The Dream of Red Chamber
The Dream of Red Chamber is a novel of a hundred and twenty chapters written by Cao Xueqin and published in 1988. In the book, the author uses suspense on many occasions. Why does the author have suspense in the storyline's plot? I would contend that the author is driven to keep the readers hooked to the book and interested in the plot. Curiosity is generated in the novel by the author's use of provocative phrases and finely constructed explanations.
Of course, at the beginning of the novel suspense is created when the author uses contradicting statements to bring about curiosity to the reader. The author states, "Truth becomes fiction when fantasy becomes true, and reality becomes not - real when the unreal becomes real" (Liu and Shu, 10).
Explanation: The audience gets the reaction of wanting to know more about the opposite of what is expected regarding truth, fiction, reality, and theoretical aspects of life. The feeling of curiosity to know the unique relationship of the four elements makes the reader want to read the novel to the last page and gain more knowledge of what seems confusing at the beginning.
So what? The audience would want to have more information about the fallacy of the statements through reading the novel to the last page.
Suspense is created when Pao-yu changes his ways and decides to restore the reputation of his house. The narrator states, "He suddenly decides to leave her and disappears after the examination" (Miller, 149).
Explanation: His disappearance after the review and leaving his pregnant wife leaves the reader with the curiosity to find out the fate of Pao-yu's wife and the events that he will be involved in after the disappearance.
So what? The suspense of Pao-yu future life is over when he is finally possessed by an evil spirit and Lady Chao and her son, plots his assassination.
Finally, there is suspense after the death of Chia Tai-Hua, and Chia-Ching took over leadership of his family. The author states that "However since his heart is set on a religious life, he relinquishes his title to his son" (Liu and Shu, 40).
Explanation: Chia Ching has different ambitions in life, and the reader is left wanting to know how he will handle the situation. The suspense and curiosity of the reader are satisfied when Chia Ching gave his title to his son, Chia Cheng and he completely devoted his life to religion, hoping to become immortal.
So what? The suspense created by the drama that followed the family of Chai Tai-hua, motivated the reader to read more and have the knowledge of the subsequent events in the family successors.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, in this paper, I have been exploring the places in the novel where suspense appears crafted to create feelings of suspense, curiosity, or surprise and how these feelings are created and with what goals in mind. I have argued that the author has been able to employ suspense throughout the story continuously, and the reader finds the book educative as it gives an in-depth insight into its depiction of Chinese culture back in the days the novel was written. In the novel, suspense and curiosity are the most domineering aspects and thus raising the inquisitiveness of the reader to continue reading the novel so as to unfold the events in the plot.
Work Cited
Liu, Zaifu, and Yunzhong Shu. Reflections on Dream of the Red Chamber. Youngstown, N.Y.: Cambria Press, 2015. Print.
Miller, Lucien. Masks of Fiction in Dream of the Red Chamber.Tuscon [sic]: Published for the Association for Asian Studies by the University of Arizona Press, 2016. Print.