Good Example Of Comparing Suspense In Two Short Stories Essay

In the short stories The Bride Came to Yellow Sky by Stephen Crane and A Flower for Emily by William Faulkner are ridden with a number of literary devices and among them is suspense. Crane and Faulkner use suspense from the beginning of their stories, and the reader gets to know the truth at the end of the stories. In The Bride Came to Yellow Sky, the gunfight between the antagonist Scratchy Wilson and Potter never materializes. At the same time, there is an internal struggle in Potter who does not know how best to break the news about his marriage to the town’s people and more particularly his friends. In A Rose for Emily, it is at the end that the reader gets to know about the fate of Homer Barron and even the interior of Emily’s house and even the dark secret she has kept for a very long time. In these two stories, the authors hold the readers in suspense till the very end.
Scratchy is spoiling for a fight and looks forward to a time that he and Potter would engage with each other in a gun fight. Potter, on the other hand, marries for the sake of avoiding a gunfight with his all-time rival. That is clear from the very moment Potter arrives in Yellow Sky. In as much as the air builds up for a gunfight, that does not happen even when Potter and Scratchy meet face to face. Besides, the members of the Weary Gentleman’s Saloon are all fearful and await their savior John Potter. But Potter is not keen on becoming anyone’s savior and seems like he only wants to enjoy his honeymoon and introduce his new bride to society. These conflicting thoughts in the minds of various characters help in creating suspense in this story.
In A Rose for Emily, suspense is built around the happenings in the life and home of Emily. The reader becomes interested of every twist and turns in her life in order to know what becomes of her. She is isolated, and everyone including the authorities seems interested in her life. It turns out that the people of her small town and street are very judgmental and are quick to talk about Emily. That makes the reader want to know more about her. Apparently, everyone anticipates for the death of Emily at any time of her life so as to get a chance to get into her house and know what happens behind those closed doors. But it is not until the end of the story that she dies, therefore, Faulkner holding her death in suspense all through till the end. And that is when the truth about the fate of Homer Barron dawns on the town’s people.
These two stories have a lot of suspense going on, and that helps in the build up to the climax and the development of the plot. Potter is not in any way interested in fighting while Scratchy so much wants to fight. But then they settle their dispute diplomatically and there is no fight as anyone would have anticipated, disappointing the reader as well as the people of Yellow Sky. Emily, on the other hand, is a weird character who seems not to be liked by the town’s people who seem fascinated by her death. In these two stories, the authors create suspense for the main characters to make the stories interesting.

References

Crane, S. The Bride Came to Yellow Sky. Web. Retrieved from http://www.drwrite.com/analyzing/stories/bride.shtmlFaulkner, W. A Rose for Emily. Web. Retrieved from http://resources.mhs.vic.edu.au/creating/downloads/A_Rose_for_Emily.pdf