The red room
...you feel as though she is a slimy creature of some kind watching you, waiting to latch on. For a brief time the tension has dropped considerably, Isaac now knows who she really is and so, is weary around her. When Isaacs mother goes to have dinner with the two of them the tension immediately begins to mount: "The same ghastly change pass over her face." We do not even need to know what has changed his mother's expression; having witnessed it twice already we sense that she has become aware of something linked with Rebecca Murdoch and the dream. The tension is only ever built when it has something to do with that significant moment at the inn. When we realize that Isaacs mother has seen the fatal weapon used to attack him in his dream, a desperateness to escape overcomes the reader. The knife symbolizes violence, which causes tension. By seeing the knife it is clear that Rebecca Murdoch will attempt to kill Isaac but we do not know if she will succeed. Our predictions are correct when Rebecca Murdoch attempts to stab him, only his precautions to stay awake at night makes the story so predictable that it is not a very tense moment, we knew that it was coming. However, in 1855 when this story was originally written, women were still considered to be weak and vulnerable. No one would have expected a woman to be the culprit. Due to the fact that this story is an embedded narrative we know that it must all end with the present conversation between the landlord and the original narrator. It is left on a cliffhanger; our answers about the ostler asleep in the stall have been confirmed. He is haunted by the thought that the woman may return to kill him and so he does not sleep at night. However we are left not knowing whether she returns or not and by the end of the conversation it is as if we were standing with the landlord the entire time. His language and attitude towards her shows us that he is clearly infatuated by her and the reader has an intuition that something is about to happen. "His mind was so completely absorbed by its new subject of interest." When she later begins to take control of his life our suspicions are confirmed. "How to break the news of his approaching marriage… to his mother." The bond between Isaac and his mother is so strong yet she still manipulates him. She later lies when she promises never to see him again, but breaks that promise and returns. Out of the characters that the reader is introduced to, she is the only one that cannot be trusted. A small climax occurs when Isaacs mother meets the woman, Rebecca Murdoch for the first time: "Blank look of terror." Isaacs mother has only reacted in this way when he told her about the dream and so we can immediately assume that she is that same woman. The author avoids any connection between the two of them until this moment so that it is totally unexpected. She may try to kill Isaac. We can now empathise with the mother for Isaac is still blind to the resemblance. Again a feeling of panic overwhelms us because Isaac is in danger again, only this time he cannot see it coming. Previous warnings to him had been totally ignored by his obsession with her. "He could never feel quite at ease with her." When Rebecca Murdoch storms out angrily at the way she is being treated she returns and watches them through the window. It is not only her personality that makes the reader feel uneasy around her, but also her body language. " Something darkened at the parlour window…a sudden chill ran through him. Rebecca Murdoch had come back. She was peering in curiously at them over the low window blind." Even Isaac begins to feel scared around her. The way she is described peering through the window makes you ...