ipl-logo

Suspense In The Landlady And The Monkeys Paw

548 Words3 Pages

Short stories with suspense tend to draw the reader in and they want to continue to read it. In Roald Dahl’s “The Landlady” the main character, Billy Weaver walks into a seemingly safe Bed and Breakfast and he quickly realizes he won’t get out alive. In W.W. Jacobs’ “The Monkeys Paw” Mr. White makes a wish, soon enough he realizes that the monkey’s paw is a danger to him and his family. Therefore, in both the stories, "The Landlady" by Roald Dahl and "The Monkeys Paw" by W.W. Jacobs suspense is depicted through the use of tone and imagery.

For one thing, in both of the stories suspense is conveyed through the use of tone. In "The Landlady" When Billy Weaver first spots the Bed and Breakfast, he assumes it to be a safe place to stay. Dahl …show more content…

In "The Monkeys Paw" Mr. White makes a wish for money. He didn’t know it at first but he made the mistake of killing his son. He was told that there will be consequences but he ignored it. Jacobs creates a suspense through imagery when he states " The knocking stopped suddenly, though it still echoed in the house...A cold wind rushed up the stairs and a long, loud wail of disappointment and misery broke from his wife." This passage reveals that the mother is crestfallen that her son, Herbert didn’t come back. She had her hopes up at the thought of her son coming back but when the knocking stopped and it was silent she grew heartbroken and wanted to see him again. Alternatively, Dahl writes "...the first thing he saw was a bright fire burning in the hearth. On the carpet in front of the fire, a pretty little dachshund was curled up asleep with its nose tucked into its belly." Furthermore, the author shows suspense through imagery when Billy Weaver assumes it to be a comforting place to stay. He sees a cozy dog, but what he doesn’t know is that the dog is dead and he will soon be also. Based on the two examples imagery and tone play a big part in conveying suspense.

All in all, In both Dahl's "The Landlady" and Jacobs' "The Monkeys Paw" suspense is depicted through the use of tone and imagery. The two stories show that you need to be careful with your choices. Billy took the chance and stayed at the place with the

Show More
Related

  • O 'Flahtery's Use Of Suspense In The Sniper'

    253 Words  | 2 Pages

    Suspense The story that demonstrated the best suspense out of the three stories, The Sniper by Liam O’Flahtery, The Dogs Could Teach Me by Gary Paulsen, and The Flowers by Alice Walker was The Sniper, by LIam O’Flahtery. There are many ways in which O’Flahtery develops suspense in the story. One place where suspense was built was in the fourth paragraph. He says, “Almost immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet of the roof.”

    Read More

  • Foreshadowing In The Monkey's Paw

    395 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Monkey’s Paw is “magical” paw that will grand all your wishes, or so it’s told to be. Yes there have been wishes that have been granted but also terrible things that have happened to the people who wished upon it. W.W. Jacobs uses foreshadowing to create suspense in “The Monkey's Paw” In what way does W.W. Jacobs use foreshadowing to create suspense?

    Read More

  • Examples Of Foreshadowing In The Landlady By Roald Dahl

    236 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the short story “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl, it creates tension and suspense by using foreshadowing to hint at many things, like, the Landlady doing taxidermy, and her keeping people at the house. It foreshadows the fact she taxidermy's things very well and subtly. In the story it says “The little Dachshund was still sleeping soundly”(Dahl, 4). Each time Billy Weaver went downstairs the dog was sleeping soundly in the same spot, not moving or barking which the breed is known to do. This is suspicious and makes the reader wonder about that.

    Read More

  • Suspense In Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-Tavi

    699 Words  | 3 Pages

    The author uses description, character reactions, and figurative language to build suspense in the story. “Rikki-Tikki tingled all over with rage and hatred at this.” This description shows that Rikki-Tikki was mad and uses imagery to paint a picture in your head of an angry mongoose fighting the evil snake, Nag, which builds suspense by making the evil image in my head. The way the author describes the event is very vivid and adds to the suspense building slowly in the story. “The character reaction in this moment is when Teddy’s father gets the shotgun and shoots Nag.

    Read More

  • What Are The Similarities Between Good Country People And The Lottery

    873 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury, “Good Country People” by Flannery O'Connor, and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson all have very strong themes that depict a darker side of human nature. All are very different in plot, but are connected through their endings. They all start with seemingly normal characters who end up doing things that would not have been predicted. In “The Veldt” it shows children revolting against their parents. “The Lottery” shows a whole community turning against one person.

    Read More

  • Literary Devices Create Suspense In Literature

    437 Words  | 2 Pages

    When you watch a tv show and do you find it annoying when they go to commercial break right before something important is about to happen? That is an example of suspense. You usually sit through the commercials to see what happens right? It keeps you hooked. The short story that I will be referring to and drawing examples of suspense from is Pickman’s Model by H.P. Lovecraft.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Suspense In The Monkey's Paw

    419 Words  | 2 Pages

    and another reason why this story show’s numorious amounts of suspense is because every night he will stand in the old man’s room and watch him sleep just thinking about the old man’s eye while he’s sleeping. And the third reason why this story shows suspense is because allen he always acted very weired. In the monkey’s paw it creates suspense through the mystery surrounding, when sergeant Major Morris visits the Whites, he brings with him the very vague and mysterious story of the monkey’s paw. another reason why

    Read More

  • The Monkeys Paw Foreshadowing Analysis

    446 Words  | 2 Pages

    Suspense, the state of tension, anxiety, and uncertainty, like waiting for an outcome that comes very slow. Authors usually create suspense by using story elements. In the story “The Monkeys Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, he uses story elements such as foreshadowing, conflict, and surprise ending. Foreshadowing is one of the biggest ways that expresses suspense in the story. For example Sergeant Major Morris states that the first owner of the paw wished for death.

    Read More

  • How Does W. F Harvey Create Suspense

    603 Words  | 3 Pages

    For two centuries now, horror and suspense stories have become one of the most intriguing types of story genres. These genres have captured the attention of countless of readers and nowadays watchers. According to Percy D’Aco, horror stories are created to show discomfort and fear reflecting on one’s greatest fears. In the process of writing horror stories, numerous authors create suspense to make people continue reading and stay hooked on the story. A great example of the use of suspense would be the horror story “August Heat,” written by W.F Harvey.

    Read More

  • How Does Roald Dahl Create Suspense In The Landlady

    169 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the short story, “The Landlady,” Roald Dahl creates suspense, which makes you think about how and why some of the things happen. One example of how Roald Dahl creates suspense is when the narrator said, “He hadn’t even had time to take his finger from the bell-button - the door swung open.” That creates suspense because she opened the door so quick, and it leaves you wondering how she opened it so quick. Another example is when the landlady mentioned, “You did sign the book, didn’t you?... That’s good.”

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Suspense Analysis

    555 Words  | 3 Pages

    The author applies cliffhangers and imagery to create suspense. Lee employs cliffhangers throughout her story to conjure suspense. For example Lee shows Scout’s uneasiness after the fire incident at the Radley’s house thus creating suspense for the reader, “Through all the head shaking… Someone inside was laughing” (54). The laughing coming from

    Read More

  • Suspense In Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat

    483 Words  | 2 Pages

    What gives the reader that feeling of being on the edge of their seat? Why would he want the reader to anticipate what’s going to happen next? That is how the author expresses tension. The author does this by using literary devices. Edgar Allen Poe builds suspense in “The Black Cat” by using specific literary devices—foreshadowing, allusion, and slow pace.

    Read More

  • August Heat Literary Analysis

    469 Words  | 2 Pages

    Suspense is used in literature to give off a feeling of uncertainty. In W.F. Harvey’s story “August Heat”, he writes about our protagonist James and how he meets a bizarre character named Mr.Atkinson who he feels is an unnatural person and feels uneasy with him. Later when he is invited to stay the night, Harvey finished the story off with James saying he will “be gone in less than an

    Read More

  • Essay Comparing The Monkey's Paw And The Story Of An Hour

    546 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Monkeys Paw, Mrs. White used the magical object (monkey’s paw). One out of the three wishes granted using the monkeys paw was to have her son back. The outcome of this was pounding at the door, not knowing exactly who was behind the door. The Monkeys Paw is all about granting wishes and not expecting its outcome. This is comparable to The Story of an Hour because Mrs. Mallard wished to have her husband back in her life, but she didn’t expect the outcome of actually seeing her husband alive.

    Read More

  • The Monkey's Paw Theme Essay

    582 Words  | 3 Pages

    The conflict in the story is not only the monkey’s paw but was somewhat Mr. White’s attitude. If he never was that greedy the story would have changed he would have agreed with Morris and burned the monkey’s paw but he didn’t want to do that creating the plot. Any change in the plot could have/ would have altered the course of the story but also altering the theme. In “The Monkey’s Paw,” the downfall of the White family is when they receive the two hundred pounds as a compensation for the son’s death which was actually caused by messing with fate.

    Read More

More about Suspense In The Landlady And The Monkeys Paw

Open Document