This story begins in a fire lit room in an extremely old building. In the opening line it tells us mainly what the story is about. It tells of three people, one young man who is standing by the fire and two old people who are sat in chairs. The man by the fire seems to be sceptical of the existence of ghosts. Where as the other two are extreme believers. After much discussion the young man says goodnight and travels to the “Red Room”.
He begins to light Candles and a fire. After sitting down something strange begins to happen in the room. The candles start blowing themselves out. Eventually after much trying to relight the candles and fire the man finds himself in total darkness. He panics and runs for the door and crashes with the side of the bed he then is struck more times and is then struck to the head he then falls and wakes up at dawn with a bandage around his head.
He tells the people who live in the house of his experience and how it is not a ghost who haunts that room but fear. The story is written in pre 1896, this is when all superstitions were still believed to be true. The Gothic horror genre is a literary genre that belongs to Romanticism. Prominent features of gothic novels included terror, mystery, the supernatural, ghosts, haunted buildings, castles, trapdoors, doom, death, decay, madness, hereditary curses, and so on. This genre can be seen in the story in many places.
The discusion of ghosts and death are every were in this book. Also the whole story is about a haunted room. The story is set in very little light and in some places complete darkness this adds the the suspense and the feeling of dread and mystery which again is another feature of a gothic horror story. My main focus is how the writer creates tention and suspense he does this with use of the title the “Red Room” this gives us the image of blood which in turn can be seen as death.
Another promante feature he uses to create tension is the eviroment the book is set in, he uses old castles, dark rooms and long corridoors to give the feeling of suspense dread and the unkown and as mentioned before in the text the “Red Room” in it self can be perceived as a place fillled with death this can been seen when he writes “The effect was scarcely what I had expected for the moonlight comeing in by the great window on the grand staircase picked out everything in a vivid black shadow”, also he says “The long, draughty, subterranean passage was chilly and dusty” the temperature decrease affects the reader in a subconscious way.
Aswell as this the writer gives the shadows human qualitys this gives them and ery felling this can be seen here “and my candle flared and made the shadows cower and quiver. The echoes rang up and down the spiral staircase, and a shadow came sweeping up after me, and one fled before me into the darkness overhead. ” The writer also uses colour very well in this story he uses dark derpressing colours associated with death, black is used at funerals it also gives us the feeling of the unkown. Red is the colour of blood which can be seen as death also and danger.
The writers use of minor characters adds depth to the story and the use of some of the physical descriptions adds suspense. The use of the central character adds to the tension and suspense by not believing. With him not believing and all these things happening its adds the the shock factor. Another key factor is how the main character behaves throughout the story. He begins not believing in ghosts this can be seen when he says “”Well,” I said, “if I see anything tonight, I shall be so much the wiser.
For I come to the business with an open mind” he also says “That it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me”, as he progresses along the corridor in the next paragraph he begins to feel uneasy this can be seen in when he begins to think this “I was about to advance, and stopped abruptly. A bronze group stood upon the landing, hidden from me by the corner of the wall, but its shadow fell with marvellous distinctness upon the white paneling, and gave me the impression of someone crouching to waylay me.
I stood rigid for half a minute perhaps. Then, with my hand in the pocket that held my revolver” it’s obvious that his brain is beginning to create things. Finally after the experience in the red room he is a true believer this can be seen when the man says “You believe now,” said the old man, “that the room is haunted? ” He spoke no longer as one who greets an intruder, but as one who grieves for a broken friend. ” And the main character replies with “Yes,” said I; “the room is haunted. ”
The writer adds tension in the dialogue by never actually telling us if he the ghost exists. This puts us under the opninon that something bad is happening but we are not quite sure what is causing the candles to be blown out. Also the main characters begins this whole experience sceptical but finishes believing although he can be seen beginning to belive early on this is seen here”affected me in spite of my efforts to keep myself at a matter-of-fact phase”. This gives the reader the impression that he really was scared and that the ghost really exists.
Also he ends the story with the question in the readers mind unanswered this gives us the final impression that this story could be true. Also we never truly find out what the ghost or evil is there are a few suggestions but its never really answered. The atmosphere helps maintain suspense and tension by using the gothic horror genre. It use the long dark corridors, the candle lit rooms, the creaking floorboards and of cause this whole idea of the one haunted room.
The writer uses death imagery to help maintain the tension this all relates back to the gothic horror genre. The long corridors the dark rooms and the shadows all portray a very scary atmosphere. The repeated warnings towards this ghost is another negative feeling the reader gets. The continued warning from the owners to the main character always fall on deaf ears this cause the reader to want to warn the main character them self which puts them in the story which inturn ads to the tension.
As I said in part two the whole story is set in candle light and it many parts total darkness. The fear of the dark is one of mans biggest primal fears this is turn ads tension to the story. Over all red room is a very well written story the way the writer creates tension is excellent. He uses the gothic horror genre very well and the light ascent as well, also the very main character helps build tension as does the three house keepers. My overall opnion of the story is very good I enjoyed it very much and like how the writer wrote it.
