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August Heat Literary Analysis

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Literary Analysis Suspense. It's what makes us sit on the edge of our seats at movies, or has us biting our nails as we read. It’s the backbone behind any classic horror film where the babysitter keeps getting unknown phone calls about checking the children and she asks the police to trace the call only to get a call back saying it's coming from upstairs. Suspense is used in literature to give off a feeling of uncertainty. In W.F. Harvey’s story “August Heat”, he writes about our protagonist James and how he meets a bizarre character named Mr.Atkinson who he feels is an unnatural person and feels uneasy with him. Later when he is invited to stay the night, Harvey finished the story off with James saying he will “be gone in less than an …show more content…

Harvey foreshadows that Mr.Atkinson isn't an honest man because when James realizes he’s the same man from the dock, he feels uneasy. The word ¨dock¨ has a different meaning in this story because dock means where people are released from county jails. Later on in the story he speaks to Mr.Atkinson if is arrest was just a misunderstanding because when James was drawing him he had a sad expression on his face. When James sees that the name is his own name on the gravestone carved by Mr.Atkinson he has shudders down his spine. This makes the reader wonder if Mr. Atkinson will hurt our protagonist or if he's on trial for murder. Also since the title of the story is called ¨August Heat¨ and the date of death on the gravestone is August 20th, one can only assume that James could possible be murdered. At the end of the story it says ẗhat James will leave in an hour and we're left wondering what he means by that. Will he be killed or will he say goodbye then leave Mr.Atkinson´s house unharmed? This makes the reader wonder the fate our protagonist as well as keep them on the edge of their seats until the very end. By withholding information on our possible antagonist, it makes the reader feel like Mr. Atkinson isn't a reliable character. As James questions him as to why he was seen at the dock with a defeated look on his face, Mr. Atkinson responds with a very vague answer. This raises suspicion on Mr. Atkinson since he was seen at the dock by James looking disheartened, it wouldn't

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