How Does Brierce Create Suspense In The Boarded Window
In Ambrose Bierce’s “The Boarded Window”, the building of suspense and the use of a cliffhanger creates an uncomfortable mood for the reader. Bierce starts her short story having the narrator tell a tale about a man, Murlock, who lives in a cabin deep in the woods with his wife. Murlock’s wife soon gets very ill and dies. Bierce starts the suspense by having Murlock show little to no emotion when his spouse passes. Murlock didn't grieve for his wife at the time of her death because despite the fact she was dead, everything was alright and she would somehow be with him again. Murlock handles her body with care and prepares her body for burial the next morning. Bierce then intensifies the suspense by using the repetition of “a long, screaming
sound” and “bare feet walking upon the floor” (Bierce 2) when Murlock is home alone on that pitch black night. Bierce makes the reader curl in their seats by applying painful noises in her dialogue. Murlock eventually fires his rifle due to fear, and with the light generated from that shot he spots a huge black panther dragging his wife's body to the window. Murlock then passes out and wakes up the next morning to see his wife with “a pool of blood [flowing] from [her] horribly torn throat” and “between the teeth was a piece of the animal's ear”(Bierce 3). Bierce establishes an odd cliffhanger by forcing the reader to reason through the possibilities of how Murlocks dead wife had fought off that beast. The author's choices of creating suspense through repetition and a cliffhanger makes the reader uncomfortable. The many unusual possibilities that could have occurred the night of his wife's death puts the reader on edge after finishing the story.
sound” and “bare feet walking upon the floor” (Bierce 2) when Murlock is home alone on that pitch black night. Bierce makes the reader curl in their seats by applying painful noises in her dialogue. Murlock eventually fires his rifle due to fear, and with the light generated from that shot he spots a huge black panther dragging his wife's body to the window. Murlock then passes out and wakes up the next morning to see his wife with “a pool of blood [flowing] from [her] horribly torn throat” and “between the teeth was a piece of the animal's ear”(Bierce 3). Bierce establishes an odd cliffhanger by forcing the reader to reason through the possibilities of how Murlocks dead wife had fought off that beast. The author's choices of creating suspense through repetition and a cliffhanger makes the reader uncomfortable. The many unusual possibilities that could have occurred the night of his wife's death puts the reader on edge after finishing the story.