Bradbury and Wells Both Try to Show ‘Fear’ in Their Story Essay Example

infamous "Lonely One." Later that night, Lavinia dropped off Francine at her house and then walked alone through a dark and creepy ravine. As she continued on, she became increasingly afraid and felt an urgent need to get home.

After navigating the ravine and reaching her house, the protagonist secured the doors and breathed a sigh of relief, only to realize that she was being followed and cornered. The significance of the story's setting cannot be overlooked, as it helps readers determine the genre. The elderly character provides a chilling description of the location: "There is a spiral staircase, and midway is a landing with baize. Continue through the corridor to the end, where you will find the red room on your left after ascending the stairs."

By using powerful words like "long corridor" and "spiral staircase", the setting of The Red Room immediately evokes a dark and eerie old house with creaky doors, which is a classic element of horror stories. On the other hand, I found the setting of The Whole Town's Sleeping to be rather peculiar.

Comparing the setting to The Red Room, it is apparent that this small village is not a typical setting. The absence of children playing on the street and the possibility of people seeking isolation due to personal issues leaves many individuals feeling alone and vulnerable. Consequently, socializing amongst community members is minimal, creating increased tension throughout the text. Despite the differing settings, both texts share similarities in their main characters.

The protagonist in The Red Room exudes a great deal of arrogance and self-assurance. He declares that only a ghost that is palpable can truly frighten him, which highlights

his perception of strength and masculinity, as well as his overconfidence. Additionally, the elderly residents of the location hold a significant role in the story.

The reason for the discomfort felt by readers regarding secondary characters in The Whole Town's Sleeping may be attributed to their age as it suggests their proximity to death. Even though they are not the main characters, readers anticipate something happening to them. Additionally, the protagonist exhibits arrogance and vulnerability while refuting rumors. A line exemplifying her disregard is "It's early. The Lonely One won't be out till late" and characterizes her as "cool as mint ice cream."

The text portrays Lavinia as a calm individual who is attempting to soothe her anxious friend Francine. Lavinia is depicted as a positive person, while Francine follows the classic role of the frightened and vulnerable female often seen in horror stories. Francine's dialogues include expressions like "let's run" and "I'm afraid" which highlight her fearfulness.

This passage highlights Lavinia's desire to return home and feel safe in her own bed without any worries. The fact that she is different from others makes her even more noticeable and potentially concerning to the readers. In H.G. Wells' "Red Room," the author skillfully employs language to create a sense of terror by using phrases such as "ghost" from the very beginning. The text uses descriptive vocabulary to allow readers to imagine themselves as the main character and experience empathy, such as "long corridor," "unnatural," and "dark against the fire light."

By depicting a scene in vivid detail, the author creates a mental image in the reader's mind which evokes discomfort and uncertainty due to its unpredictable

nature. As a result, the reader is left feeling more fearful and plagued by unanswered questions such as whether the elderly individuals are involved in any way. Such questions imply that something ominous might happen and intensify the tension. Additionally, by offering intricate descriptions of the setting, the author slows down the pace of the narrative while allowing readers to form a clearer picture of the character's experiences, thus increasing emotional investment. Lastly, the language employed by the writer conveys the social status of the characters.

The man's use of words such as 'Tangible' and 'It's my own choosing' suggests that he belongs to the upper class of his time and may come across as arrogant. Due to this portrayal as a stereotypical rich character, readers are likely to expect this attitude. In contrast, Ray Bradbury employs a unique style in the effective use of language in 'The Whole Town's Sleeping'.

The author employs distinctive language to depict scenes, exemplified by the line "There are two moons: a clock moon with four faces in four directions above the solemn black courthouse, and the real man that was slowly rising in vanilla whiteness from the dark east." This quote evokes a vivid image of the Lonely One in the reader's imagination. Additionally, the author frequently incorporates dark hues into the text, such as "Purple," "Shade of porches," and "Oven-baked sidewalk."

Dark colours can evoke feelings of discomfort and danger due to the uncertainty that comes with low visibility. This is why certain phrases can hold great power. In terms of structure, the stories discussed differ greatly. H.G. Wells uses changes in pace to build tension in The

Red Room. By slowing down the plot description of certain events and then creating a faster pace, Wells creates an atmosphere of terror and panic. A clear example of this can be seen when the candles begin to blow out, and Wells slows the story down by focusing on each individual candle.

According to the protagonist, while reading the story, the pace of the narrative slows down when he witnesses the candle in one of the mirrors' right sconce go out, followed by its companion almost immediately. However, after this incident, his frantic search for the key in the dark increases the pace of the story. As a result, when the pace is slower, the reader feels more relaxed, whereas when it quickens, the reader feels anxious and agitated.

Ray Bradbury effectively created tension throughout the story, with some parts having less of a build-up than others. For example, the visit to the chemist did not contribute much to the suspense, whereas the scene where Lavinia traverses the ravine after dropping Francine creates mounting anxiety that ultimately leads to a climactic ending. The two authors likely considered both theme and genre when crafting their respective works, both of which fall under the horror genre. In "The Red Room," arrogance is a prevalent theme; the story implies that individuals who come across as haughty may be masking their true emotions.

The man in the story actually appeared scared and showed his emotions, which was evident to us, but not to the characters in the story. This created irony as we knew more than the old people. The theme of The Whole Town's Sleeping resembled that of

The Red Room as both main characters were arrogant, leading us to expect similar behavior from them. Watching these characters take risks made us more anxious for their safety, fearing they may be the ones to get hurt.

The writers aimed to generate tension, resulting in perceived similarities and differences between both stories. The crucial factor pertains to the portrayal of fear. The Red Room, in my opinion, was inferior in creating fear as the buildup lacked a climax, causing a potential disinterest from the reader. Conversely, The Whole Town's Sleeping succeeded as the end was climactic, ensuring a more captivating read.

Both texts effectively employed structure, theme, characters, and language to create suspense. Despite sharing the same genre, theme, character type and purpose of instilling fear in readers, they differed in terms of their settings and audience demographics. The Red Room was written for a largely uneducated, low-income, working-class readership who had limited literacy skills.

The story reflects the religious and tightly-knit communities of the past, where generations of families lived near each other and were aware of each other's histories. Any behavior deemed inappropriate could cause individuals to be forced to relocate, and the belief in the supernatural was prevalent, leading people to fear retribution from a higher power if they acted wrongly.

During the time of The Whole Town's Sleeping, people had a greater level of literacy and a preference for realistic stories featuring characters similar to themselves. They held decreased beliefs in supernatural entities like ghosts and divine retribution. These variances were influenced by the prevailing attitudes during the time of the writers, who were knowledgeable about the desires and beliefs

of their contemporary audience.