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How do the Writers Create Suspense in the Short Stories? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Many writers use suspense in their work in order to excite the reader more, to make him or her want to turn over to the next page. This is can be done by giving the reader some information, but not enough for him or her to be able to answer the mystery or riddle that they may be trying to solve. This can also be done by suggesting things to the reader but never actually confirming or denying them. This means that the reader is constantly asking questions in his or her head.
In this essay I will look at how the two writers Wells and Conan Doyle use suspense in the short stories? The Stolen Bacillus? and? The Adventure of the Speckled Band? respectively. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
The first thing we come across when we decide to read any story is its title. The title is probably the most crucial element of the story; it needs to interest potential readers and must also have some relevance to the story that it precedes. ? The Stolen Bacillus? gives you a vital piece of information, at some point in the story we expect a bacillus to be stolen.
However suspense is already being created in the mind of a questioning reader as he or she does do not know who the thief will be, where, when, how or even why it is going to be stolen. ? The Adventure of the Speckled Band? is less definite about what will occur in its story. We see the word adventure and that brings to mind excitement and intrigue, it makes the reader think, what kind of adventure? Then the rest of the title, the Speckled Band, looking at this the first thing that comes to mind is a bracelet of some sort. However we do not know what it is and want to, because in the end it will be the crucial part in solving the mystery.
This is an excellent way to create suspense because it is such a key part to the story. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Each story has its own villain. In? The Stolen Bacillus? the first description we have of the villain describes him as a? ? pale faced man? .
Other examples which add to our overall picture of him as your typical sort of villain are, ? limp white hand? , ? lank black hair deep grey eyes haggard expression and nervous manner? . He says? ? those mere atomic, might multiply and devastate a city!
Wonderful! ? The fact that this pale-faced man takes so much pleasure in the thought of the destruction of a whole city adds greatly to our suspicions of him. He says? Are these alive? Are they dangerous now? ?
The immediate thought that comes into the reader? s head is that he wants to know because he wants to destroy a city. On the other hand Wells does not tell us that this man is definitely going to be the thief. We read?
It was perhaps natural, with a hearer evidently so impressionable, to take the most effective aspect of the matter. ? This tells us that when such things come into discussion it would be natural for anyone to want to know the potential of them and would be fascinated by them. Therefore we are led to doubt our suspicions that this man may not be the one to steal the bacillus, therefore creating more suspense. ? When we find out that the pale-faced man is an anarchist, things suddenly become more serious. This creates much more suspense, as we now know that this man is willing to die for his cause, to be a martyr.
In this case it seems very likely that the whole of London could be destroyed. ? In? The Adventure of the Speckled Band? the villain is a very different sort of character. Dr. Roylott appears to us for the first time in Holmes?
doorway. ? So tall was he that the top of his hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his breadth seemed to span across it from side to side. ? He is described as having? A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow from the sun, and marked with every evil passion? he is also said to have?
deep, bile shot eyes? and a? high, thin fleshless nose? which resembled?
a fierce old bird of prey. ? From this and an earlier description of him by his stepdaughter, from which we learn that he has killed two people already we realise that he has particularly violent tendencies. Suspense is created by the description of Roylott as such a dangerous character, and because of this we fear for the safety of Holmes, Watson and Miss Hudson. Our picture of Roylott as a dangerous and violent man is reinforced when he bends the poker with his bare hands and then hurls it into the fireplace? snarling?
at Holmes before leaving. What should be noted is that here the same thing occurs as with the villain of the? The Stolen Bacillus? . Conan Doyle never actually tells us that Dr. Roylott is evil however menacing and dangerous he may appear. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Suspense is created in both stories by delaying the scene in which the action takes place.
In? The Stolen Bacillus? this is done by use of a cab chase, with the bacteriologist pursuing the anarchist through the streets on London in a cab, with his wife following behind. This scene when read appears slightly comical with the? little group of cabmen?
giving us their comments as if we were watching a horse race. The fact that this potentially serious combination of anarchist and? bottled cholera? could decimate London seems to mean nothing.
This is frustrating to the reader and therefore creates suspense. The reader wants to turn over to the next page and wants to find out what is going to happen, not hear the cabmen? s? comments on how one of the drivers is? a-claim? out of the keb. ?
The same is done in? The Adventure of the Speckled Band? , but here it is slightly more sophisticated. At the same time as delaying the action we are given snippets of the information we need to solve the mystery. But Holmes refuses to tell us his suspicions before he has more proof. He and Watson sit there in? the gathering darkness? ; this adds an element of suspense and danger to the wait.
Then they see their signal and leave; there is a? chill wind? , which makes things seem sinister. Next they see what is described as? a hideous and distorted child. ? This startles the reader, but is the action scene we are waiting for. It alleviates some of the suspense already created, but then even more suspense is made by the telling us that there are more dangerous animals lurking round the grounds, which could spring on Holmes and Watson at any moment.
Once they are both in the room Holmes tells Watson not to go to sleep and that his? very life may depend upon it? Then they are left? in darkness? , and the tension builds as the parish clock is booming out every quarter of an hour, and the hours tick by. Then suddenly all the tension and suspense is released in the scene of the action, but Conan Doyle denies us the knowledge of what is going on. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Denying us knowledge of particular scenes keeps us reading until the end, as only then in both books so we learn the tale to its full extent.
In? The Stolen Bacillus? this done by not showing us the scene where the anarchist steals the bacillus, so we are not sure whether he has or not, here again action is delayed while the bacteriologist looks for the bacillus as he thinks that he may have misplaced it. But in the act of not telling us that the anarchist steals the bacillus, suspense is created, as we cannot be sure of what has happened until the bacteriologist confirms it for us. In?
The Adventure of the Speckled Band? we are denied knowledge at many places, because there is a first person narrator, Watson, who cannot deduce all that Holmes can from the given information. A place where we are denied knowledge is the action scene where Watson cannot see anything but Holmes knows exactly what is going on. We have to wait until afterwards when Holmes can explain the mystery to us in its full glory. Keeping things from us allows to imagine a possible set of events which we cannot be sure to be true, but whether correct or not, suspense is created by these imaginings. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? In both stories a scene is set, and in that scene there is a certain atmosphere.
When the theft of the bacillus takes place, it is a normal day in Victorian London, and we do not expect anything much to happen, let alone the whole city being wiped out. This makes the story seem so much less likely to happen. However, in? The Adventure of the Speckled Band? there is a huge amount of suspense created by the fact that the murder of Helen is committed at night and all we have to go by are various sounds coming from the opposite room. We do not know until you have read on what these sounds signify which makes the ending more gratifying. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
The Stolen Bacillus? I find to have a rather disappointing ending. The narrator is omniscient, which means that he knows everything, but withholds vital parts of the plot in order to create suspense. However much of the suspense created in the story, the idea that London could be destroyed, is based on a lie told by the narrator at the beginning of the story. We are led to believe that the anarchist has stolen a deadly cholera germ, when all he has really stolen is something that will turn people blue. The suspense created by the writer has not been satisfied in this ending, which is why it is disappointing to the reader.
On the other hand? The Adventure of the Speckled Band? provides a much more fulfilling ending. The suspense created is completely satisfied by an excellent wrapping up of the mystery, the case being solved, and future danger being removed in the death of Dr.
Roylott. This gives the reader much more satisfaction that the ending of? The Stolen Bacillus? and all the suspense created is not wasted by us finding out we have been tricked into wanting to read on. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? In conclusion, the writers use many ways in which to create suspense in the stories, be they delaying the action, withholding vital pieces of information or even misleading the reader, these all create suspense in their own way. They are used very effectively in both of these short stories, and although the ending of?
The Stolen Bacillus? is slightly disappointing, it only shows us just how much suspense has been created by Wells, as we are frustrated that this good story has such a disappointing ending. However both writers effectively create suspense in the two stories. Even when reading the stories again and knowing the ending, I found that I was still compelled to turn over to the next page. Barney Jones
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