Have you seen a movie or read a book that kept you on the edge of your seat? Suspense is a state or feeling of uncertainty about what is going to happen and is often used to keep the reader entertained and interested. This feeling of suspense is often created through cause-and-effect relationships where something happens that builds tension.
The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Monkey’s Paw” create a feeling of suspense through cause-and-effect relationships by describing the characters’ feeling that something is going to happen which then builds a sense of panic for both the characters and the reader and that panic turns nearly frantic near the climax of the stories. “The Monkey’s Paw” is a great example of suspense created by cause-and-effect relationships. “The Monkey’s Paw” is about Mr. White, Mrs. White, and Herbert White who receive a monkey’s paw that will grant three wishes from a man named SergeantMajor Morris.
The story is set in the mid to late 19th century in the White’s home and they learn that you should be careful what you wish for because all of their wishes go wrong except for the last one. One cause of the suspense in “The Monkey’s Paw” was that Mr. White knew that something would happen if they opened the door which created a feeling of suspense for not only him but for the reader as well. I know this because in the story it says: What are you going to do? ‘ he whispered hoarsely. ‘It’s my boy; It’s Herbert” she cried, struggling mechanically. I forgot it was two miles away. What are you holding me for? Let go. I must open the door. ”Don’t let it in,’ cried the old man, trembling. (Jacobs 116) This shows how Mr. White’s fear and panic of what would be behind the door helps build up suspense. If this cause did not exist, the story would not be suspenseful because there is little to no suspense aside from what Mr. White contributes.
This is a great example of how the authors of “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” use the character’s sense that something is going to happen to build suspense. The Tell-Tale Heart” is magnificent at creating suspense through cause-and-effect relationships. In the story a man, whose name is never clearly stated and lives in what is most likely the 19th century in a house with no specific location, sneaks into an old man’s room every night to see the old man’s eye which has been driving him insane. Eventually, the old man’s eye drives him so mad that he murders the man and hides his body from the police only to grow even more insane as he hears the beating of the old man’s heart and eventually confesses.
One cause of suspense in the story is the panic or frantic nature at the end of the story right before he confesses. The author makes the story frantic and full of panic near the end by making the narrator say this: What could I do? I foamed- || raved- I swore. I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased… no, no! They heard! – They suspected! – They knew! – They were making a mockery of my horror! – This I thought, and this I think! But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision!
I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt as though I must scream or die! – And now-again- hark! Louder! Louder! Louder! (Poe 94) This quotation illustrates how the author made the end of the story more hectic by making the narrator paranoid which causes a sense of anxiety and suspense about what the man will do. Without the narrator’s panic, the story would not be suspenseful and readers may not be as interested. This proves that the authors of “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Monkey’s Paw” use frantic emotion and the feelings of characters to build a feeling of suspense.
The character’s feeling that something will happen and the frantic end to the stories are ways both “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Tell-Tale Heat” build suspense for the reading audience through cause-and-effect relationships. Without cause-andeffect relationships, stories would lack an interesting plot line. Suspense, the feeling that something is going to happen, is a result of one of these cause-and-effect relationships. In the stories, the authors’ ability to make both the characters and the reader feel a sense of tension and anxiety help to make the plot more dramatic and engaging.