The Dream of Red Chamber
The novel The Dream of Red Chamber is one of the four classical books of Chinese history, and it is widely regarded as the peak of Chinese literature.
Suspense and Curiosity
The writers Cao Xuenqin and Cheng Weiyuan attempt to write a short autobiography of the king's reign as well as a semi-autobiography of Cao Xuenqin's family's rise and fall. Notably, the writers used suspense, curiosity, and surprise to keep readers hooked to the book and engaged in continuing the story.
Creating Suspense
The book is quite long, but through the suspense that the author has introduced in the introductory paragraph, a certain feeling of excitement and tension is created that makes the reader read more and quench his or her thirst of knowing what transpired and the reason behind some introductory statements. The feeling of curiosity is created through suggestive statements that contain carefully crafted descriptions and back stories. The primary goal of creating suspense in the book is to keep the reader interested in reading the book up to the last page.
The Use of Contradicting Statements
At the beginning of the novel, the author uses contradicting statements to bring about curiosity to the reader. The statements that truth becomes fiction when fantasy becomes true and reality becoming not-real when the unreal becomes real are original comments that help to increase the suspense of the reader (Liu and Shu, 10). The user gets the reaction of wanting to know more about the opposite of what is expected regarding truth, fiction, reality, and theoretical aspects of life (Pease and Pease, 18). 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.
Depiction of Chinese Culture
To sum it up, the author of the novel 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. Notably, aspects of Chinese culture such as funeral rights, Buddhism, mythology, festivities, medicine, music, proverbs, and classical literature are described vividly, and thus raising the curiosity of the reader to have a deep insight into the ancient Chinese culture.
Work Cited
Liu, Zaifu, and Yunzhong Shu. Reflections On Dream Of The Red Chamber. Youngstown, N.Y.: Cambria Press, 2015. Print.
Pease, Allan, and Barbara Pease. The Definitive Book Of Body Language.New York: Bantam Books, 2016. Print.
