Uneasy homecomming

This story revolves round Connie – the main character in the story. As Connie arrives home from a holiday she has an uneasy feeling. She ignores it, convincing her self there is nothing to worry about. After this feeling has been elaborated for a while the reader realises that there is definitely something wrong. She calls a friend who tells her that there have been a number of burglaries in the area. Connie checks the house and her feeling of unease intensifies as she discovers a bag of loot under her bed. Realising that the burglars have been using the house, she heads for the phone. She hears someone entering the house .she recognises him and manages to escape. She finds his motorbike and sets fire to it. The fire is spotted and fire engines appear. Connie is safe for now.

These techniques are all used to slowly build up the tension by the author. The story starts off reasonably slowly at the beginning, it quickens as Connie realises that there is something wrong, and continues to climb until the burglar eventually enters the house. The story climaxes when the burglar passes within three feet of the terrified Connie. After this point there is a skilful release of tension and more symbolism is used to contrast the danger inside the house to the safety outside “But outside the night was full of stars, and the air was cool and sweet” shows one of the contrasts used.

author makes extremely good use of setting to create an atmosphere of suspense. As Connie gets to the house it is dark, this is emphasised and regularly repeated in the first few paragraphs of the story The author also uses the contrast between light and dark to create suspense in the later part of the short story.

Some topics in this essay:
, short story, feeling suspense, inside house, connie realises, short sentences, uneasy feeling,