Comparing Two Ghost Stories
The story 'Red Room' by H.G. Wells was set and written in 1896. It is quite a typical example of a gothic ghost story, which was a genre quite popular in the late 19th century. 'Farthing House' by Susan Hill, however, is based and written in 1992, although there are some elements of the gothic genre in it as it visits the time of the late 19th/early 20th century, which is how the stories are linked chronologically. A typical gothic story often includes the following: a castle/old house, graveyard, candles, shadows, cold, darkness, dust, etc. The setting links the two stories also - they both take place in an old house/castle. In general, gothic stories are quite eerie and often involve events or people from the past. The titles of the two stories tell us a lot about the writer and the story. The title 'Red Room' immediately attracts the reader's attention. It provokes questions such as: 'What/where is the Red Room?' and 'Why is it red?' The colour red is symbolic - used in a title it evokes feelings of fear, anticipation, danger and dread. These are some feelings associated with the colour red. 'Farthing House', however, is not quite so effective. The name of the house is not particularly terrifying, nor does it induce such
In Red Room we find very little out, and the ending is left much to the imagination. As the ghost leaves, the narrator follows. ' This suggests that she is calling for her baby. The calm, mysterious atmosphere is shattered in a short sharp sentence: 'now, I saw her. He is also far more descriptive than Susan Hill, and relies a lot on setting the scene to create his story. I think the most effective thing in each story is the way the reader is denied of knowledge in different ways, as we are often more scared of what we think up out of our own imaginations. The use of the first person is also very effective, as it makes it more believable, as if someone is giving an account, instead of telling a story. At this point, the reader knows that it is a ghost, but the writer appears not to know. Red Room creates tension faster and higher than Farthing House, and is scarier.
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