The Landlady Research free essay sample

Suspense in the landlady The landlady is a story, fenced in walls of suspense, uncertainty, and stereotypical innocence of an elderly woman, luring, lusting, over a young man, giving the story a seductive twist. Suspense is first ignited by Billy’s attraction to a sign printed on a bed and breakfast. Initially the style, in which the author writes , is suspicious, reading that, the words don’t role of your tongue, printed letters are usually associated with a warning. If this had been a romantic short story, he probably wouldn’t have done this; he would have done something more along the lines of ‘bed and breakfast’. Billy doesn’t recognise this with a great deal of significance. The reader however, is already very suspicious of the lady, therefore finds this much more significant, and then the landlady makes a remark, which caries some kind of seductive lure, ‘We have it all to ourselves’ She says; this I believe to is the trigger quote of seductiveness a string of lusting comments to come; this does not make the story sexy, it makes it sleazy. We will write a custom essay sample on The Landlady Research or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The way the ‘all’ is enthused adds a chill to the line. And the way the line sounds so possessive reflects her desire for Billy. This desire makes the reader feel very uneasy. An old woman, and a young man, in the era the story was written particularly, this was considered to be taboo. No one talked about it, its just something that sociologically didn’t belong, and is against modern ideological views. The reader now as fresh fears for Billy, and fresh suspicions of the landlady, we get the impression she is perverted. Usually, a young man could fend of such an peculiar obstacle, and such a situation could actually become comical, but this woman has already proven that she can get him unwillingly into her house, where else will this force lead him. With all these suspicions, and suspense the old lady has trailed, the reader has developed an overwhelming interest in the story at this stage. And becomes detective. The landlady has proven she embeds, despite her pleasant apparel, a sour twist of crude seductiveness. In the Landlady, the setting was Bath, England. Deal with fear and suspense by using various techniques to keep the reader in suspense. When the first paragraph of The Landlady begins, the ‘audience’ is made aware of the surroundings. Roald Dahl starts to create fright/anticipation by providing an in depth account into the background of the story. The account set, describes to the audience the atmosphere and gives us an insight into the kind of weather conditions within the scene. The audience is told â€Å"the air is deadly cold, and the wind as flat as a blade of ice cutting against his cheek†. This descriptive opening to the story suggests that Billy is in a hostile environment. By doing this the author is generating apprehension and expectancy. Billy Weaver is seventeen-years-old. He was wearing a new navy-blue overcoat, a new brown trilby hat, and a new brown suit. He walks briskly, as he has decided that â€Å"‘Briskness’ was the one common characteristic of all successful businessmen†. Billy is trying hard to become a businessman, because he knows that businessmen are successful. We also learn that he is gullible, weary, uncertain, and cautious and that he takes people at face value. We notice that Billy takes the landlady at face value when he says: â€Å"The old girl is slightly dotty, but at five and sixpence a night, who gives a damn about that? † We notice during the story that the landlady is quite peculiar. From the first sentence we notice that something isn’t quite right with her. When she opens the door, it seems as if she is expecting Billy to arrive. We know this through a number of different quotes: â€Å"But I’m always ready day and night in the house just on the off chance that an acceptable young gentleman will come along, and it is such a pleasure, my dear, such a very great pleasure when now and again I open the door and see someone standing there who is exactly right†, this is further enhanced by â€Å"I noticed that the bed covers were put back ready for someone to get into the bed†. These all suggest that the landlady is expecting Billy to arrive at the Bed nd Breakfast. These quotes also create anticipation because we wonder why she is so eager for him to stay. In the Landlady the conspiracy was to lure Billy into the house and to poison him with a preserving chemical, as we believe that she wants to preserve his body when he has died. Billy is described to be in a hostile environment. For Billy the hostile environment was a à ¢â‚¬ËœDeadly cold’ small town called Bath in England. Lured to their fate by a surreal sense of security, with Billy it was that he was staying in a Bed and Breakfast with the landlady.