The title "The Red Room" immediately attracts the reader's attention; it is symbolic but leaves unanswered questions. "What is the red room?" "Why is it red?" We associate red with fear and danger. Is this room dangerous? Overall, the title raises so much curiosity that it has an overwhelming effect, wanting us to read on and find answers to our questions.

The short story writer has to attract the reader and keep their attention throughout. In order for any story to work, tension has to be built in the text, to keep it interesting. In a novel, the writer has to structure and create tension building it up and letting it drop and picking it up again. Too much fast-paced action in a film kills the essence of it and for the viewer, it can become almost funny to watch. For a short story, however, it is able to build tension and sustain it without completely dropping down to the original level. The best way of building tension is to increase the tension then drop down slightly but not as low as at the outset. In adding more drama, little by little, the story gains tension but the reader is also reminded of the excitement as he is released from the drama from time to time

From this first line, the reader can assume two pieces of information. Firstly that this story involves a ghost, and secondly that the character is an educated and well-read man.

Here he is referring to the opening line about having to find a very tangible ghost.

In the story, the man has a revolver. This symbolizes violence, which leads to conflict, and conflict builds tension. Fire symbolizes warmth and wards off evil. The old people with disabilities symbolize the fear inside him and how he would not like to end his life. However, at the end, he does become like them, talking in their style about what had happened.

"At last, to reassure myself, I walked with a candle into it, and satisfied myself that there was nothing tangible there. I stood that candle upon the floor of the alcove, and left it in that position."

Again, this shows us how darkness is far more frightening than being able to see and knowing what is there. Tension is built by how the young man expresses his feelings. To conquer his fear of the unknown the man places a candle in an alcove in the corner of the room:

Some topics in this essay:
, short story, build tension, candle goes, tension story, shadows step towards, short story writer, shadows step, story writer, story location, read answers, getting nervous, candle floor,