The old Nurses story Essay Example for Free

The old Nurses story Essay Not to mention that it had a forbidden area called the east wing, which was never opened. People never dreamt of going there. Then we have the Darkness Out There, this story is based in a very similar way. It is based in a house, which is at the end of a forbidden wood called Packers End. This area was scary. You didnt go there by yourself, not even for a thousand pounds. It was nasty, creepy. People were scared stiff of Packers End. When children were younger they believed that witches, wolves and tigers existed there. That was until they found out about the German plane that had came down after the war, and an aircrew was killed there, people had heard them talking, still chattering in German. At the end of Packers End, there is a cottage, Mrs Rutters cottage. Both stories are narrated to young children by old female characters. The Old Nurses Story, is narrated by a nanny, and is told to the children, which she looks after. She seems to know a lot about the family history. Therefore not only does she share her story with the children to inform them about their family, but also to entertain them. The Darkness Out There, is narrated by a old cottage loaf women, who seemed composed of circles, a creamy smiling pool of a face, and eyes which snap and dart. Already we can judge Mrs Rutters character, we are made to feel that this woman is not as nice as she seems. She seems snidy, and very crafty. We can sense darkness, this is very symbolic. It connects to the title and we soon realise why. As the plot begins to unravel, we begin to see the darkness in Mrs Rutter, the narrator of the story. It is also narrated to young children. Both stories have used children for they are innocent, and easily influenced. This creates sympathy, yet suspense. Scary noises are very important conventions, probably one of the most important, and they are also used in both stories. In The Old Nurses Story, a great organ is heard playing, near the east wing. This was once played there by the late Lord Furnivall. In The Darkness Out There, airmen, witches, and wolves were said to be heard in Packers End. The noises create a tense atmosphere and suspense. We begin to feel scared, worried and wonder what is about to occur. It has a huge impact on the audience. The final similarity that I found interesting was that in both stories, the actions are influenced by death. In The Old Nurses Story, Lord Funivall, and Miss Furnivall both die. They are the ones that are luring their daughter Miss Rosamond to her death. In The Darkness Out There, Mrs Rutters husband is killed in the war. Therefore she refuses to help a German (enemies during the war) survive; instead she leaves him to die. Although both stories have many similarities, they also have many differences. The most obvious difference is that both stories are written in different time zones. The Darkness Out There is a contempary story. It was published post world war two, whereas The Old Nurses story was written in the 19th century, therefore they do have different writing styles. Nevertheless we cannot judge the effectiveness of the stories by knowing when they were written. We need to know the context and its conventions. However we can judge by looking at the main differences how and why a story is effective, and which particular ingredients make it effective. Firstly I looked at the aspect of fear in both stories. In The Old Nurses Story, ghosts are visual and non visual throughout the story. This is a an obvious ghost story, it is very effective, and would have been more effective at the time it was published, for ghosts were believed in and had huge impacts on life. They werent just fantasies as people regard them today. In The Darkness Out There, although there are myths of ghosts and witches, the story isnt based on a ghost. The only real fear is the evil darkness we find in Mrs Rutter. I also noticed that both stories are set in different types of weather. The Darkness Out There is based in summery weather; there is no sign of mysteriousness apart from what had previously happened in Packers End. Although we do have a little bad weather, heavy rain, evil is not symbolised through the weather. The Old Nurses Story, however has bad weather, it contains dark dull, stormy weather. A terrible winter. This is a typical symbol of evil and strange occurrences. Bad weather represents evil and makes everyone miserable. It builds a lot of tension and suspense. The final difference is the difference we learn about the storytellers. Although they are both old and female, what we do not realise are the hidden connotations, for both storytellers have different intentions. Soon we understand that Hester, the narrator in The Old Nurses Story is not telling the children the story with the intention to scare, but is informing them about their family. Mrs Rutter, narrator in The Darkness Out There, is totally different. She is very ill minded, she tells the children the story to scare them so that she can gain entertainment by watching them terrified. In other words, she scares children for pleasure. I think The Old Nurses Story is the most effective story. Although it contains all the typical ingredients, it does scare. The setting, weather symbolism and usage of ghosts combined together make it a very effective ghost story. It creates tension, suspension, and a startled atmosphere. It also leaves the audience intensified. I didnt think The Darkness Out There was a very effective ghost story. To be honest it doesnt even seem like a ghost story. Ghost stories are supposed to contain mysterious events, ghosts, and supernatural occurrences. The Darkness Out There doesnt scare the audience it just leaves them with a moral. That is never to stereotype people. It doesnt scare. I think ghost stories are effective because of the typical ingredients that they contain. A ghost story isnt a story without spooky occurrences. The idea of listening to a ghost story is to be scared. The Old Nurses Story creates this effect, and therefore I think it is the most effective. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Joseph Conrad section.