Differences and Similarities of Short Stories

Differences and Similarities of Short Stories

In this essay I will be comparing the differences and similarities of

four short stories I have read, , 'The Signalman', The Red Room', 'The

Man with the Twisted Lip' and 'The Withered Arm' also I will be

looking at how the writers have created an atmosphere.

The four stories are all of mystery and try to keep the reader gripped

until the end, all have areas in which there is suspense. In 'The

Signalman' Charles Dickens keeps the reader in suspense because when

the ghost visits the signal man you don't really know who the haunting

warning is for. In 'The Red Room' H.G. Wells keeps the reader in

suspense because when the ghost is sighted it is never really

described. In 'The Man with the Twisted Lip' Arthur Conan Doyle keeps

the reader in suspense by not actually telling if it is a murder on

just disappearance. Also in 'The Withered Arm' Thomas Hardy keeps the

reader in suspense because you find out who Gertrude catches the rash

from.

Each writer had a setting and different historical background 'The

Signal Man' was written in 1866 by Charles Dickens, the surroundings

for his story was an old railway station with old steam trains. The

Man with the Twisted Lip' written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was

written in 1860. This story was one of many Sherlock Holmes tales

which display aspects of life in the last decade of Victorians reign.

'The Red Room' by H.G Wells was a Gothic horror story, which had

traditional scenery at a castle (Loraine castle). 'The Red Room' was

written in 1894, H.G Wells makes it obvious how ancient and old

fashioned everything in the castle was. 'The Withered Arm' by Thomas

Hardy was written in 1865 and located in Wessex, around Dorchester

which Thomas Hardy calls Caster bridge the county town of Dorset where

most of his stories were set.

'The Signalman' by Charles Dickens was set at an old rail way station,

with steam trains. The idea of a signal box in the countryside and

being manually operated, gives a sense of historical background for

today's readers.

'The Man with the Twisted Lip' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was set in

the streets of East London. A few years before the story was written a

famous sequential killer 'Jack the Ripper' murdered people on the very

same streets where the story was based on in the story it said

"An endless succession of sombre and deserted streets.

This gives the effect that the streets are frightening and vicious.

'The Red Room' by H.G Wells is a Gothic Horror story set in a