Group-Generated WFQ:
How does detective fiction build tension through the use of clues and disguises?
How is structural tension built with these elements of detective fiction?
Hot and Cold Trails
Clues and disguises build structural tension in detective fiction by throwing off the reader, tossing them back and forth between clarity of mind and clouded judgment, like the push and pull of ocean waves. Clues often allow the reader to start to unravel a mystery in their mind while disguises are meant to make the reader question their hypothesis that they had been forming after passing a certain point in the plotline of a detective story. Yet sometimes both clues and disguises can baffle the reader more than allowing them to make inferences and …show more content…
Slinkton. Dickens lets his readers to know right from the start that we should recognize Mr. Slinkton as he was “dark, exceedingly well dressed in black,” had a “particularly well-fitting black kid glove” upon his hand, and his hair was “elaborately brushed and oiled” and “was parted straight up the middle” (49). This description seems too obvious to the reader and thus is possibly easily dismissed as a simple character description. One might even take Mr. Slinkton’s appearance at face value that he is “in mourning” (49). The only thing that keeps up our suspicion of him being the antagonist at the beginning of “Hunted Down” is his name. Slinkton sounds like a sinister name because ‘slink’ refers to a stealthy movement and can be associated with a cunning and mistrusting figure. Other than this, we are given no other clues that he is the villain responsible for the murder of his niece, Miss Niner. It’s not until near the end of story does Dickens reveal to his reader that Mr. Slinkton is the villain and is not only confronted but also brought to justice by Mr. Meltham, disguised as Mr. Beckwith, and Mr. Sampson, the narrator. Despite this, the lack of clues in “Hunted Down” builds structural tension, such as the falling action in the storyline, since the reader, who has dismissed the physiognomy clue of Mr. Slinkton, is thrown off guard when Mr. Sampson and Mr. Meltham confront him of his crime at the end of the story because we are left in dark for most of the time. The suspense of finding out who murdered Miss Niner builds up inside of us as readers up until the moment when all is revealed at the end and we are left with a fast-paced yet anti-climactic ending because it is so quickly wrapped up that it lacks any satisfying resolution. We’re just given
How does detective fiction build tension through the use of clues and disguises?
How is structural tension built with these elements of detective fiction?
Hot and Cold Trails
Clues and disguises build structural tension in detective fiction by throwing off the reader, tossing them back and forth between clarity of mind and clouded judgment, like the push and pull of ocean waves. Clues often allow the reader to start to unravel a mystery in their mind while disguises are meant to make the reader question their hypothesis that they had been forming after passing a certain point in the plotline of a detective story. Yet sometimes both clues and disguises can baffle the reader more than allowing them to make inferences and …show more content…
Slinkton. Dickens lets his readers to know right from the start that we should recognize Mr. Slinkton as he was “dark, exceedingly well dressed in black,” had a “particularly well-fitting black kid glove” upon his hand, and his hair was “elaborately brushed and oiled” and “was parted straight up the middle” (49). This description seems too obvious to the reader and thus is possibly easily dismissed as a simple character description. One might even take Mr. Slinkton’s appearance at face value that he is “in mourning” (49). The only thing that keeps up our suspicion of him being the antagonist at the beginning of “Hunted Down” is his name. Slinkton sounds like a sinister name because ‘slink’ refers to a stealthy movement and can be associated with a cunning and mistrusting figure. Other than this, we are given no other clues that he is the villain responsible for the murder of his niece, Miss Niner. It’s not until near the end of story does Dickens reveal to his reader that Mr. Slinkton is the villain and is not only confronted but also brought to justice by Mr. Meltham, disguised as Mr. Beckwith, and Mr. Sampson, the narrator. Despite this, the lack of clues in “Hunted Down” builds structural tension, such as the falling action in the storyline, since the reader, who has dismissed the physiognomy clue of Mr. Slinkton, is thrown off guard when Mr. Sampson and Mr. Meltham confront him of his crime at the end of the story because we are left in dark for most of the time. The suspense of finding out who murdered Miss Niner builds up inside of us as readers up until the moment when all is revealed at the end and we are left with a fast-paced yet anti-climactic ending because it is so quickly wrapped up that it lacks any satisfying resolution. We’re just given