William Sleator

Ever since I was small, I was scared of flickering lights. My older sister would make me watch scary movies. Some would have a scene with flickering lights. Afterwards i would be frightened.I always felt that I would see someone or something staring back at me and then the lights would start to flicker. In “The Elevator” by William Sleator a thin twelve-year-old boy called Martin was severely claustrophobic inside elevators.To get to his floor he would have to take the elevator. Which was his his biggest fear that he could not seem to overcome. Martin would eventually have to face his fear to get to his new apartment. William Sleator shows us Martin’s lack of ability to get over his fears of building suspense through Martin’s thoughts or actions which are all efforts to avoid those fears. He is
He would feel claustrophobic in them. Martin barely moved to an apartment. That probably means he will have to take the elevator. Will he overcome his fear for the elevator just to arrive to his new apartment? ¨Maybe the bateful atmosphere was due to the light from the fluorescent strip. Maybe it was the door which never stayed open long enough and slammed with such ominous changing finality.¨ (lines 6&10) Not only his fear for elevators made him nervous but the ambiance of the old elevator made Martin frightened. The elevator was extremely dark because it only had one light bulb hanging. The apartments were old so was the elevator. The doors never stayed opened long enough. It would shut with such terrifying noise. ¨That was what he hated about being alone on the thing- the fear of being trapped there for hours by himself. But it wasn't much better when there were other passengers.¨ (lines 34-36) When Martin had to take the elevator he would think of many negative situations. He would realize what would happen if he were there trapped there for hours all by himself. The situation would not become better if someone else was with him