A Comparison of The Story Of An Hour by K. Chopin and the Red Room by H.G. Wells

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A Comparison of The Story Of An Hour by K. Chopin and the Red Room by H.G. Wells

I have read two short stories from the nineteenth century which both

contain tension and suspense. They both lead up to a sense of the

unexpected at the end however it is achieved in different ways that

they are told.

The Story Of An Hour is the shorter of the two. The story starts

suddenly and a tragedy is introduced immediately. The opening

paragraph is very short as it is only one sentence but a lot of

information is given to the reader. It is written in third-person

narrative, which shows that the reader will be able to know things

that other characters don't. Two characters are brought into the

story, Mrs Mallard and her husband. We are also told that her husband

had died and that she has been suffering with 'heart trouble', 'Mrs

Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble, great care was taken to

break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death'.

This builds up the tension and suspense and makes the reader think

that something is going to happen to her or that she could have more

trouble following his death. The reader is drawn into the story as the

tragedy shows that there could be sadness or misery. The detailed

opening encourages images and ideas of how the story is going to

progress, making the reader feel that a tragedy is to follow.

The Story Of An Hour is set in Mrs Mallard's house and as it continues

the setting is moved to her room for a large section of the story. At

the beginning, the setting is not obvious as the action starts

suddenly without an explanation as to where the characters are.

However in the third para...

... middle of paper ...

...ich give a biased view of them.

The narrator in The Story Of An Hour does not express their views on

the characters or events.

The other characters are not named, there is a 'man with the withered

arm', 'the old woman' who had 'her pale eyes wide open' and 'a second

old man' who was 'more bent, more wrinkled', 'more aged' and had a

shade over his eye. The narrator presents these characters to be

mysterious and disturbing, such features add to the sense of mystery.

These characters try to give him advice but he acts against it.

After reading The Red Room, I prefer The Story Of An Hour because,

although The Red Room is more surreal and mysterious, The Story Of An

Hour has a more satisfying ending. The Red Room is much more

descriptive and H.G Wells exaggerates the characters and the setting

to add to the tension.

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