Red Room Coursework
The story 'Red Room' it begins with the narrator speaking to one of the caretakers about the haunted room of Lorraine Castle, it is written in first person which suggests that the reader believes it from personal experience. The old man 'with the withered arm' tries to stop him on his journey to find out the truth of the sinister room. However, the narrator is persistent that he needs to go to the 'red room'. However, the caretakers know the truth of the room and have never ventured into it themselves. They tell him it is his own choosing, however, he does not listen to them and is very confident of setting off on his journey. Therefore, the caretakers tell him the directions which will lead him to the eerie room. He then commences his journey to the red room. On his journey to the room, his conscience begins to play mind games with him and then his confident attitude deteriorates, although there is actually nothing there to scare him. He enters the room, finds his bearings, and begins to talk to himself and try to make humorous gestures to pass time. At the climax of the story, the candles in the room begin to extinguish. The room is in total darkness and he is so terrified he makes a run for the door, falls headlong down the stairs and remembers no more. The custodians find him in the morning. The only way he can describe what is in the room is 'black fear' as he did not see anything to extinguish the candles.
Gothic Fiction
Gothic fiction can be described as ghost stories which include graveyards, witches, and vampires: anything that frightens people, also are mostly not true. The 'Red Room' fits into the gothic genre by the scene of Lorraine Castle and also the characters that are in the story: 'the man with the withered arm', 'the man, who was more bent, more wrinkled, more aged' and 'the old woman'. Also, what actually haunts the room? The features of the castle: the alcoves, the large, sombre rooms, the darkness, plus the...
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