August Heat Suspense

August Heat Suspense can make you over think and become attentive. The feeling of wanting to know more creates confusions and boldness to the reader. The reason for suspense is to hook the reader onto the story, while hooking the reader to the story, the author wants to astound the reader into wanting more. W.F Harvey introduces suspense and it is shown throughout the story “August Heat” but it’s enhanced in the ending of the story. The story is about two men who occasionally meet one hot summer day but then one of the men become utterly shocked because the other man matched up with a person he randomly sketched. As things become more interesting and fascinating, the story becomes creepy and outlandish, hooking the reader's every page they encounter. The main two characters in the story are James and Mr. Atkinson. The characters play a huge role in the story. Additionally, in the
beginning of the story is where the starting of suspense is being introduced. “Let me say the outset that my name is James Clawrence Withencroft. By profession I am an artist, not a very successful one, but I earn enough money by my black-and-white work to satisfy my necessary wants,” (Harvey, 92). To elaborate, the author already hooks the reader onto the story in the beginning of the story by introducing the man. In addition to hooking the reader, the reader is questioning “ what are the man’s necessary wants?” and that line is a good way to catch a reader's attention. The reader already wants to know more about the reader since James gives a short description of himself. “The man was fat- enormously fat. The flesh hung in rolls about his chin; it ceased his huge, stumpy neck,” (Harvey, 93). Then again, introducing another character creates a better understanding for the reader. The reader will feel precise about the characters. Whereas, the more descriptive the characters are, Then the more likely the reader will stay hooked by knowing the appearance in their mind. To review, James switches the story and he states that he’s drawing a sketch and suddenly, he meets the man on his sketch. This is where suspense plays an important role! “I found myself standing before a gate that led into a yard bordered by a strip of thirsty earth, where there were flowers, purple stock and scarlet geranium,” (Harvey, 93). The reader doesn’t know where James is at and the reader is now eager to know where James is headed to. “It was the man I had been drawing, whose portrait lay in my pocket,” ( Harvey, 94). Furthermore, the story is opening the formidable setting. It’s shocking to know that the man you draw turns out to be an actual person, where the story becomes suspenseful by feeling “... uncertainty or anxiety you feel about what will happen next,” (D’Aco, 90). This scene creates suspense where the reader is shocked and is in denial of the reveal. It can be seen that James death is being foreshadowed.
“It’s a strange coincidence, but it happens to be mine,” (Harvey, 95). These factors contribute to suspense because James is now beginning to think the whole situation is a bit skeptical. “We’ll look at the matter straight. If you go back home to- night, you can take your chance of accidents. A cart may run over you, and there’s always banana skins and orange peel, to say nothing of fallen ladders,” (Harvey, 97). At this point, James and the reader are astonished with what Mr. Atkinson stated. For that reason, it created suspense. It certainly changes the view of Mr. Atkinson. Subsequently, Mr. Atkinson is now being questioned. The reader may be asking in how certain Mr. Atkinson seemed and put his point across with no complication. “A reversal is a sudden change in a character’s situation from good to bad or vice versa. The place of James now changes and he starts to question Mr. Atkinson because he doesn’t feel sure and the outcome is now about to occur and Mr. Atkinson is basically telling James about his
death. To conclude, this story began from an interesting story to then becoming a bit sketchy and nervousness. It seemed as if James was in a safe environment butt can be seen that it didn’t seem so safe in the ending. Suspense was created by character introduction, appearance, and death. Topics that readers all deeply look to and depend on while reading a new story. The ending creates a destiny theme but the ending isn’t really explained and told. The suspense is shown in the ending because it isn’t clear what is about to occur next after Mr. Atkinson describes James death, so, suspense is playing a role to keeping the reader hooked and skeptical for perhaps a new sequel or movie version of the next part. Suspense keeps the reader into the story and in the ending, conclusive feedback is given, the desire to know more is shown by the reader.