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Atmosphere of fear in literature
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Literary Essay 2 The authors of the two texts The Hitchhiker and Don’t Look Behind You effectively created suspense through the use of dramatic elements. Descriptions of fear/anxiety create suspense. Imagery in both of the stories create suspense. Dialogue helps create suspense in both of the stories. Therefore, descriptions of fear/anxiety, imagery, and dialogue help create suspense in the two stories. Descriptions of fear/anxiety create suspense in The Hitchhiker and Don’t Look Behind You. In The Hitchhiker the text states, “And now- I knew that he was beckoning-beckoning me to my death.” This shows that Ronald Adams was afraid of the hitchhiker and wanted to kill him. But, when he was going to, his car stalled on the train tracks. …show more content…
In Don’t Look Behind You the text states, “ Her cheeks and chin were darker than the rest of her face, and her eyebrows were a different color than her hair.” This shows that as April was looking at the maid through the peephole she noticed unlikely features. This created suspense because as April describes what this person looks like you can imagine the person and notice that they aren’t who they say they are. In The Hitchhiker it says, “Death of her oldest son, Ronald…? Hey- what is this? What number is this?” This demonstrates that when Ronald Adams is calling home he is told that he is dead. This creates suspense because I can imagine all of the confusion he is having and how he may be a little scared as well. In Don’t Look Behind You the author states, “The muzzle of a pistol was now pressed to the window.” This illustrates that April was in a tight situation and didn’t want to get shot. This creates suspense because it was a life or death situation for April. One wrong decision and she could get killed. Therefore, suspense is created in the two stories, The Hitchhiker and Don’t Look Behind You because of …show more content…
“I didn’t see a soul. And as far as I’m concerned, mister…. Watch for him next time, then. Keep watching. Keep your eyes peeled on the road. He’ll turn up again- maybe any minute now.’’ This demonstrates that the girl hitchhiker talking to Ronald can’t see the man hitchhiker. This creates suspense because no one else can see the man meaning that Ronald is all alone in who the hitchhiker is. In Don’t Look Behind You it states, “Unlock that door and get out of the car,” Vamp shouted, his gentlemanly facade a thing of the past. “Your father’s the one I want, not you or your grandma. When my job here is done, the rest of the family can go.” This shows that April tried to escape but, she go caught. This creates suspense because at this moment when Vamp put the gun up to the window I was scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen to April. “It’s all taken place since the death of her oldest son,
Even though some suspense doesn’t let the audience know anything, real suspense involves the audience being aware of everything that occurs. In the essay, it states, “The fact that the audience watches actors go blithely through an atmosphere that is loaded with evil makes for real suspense.” (6) This shows that whenever the audience watches the characters don't know anything that’s going on
“I sit and watch this boy walking backward until a car stops for him. I think, he is a polite boy, and lucky to get rides at night” (Pancake 88). In the short story, “Time and Again”, the main character overcomes his obsession for murdering innocent hitchhikers. He does this because of the tragic loss of his wife and son. By killing the hitchhikers it gives him a sense of contentment.
Josh Pachter’s “Invitation to a Murder” uses passage of time, inference gaps, and foreshadowing to add suspense. Dramatic irony, inference gaps and red herrings create suspense in “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl. “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses mystery elements of many possible suspects, accumulation of clues and hidden evidence as catalysts for suspense. All three authors cleverly created anticipation in their work with mystery elements that kept the potential to hold captive their reader’s attention until the very last
First, a key method used to create suspense is the usage of the setting. When a character is in an unwelcoming or uninviting location, uneasy or tense feelings can be formed. When there is a sense of not knowing what is around the corner or lurking in the shadows, suspense is created. Also, ominous weather, such as threatening thunderstorms, can lead the reader to anticipate an unfortunate event occurring. An example of an uncomfortable setting is the secret passageway, which is dark, dirty, and most often only occupied by a single individual. Under these conditions many people become anxious, and because of these uneasy feelings that one may encounter, when a character is subjected to these conditions, the reader may become apprehensive, which leads to the formation of suspense. When Dan Needham shuts John Wheelwright in the secret passageway while both are in a drunken stupor, a high level of suspense is created. The description of the secret passageway adds to the suspense of the scene, "The passageway was dark; yet I could discern the scurrying of spiders.
Everyone at one point has been captivated and intrigued by the plot of a movie or a book. This captivation is generated by the one tool that authors and directors love the most, suspense. Authors want their audience and readers of their writing to be enthralled by creating tension and thrill in their plot. The usage of style, characterization, point of view, and foreshadowing allows authors and directors to create suspense in their work. Suspense is a very difficult approach to master but with the correct tools it can be as simple as a walk through the park.
Mystery is just a precursor to suspense. Suspense is used in several places throughout the story. One, when Rainsford is standing at the door seeing a giant standing there silent, this makes the reader wonder what will happen next. Two, when Zaroff is talking to Rainsford about the most dangerous game. This fools the reader and Rainsford about Zaroffs intentions towards Rainsford, and it makes the reader want to keep reading. Last, Rainsfords dilemmas keep the reader in suspense. The reader wonders how he will get himself out of his predicaments.
Suspense is the build up of anxiety or excitement in a story. It is an incredibly useful literary element. People like to read suspenseful stories, and/or watch suspenseful shows and movies because suspense gets their hearts racing. Suspense in movies and books might keep the audience intrigued and make them wonder what will happen next. People also like suspense because they might like trying to figure out what will happen on their own. This will keep the audience intrigued because they want to know how close they were to the exact answer. There are many stories that display suspense and many different authors who wrote them. One book that used suspense was Cujo, by Stephen King. Cujo was a dog that was bitten by a bat. He then turns into
“I didn’t see—anybody. There wasn’t nothing, but a bunch of steers—and the barbed wire fence.” (94) His desperation and loneliness overpowering all, Adams takes up his initial idea of running down the hitchhiker, but his momentary traveling companion does not see the victim, claiming he was never there. Now in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the hitchhiker doesn’t wait for Adams to make a stop before appearing; his form and face flit by every other mile. (96) Learning of his mother’s prostration and the death of Ronald Adams, the protagonist leaves the audience with his last thought: Somewhere among them, he is waiting for me. Somewhere I shall know who he is, and who . . . I . . . am . . .” (97) Alone, without the willpower to fight for survival, the main character fades into a mist of doubt and helplessness.
Suspense is a 1913 film that portrays the story of a tramp intruding into a family’s home, where a mother takes care of her child while her husband is away. The plot is a common one that had been used previous times before the film’s release, such as in The Lonely Villa (1909). However, through taking advantage of the single frame shot, the filmmakers were able to create a masterful aesthetic of two separate stories that turn a basic plot into a complex story. The film created an inventive way of illustrating stories within cinema by allowing the audience the chance to consume more narrative in less time within just one take.
As the story develops, Scottie gets admitted to a psychiatric unit. His mental and emotional confusion is illustrated by chaotic music. When he meets a young woman named Judy Barton, who bears a striking resemblance to the late Madeleine, Hitch really takes advantage of color in a scene in Judy's apartment. Fog, typical to San Francisco, combined with green light coming from a neon sign in the street, give the scene a remarkable, almost divine effect. In order for Scottie to overcome the trauma he suffered when he lost Madeleine, he drives Judy to the same church and asks her to run up the stairs in an attempt to reproduce the sequence of events leading up to Madeleine's death. Shockingly, Judy really jumps off the roof, thus abruptly ending the story.
Through the use of suspense, authors can truly draw the reader into the story. Suspense in the case of gives the reader the sense of apprehension about was is going to happen next and anticipation. Two stories where suspense is depicted is Roald Dahl’s short story, “The Landlady” and Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The Tell Tale Heart”. Roald Dahl’s short story, “The Landlady,” is about a young man, Billy Weaver who wants to find somewhere to stay for a night for cheap, since he is traveling for business. However, when he comes across a cheap bed and breakfast, the Landlady there, ends up acting very strange and Billy only uncovers some of her secrets, before it is too late for him to escape. In Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The Tell Tale Heart,” is about someone, the narrator, who finds an old man’s eye immensely disturbing. After of seven nights of attempting murderer, on the eighth night, not only does the
In Shadow of a Doubt, Hitchcock utilizes and stretches the ambiguous line between comedy and suspense by utilizing smaller characters in the film to keep the story line moving, and to help break sequence or rhythm of what the audience had been perceiving at the time. Many of the minor characters were used as “fillers”, such as the waitress in the bar when Uncle Charlie and Charlie are sitting in the bar, and makes the comment “I would die for a ring like this”; or the quiet, gentle neighbor Herb who is fascinated with the process of homicide and murder. It brings to the audience an immediate comic relief, but similar to all of Hitchcock, leaves an unsettling feeling of fear and suspense with the viewer. Shadow of a Doubt is a film that hits very close to home for me, primarily because of the small town feel very similar to Orono that I have grown to know so well. There is a brutal irony that lurks through the film, especially during the time period that the film was made. The picturesque stereotype of small town life in the 40’s is brutally torn apart by Hitchcock wit and creative ingénue, putting the viewer in an uncomfortable mind stretch of reality.
2. In paragraph form and with reference to the story, discuss the role of fear in creating suspense.
The suspense is created by the different characters and many mysterious setting. In this story suspense is presented in a way to keep the reader engaged in the story. The main suspense begins with Helen Stoner telling her story to Sherlock Holmes. Helen told Holmes about the mysterious and strange events that occurred. The events such as, whistling in the middle of the night, as well as her sister’s mysterious death. Doyle describing the dark bedroom that Watson spend the night in, made the reader feel the suspense as if they were in the same room. He uses descriptions such as “...This is very interesting. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little opening for the ventilator is” as well as “Holmes as we sat together in the gathering darkness” (Conan Doyle) made the reader more engaged into the story. Foreshadowing is also created in the story to give clues that suggest events that will occur later in the story. Foreshadowing is seemed to be seen when the pole rope was connected to a ventilator and the ventilator went to the next room. The poisonous snake was the weapon used to kill the daughter, by traveling through the
...etter it starts to rain outside and the reader senses an even more unsettling feeling as she is unable "to go on kneeling with her back exposed to the empty room, so she rose...to sit on an upright chair whose back was firmly against the wall." This reminds the reader of the well known fear of something lurking in the shadows to attack. Throughout the story the reader is given more and more information that continues to heighten the level of suspense. These elements build the solid foundation for the fearful tone that builds along with the story. We, as the reader, think that she is safe in the cab and we feel a sense of relief only to be jolted by the fact that the demon is the driver. We want this wife and mother to escape the evil clutches of the demonic lover and once we believe she is safe we get slapped with the truth. The good guy does not always win.