is in the
castle and includes spiral staircases, secret passages, a suspected
ghost haunted room and an eerie atmosphere. Gothic literature attempts
to terrify the reader and it nearly always involves the su...
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The Signalman descends the cutting and when, looking at the signalman
whose actions are very weird and in The Red Room how the old people
warn the young man not to go in the room. Suspense is also created as
the signalman tells the gentleman of the weird happenings recently and
in The Red Room how tension is built while he stays in the room for
longer. The settings are very mysterious and quite typical of the
gothic genre and are even prone to unexplainable events happening.
They use the characters' actions, language and the atmosphere in
different ways to add to the suspense and tension. Dickens' story is
based on a more contemporary idea. Both writers also include first
person narrative adding up to make two suspense filled stories and
keep the overall idea that:
'To be denied of information as a reader is far more powerful than to
know the truth.'
Utopia seems like a wonderful idea where everything is perfect and no one suffers. Three stories address this topic and show how even the best ideas have their downside. The Giver tells of a society where everything is the same and no one has to worry about making a wrong decision. Fahrenheit 451 tells of a society that bans book in the interest of preventing unhappiness. The society in Logan's Run is full of pleasure but only for 30 years. In practice though, these utopias present each of the protagonists with a problem where they question how perfect their perfect worlds really is.
The chaos and destruction that the Nazi’s are causing are not changing the lives of only Jews, but also the lives of citizens in other countries. Between Night by Elie Wiesel and The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, comradeship, faith, strength, and people of visions are crucial to the survival of principle characters. Ironically, in both stories there is a foreseen future, that both seemed to be ignored.
towards the reader to what is the man like but later in the story this
A secret room was incorporated easily into the house, because of the fact that none of the floors met on the same level. No one at the time knew that “Mr. Smit,” who constructed the secret room, was a famous European
The ending of the story tells the reader that there was nothing in the red room, all that time the reader was convinced that there was some sort of ghost or spirit present at the time so because you find this out the tension level goes down. The tension also increases as the old man describes how fear is what he discovered in the red room describing it as "a power of darkness". This spooks the reader.
Life is not always fair. There is no real explanation for this. In almost all constitutions people are created equal but very rarely are all of them treated this way. But before the French revolution happened very few people even had these rights. Then when WW II came around the Jewish people were targeted by the Nazis. They were stripped of all their rights and basically became slaves to the Nazis party. The Nazis tried to rid Europe of the Jewish people and if they had their way eventually the whole world would be free of this religious group. The character that people show through times of adversity can define them individually and as an entire group. In “Night” Eli Wiesel faces life and death everyday in the Nazis concentration camp. While in “A tale of two cities” by Charles Dickens, Carton saves Darnay’s life twice once during a trial and another at the guillotine even though Carton resents Darnay shows mans true potential.
During the adolescence of modern American literature, two authors, Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, fabricated the definition of American literature with new writing styles. These pieces of literature include “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Masque of Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe. Throughout these stories, Hawthorne and Poe develop the common theme that denial of imperfections, by personal choice, leads to physical and psychological separation from society. Those who remain isolated will endure more psychological suffering than those who are part of society. In “Young Goodman Brown”, the protagonist, Goodman Brown, mentally isolates himself from his peers because he cannot accept that sin is an integral part of society. However, as a result of his dissociation from society and the isolation thereof, Goodman Brown endures even more emotional suffering. In “The Masque of Red Death”, the protagonist, Prince Prospero, isolates himself from society in order to escape death. Because of his isolation, he endures more mental suffering than if he remained incorporated within society.
Context: After striking down the old pawn lady, Raskolnikov carefully pulled out the keys to unlock a wooden chest in the bedroom. Raskolnikov becomes paranoid as he struggles to find the right key to fit the lock. He soon opens the box and begins pocketing the various gold articles. Meanwhile, he hears steps in the room where the old woman lay. Fear gained mastery over him as he stood in silence.
In Bleak House, by Charles Dickens, Mr. Vholes is Richard Carstone’s legal advisor. Introduced to Richard by Mr. Skimpole, Vholes encourages and assists Richard as he attempts to unravel the mysteries of the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case in Chancery. Vholes, however, may not have the best intentions. Through descriptions of his gloomy physical appearance, suspicious actions, and unfortunate connections to English law, Dickens paints a vivid image of Mr. Vholes—a man who cannot be trusted. Vholes, therefore, is made up of multiple layers; as each layer peels away, the reader understands a little bit more of this secretive man. Surprisingly, Mr. Vholes is seen as more and more evil as readers journey to the center of his being.
Of the extraordinary amount of literary devices available to authors, Charles Dickens uses quite a few in his novel A Tale of Two Cities, which is set during the French Revolution. One of his more distinctive devices is character foils. The five sets of foils are Carton and Darnay, Carton and Stryver, Darnay and the Marquis de Evremonde, Madame Defarge, and Mr. Lorry and Jerry Cruncher. Dickens uses foil characters to highlight the virtues of several major characters in order to show the theme of personal, loving relationships having the ability to prevail over heartless violence and self-consuming vengeance.
2011 Two Different Mice and Two Different Men To the average reader, “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck may initially look very similar, but after carefully critiquing and comparing their abundance of differences, their opinion will change. Steinbeck found his inspiration for writing the novel after reading that poem. His novel is set in Salinas, CA during the 1900s and is about migrant farm workers while the poem is about the guilt felt by one man after he inadvertently ruins the “home” of a field mouse with his plow. Even though they are two different genres of literature, they share a similar intent. The poem is written in first person, while the novel is written in third person.
In society today, all people determine their lifestyle, personality and overall character by both positive and negative traits that they hold. Sydney Carton in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities was a drunken lawyer who had an extremely low self-esteem. He possessed many negative characteristics which he used in a positive way. Carton drastically changed his life and became a new man. Sydney is not the man he first appeared to be.
Our scene aims to create mystery and suspense. The producer has created this anxiety by beginning the scene in the night. There is darkness and besides the ominous background music and the narration of the protagonist there is mostly silence. Flapping of birds wings in response to a door opening makes the heart beat faster. The birds are startled, so was the viewer. The protagonist is exploring a mansion. The mansion is heritage in comparison to the date of the production however, clothing worn by characters and costumes of those in photographs show that this is set to be a period film dating into the past. There are sheets on furniture, dust and vines on the building’s interior that show that the mansion is old still in comparison to the characters. A period setting and the dark of the night make the scene feel eerie. It is too dark to see properly and this works to create mystery. Crying can be heard and the source is unknown, there is tension as the protagonist is unable to locate the source as they are forbidden by another character with greater dominance. Forbidden territory creates conflict and the viewer is left eager to find out whether the protagonist will obey orders or disobey to solve the mystery. As the viewer one is left tense for conflict
The soldier and Szpilman are seen to be quite near to each other in the middle of the frame. As he holds open the door the camera zooms into them, which adds tension to the scene. Szpilman is seen here to be in darkness as if he just blends into the shadows of nothing. However the solider is seen clearly to show his superiority. There is a lot of light towards the soldier, which allows there to be a dark shadow which means that there are 2 sides to him which could be revealed. One door is open and the other is closed. The soldier is placed in front of the opened door which suggests that is he is leading Szpilman into reliving his dream of being a pianist. In the middle of the frame through the doors we see a piano. In front of the piano we see horizontal line of light with some shadows which shows the audience that there is something behind the piano. The fact that the soldier pauses whilst talking to Szpilman with one door open and one closed creates tension. The director has chosen to do this to make the audience suspicious of this mysterious room.
at a warehouse in London. David feels his "hopes of growing up to be a