Comparing The Red Room by H.G. Wells and The Darkness Out There by Penelope Lively
The "Red Room" was the earlier of the two stories written in 1896 by
H.G. Wells and "The Darkness Out There", written by Penelope Lively
was published in1984.
The titles of both stories suggest that fear or horror will play a
part. "The Darkness Out There" generates an eerie feeling by not
defining a specific threat but leaving it open to the imagination.
"The Red Room" is not as scary but the use of red often shows danger
or fear and this is why it has been used here.
H.G. Wells does not give his main character a name as it is written in
the first person. Penelope Lively gives the girl, Sandra, a name but
it is rarely referred to. In both cases this is to make it feel as if
it is the reader inside the story.
Both stories are structured similarly as they both start by setting
the scene and describing the characters and then working up to the
climax, reasoning and conclusion of the stories.
The language used is very different. H.G. Wells in "The Red Room"
describes everything in great detail using words which add feeling and
fear for the reader, for example "…his eyes were covered by shade, and
his lower lip, half averted, hung pale and pink from his decaying
yellow teeth". Penelope Lively does not go into such great detail and
basically outlines a view of people and objects so it can be left to
the reader's imagination. The difference between the times in which
they were written also means that individual words and sentences in
the red room seem old fashioned, "I must confess, I scarce expected
these grotesque custodians." This language is...
... middle of paper ...
...ifiable in that someone
did die up there while doing the same as the man, but again it is
rumours of a ghost or some other supernatural being that makes the man
scared. The fear is increased by the darkness. The going out of the
candles may just have been them running out, and it was his mind that
was telling him that it was caused by something supernatural. The man,
like Sandra, is placed in a fearful position, he is on his own in an
old house with only his mind and imagination.
I think that "The Darkness Out There" is a better story because you
come from a perfect place into a horror story whereas in The Red Room
you know from the first sentence where the story will lead.
The stories were both based on fear coming from your own senses and
imagination, although the actions of Mrs Rutter were truly
frightening.
In comparison The Red Room was written only thirty years later in 1894 by HG Wells although it feels more timeless. At that time technology had improved intensely, nevertheless Wells still imitated the old fashion gothic literature style writing, which is ironic, due to the time. Both stories have managed to engage its audience by creating suspense and tension. Besides that both stories have been written in first person, this in sequence makes it sinister, in a way because we get to know the narrator’s impressions and feelings. The authors of both stories have selected discomforting places in which to set their story, they are made more eerie because that in the 19th century time many people believed in ghosts and the supernatural.
faced with his own demise, grasps at any concept of freedom and safety to help him cope
“To jump out of the window would be admirable exercise, but the bars are too strong even to try,” (Gilman). There are an extraordinary amount of stories written about women that go insane for certain reasons. Two of those stories are, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. Both stories are about women who are driven insane by situations that are happening in their lives; both women turn to isolation for different reasonings. Both A Rose for Emily by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner show similarities and differences with dysfunctional lives.
Women have traditionally been known as the less dominant sex. Through history women have fought for equal rights and freedom. They have been stereotyped as being housewives, and bearers and nurturers of the children. Only recently with the push of the Equal Rights Amendment have women had a strong hold on the workplace alongside men. Many interesting characters in literature are conceived from the tension women have faced with men. This tension is derived from men; society, in general; and within a woman herself. Two interesting short stories, “The Yellow Wall-paper and “The Story of an Hour, “ focus on a woman’s plight near the turn of the 19th century. This era is especially interesting because it is a time in modern society when women were still treated as second class citizens. The two main characters in these stories show similarities, but they are also remarkably different in the ways they deal with their problems and life in general. These two characters will be examined to note the commonalities and differences. Although the two characters are similar in some ways, it will be shown that the woman in the “The Story of an Hour” is a stronger character based on the two important criteria of rationality and freedom.
itself, but it also intertwines into every page one or more allusions to previously written
Comparing The Signalman and The Red Room These stories written pre-1900 at a time when one would have feared the unknown and hadn’t benefited from travel, TV, and an education that we have today. These stories have typical features of the 19th century ghost stories such as a castle, candles at night, an uninviting setting, a lonely man and so on. The supernatural means something that is beyond our control and therefore, as humans, we fear what we don’t understand, in both stories the writers show how this fear affects people lives. The Signalman is set outside near a railway line whereas The Red Room is set inside a castle largely in one room.
A Comparison of 'The Bar of Gold' by Conan Doyle and 'The Red Room' by H.G. Wells
Comparing Edna of Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Nora of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House
William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” are two short stories that incorporate multiple similarities and differences. Both stories’ main characters are females who are isolated from the world by male figures and are eventually driven to insanity. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the unidentified narrator moves to a secluded area with her husband and sister-in-law in hopes to overcome her illness. In “A Rose for Emily,” Emily’s father keeps Emily sheltered from the world and when he dies, she is left with nothing. Both stories have many similarities and differences pertaining to the setting, characterization, symbolism, and their isolation from the world by dominant male figures, which leads them to insanity.
We are also not given a name of the narrator or what business he has
My book Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman is in the 1930s Munich about a girl named Gretchen Muller who falls in love with a Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen.You might think thats so lovely but it’s not.Her uncle Dolf who is Adolf Hitler,he can’t stand the Jews he want the to be demolished and neither can her brother Reinhard,how I know is because one day Gretchen,Reinhard and his friend Kurt was going to the café to meet their uncle Dolf but on the way their Reinhard and his friend stopped and assaulted a Jew man when Gretchen tried to stop them her brother called her a ‘Jew Lover’.Gretchen lives in a boarding house with her mother.Gretchen wants to become a doctor but her dream will be on hold when her mom would want to get a full
Rebecca West and Virginia Woolf give great significance to the families of their respective main characters in The Return of the Soldier and Jacob’s Room because it gives the reader a greater insight to the formation of and reasoning for both Chris and Jacob’s nature. Each of these characters have multiple families to deal with: Chris has Kitty and Jenny on the one hand, and Margaret on the other, while Jacob deals with his mother and brother as well as his connections to society and academia. The distinctions between each character’s multiple families cause them to behave differently in various situations, and provide reasons for their actions. It is said that we are shaped by our surroundings and molded by our families, and Woolf and West’s male protagonists prove to be no exception to this rule.
If we go back in time we can analyze that woman have always been held below men. In the past the only essentials people had to keep record were a pen and a paper so authors used these tools to keep record of events going on the era. In the story, “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wall-paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman two women are subordinated by their own husbands showing how gender play a role in marriages.
In their short stories “The Dead” by James Joyce and “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, the author sought to express the disgruntled emotions felt by young men and women of their era. Both authors use commentary and powerful language to justify the emotions felt during this time. They express their displeasure with society, in the case of Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” and the strife of expectations of a man in Joyce’s “The Dead”. The author’s use of tone in both stories reflects the feelings each felt and themes each attack display the emotional state of society of their time.
What is you're all time favorite movie and why? My all time favorite movie would be "Safe haven" it is not only a movie but a book also. It is about romance and drama and finding the real people who love and care about you.