Jacobs is the best at making the story change from a kind of non realistic atmospheric setting to a real atmosphere when they are told of their sons death. To me Mr and Mrs White seem easier to relate to because I can remember going through the same emotions not so long ago. In the “The Black” it just doesn’t seem right and I could not imagine that kind of action happening in this world. I suppose that the mother has every right to feel like that and in a way she might think that her son was murdered which is very understandable from that perspective.
Again it is Jacobs who seems to be the best at creating fear which can be explained logically. One of the parts which could create fear but has a excellent answer Is when the man from “Mew and Meggins” is standing at the gate, This is the gate to the house and keeps walking to and from the gate, The reason for this is that he is the messenger who brings the news to the family. This is fearful because you have no idea of what he is doing there, and the fact that he is dressed in a top hat and very smart suit also creates a sense of mystery.
This is because you would not expect to see some one like that around a deserted and isolated street like the one where they lived. The parts of the language which are affected by the atmosphere are parts like when the mother and farther here of their sons death. The language changes from a happy, content and relaxed atmosphere to a dull, mourning ant tragic type of atmosphere. From here this is where the family totally block out the outside world.
This is also the part were the suspense drops. The story could finish right there but no, Jacobs builds it back up unlike Dickens who builds it up through the story and lets it go right at the very end when the old lady’s son is brought back and we finally find out what has happened to him. Overall I think that “The Monkeys Paw” and “The Black Veil” are pretty much the same in the sense that the endings are very full of suspense.
Especially “The Black Veil” because you don’t know why the son was hanged but we do know that two people should have been hanged but their was not enough evidence or the second person could not be hanged because of his age. I think it is “The Monkeys Paw” which engages and sustains the suspense the best. I think this is because Jacobs uses the element of suspense well as we find out through him building it up and then dropping it up and building it up and so on. So I guess that “The Monkeys Paw” is the best book to read out of the two.
