W.F. Harvey was a horror writer that wrote August Heat in the year 1910 as a short horror story. This short story was used as a prime example of building suspense in so short of a story with it being enough. So, how does W.F. Harvey create suspense in such short of a novel? He creates this by foreshadowing certain events, creating uncertainty throughout the dialogue and the bond between the two men, and the sea of anxiety that is created through the situation he is put into in combination with the pittance of information.
Percy D’Aco states, “Foreshadowing is the use of hints to suggest the use of hints to suggest events later in the plot. A horror writer may use foreshadowing to suggest a frightening event that awaits the main character. …show more content…
(D’Aco) In this case, it is death. The perspective we are given is the first person perspective which already takes away all the inner thoughts we can be gaining from Mr.Atkinson. Also, it is noted late in the story that Mr. Atkinson Went from considering the string of coincidences laughable to being completely serious about the issue and trying to create a logical explanation for what they are currently presenting to one another and how this information is leading up to their demise. It is also worth noting that they are working off very little evidence to work on as seen by the sentence, “ And you must have seen me somewhere and forgotten it! Were you at Clacton- on- sea last july?” (Harvey) Thus, lack of information keeps the reader thinking ahead and putting the small pieces together like the main characters of the short …show more content…
It is common knowledge that people start to become frustrated and irritated when in extremely humid weather. A lot like the thunderous weather of Spring Hills, Florida which is extremely irritating based on personal experience. The anxiety that James Clarence feels due to this weather along with the mystery of his death must have been overwhelming. Harvey demonstrates this with the sentence,
“The air seemed charged with thunder. I Am writing this on a shaky table before the open window… It is after eleven now. I shall be gone in less than an hour. But the heat is stifling. It is enough to send a man mad.” (Harvey)
This exposes us to the anxiety that the main character ,and the reader, was feeling as the heat got increasingly hotter as the story progressed thus creating suspense through the temperature which is in direct relation with the ultimate event, that being Mr. Atkinson killing James with the tools he was going to use to fix the
Percy D’Aco states, “Foreshadowing is the use of hints to suggest the use of hints to suggest events later in the plot. A horror writer may use foreshadowing to suggest a frightening event that awaits the main character. …show more content…
(D’Aco) In this case, it is death. The perspective we are given is the first person perspective which already takes away all the inner thoughts we can be gaining from Mr.Atkinson. Also, it is noted late in the story that Mr. Atkinson Went from considering the string of coincidences laughable to being completely serious about the issue and trying to create a logical explanation for what they are currently presenting to one another and how this information is leading up to their demise. It is also worth noting that they are working off very little evidence to work on as seen by the sentence, “ And you must have seen me somewhere and forgotten it! Were you at Clacton- on- sea last july?” (Harvey) Thus, lack of information keeps the reader thinking ahead and putting the small pieces together like the main characters of the short …show more content…
It is common knowledge that people start to become frustrated and irritated when in extremely humid weather. A lot like the thunderous weather of Spring Hills, Florida which is extremely irritating based on personal experience. The anxiety that James Clarence feels due to this weather along with the mystery of his death must have been overwhelming. Harvey demonstrates this with the sentence,
“The air seemed charged with thunder. I Am writing this on a shaky table before the open window… It is after eleven now. I shall be gone in less than an hour. But the heat is stifling. It is enough to send a man mad.” (Harvey)
This exposes us to the anxiety that the main character ,and the reader, was feeling as the heat got increasingly hotter as the story progressed thus creating suspense through the temperature which is in direct relation with the ultimate event, that being Mr. Atkinson killing James with the tools he was going to use to fix the