Shaping and Revealing the Suspense of Fate in “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Signalman”

Abstract

The process of creating suspense in the short suspense novels of Edgar Allan Poe and Dickens is intertwined with the flow of the development of the protagonist’s destiny. The process of unveiling the suspense of the work is also the process of the arrival of the protagonist’s irresistible destiny. Through the desperate and destructive ending, the author wants to express the theme of revelation. In both “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Signalman”, a horrific atmosphere is created through the foreshadowing and hints of destiny, and the suspenseful effect is constantly realized along with the revelation of the established destiny. Therefore, this paper explores the author’s process of shaping and revealing the suspense of fate through the dynamic relationship between external objects and characters, the choice of narrator’s persona, the structure of the suspenseful plot, and the textual hints to find the differences between the author and the general suspense or tragedy text qualities. Through comparative analysis, find out how the two are conceived from the perspectives of the integration of external objects and characters, the construction of suspense structure, and textual hints. In the end will find out their unique performance methods in setting and revealing the suspense of fate, which will provide a reference for exploring the aesthetic and social values behind the suspense novels.