Terrified at Serenity; Fear of the Unkown The strongest emotion is fear, and the strongest type of fear is the terror of the unknown. Gothic fiction is characterized by striking surroundings, an atmosphere of mystery and terror, a hint of violence, and the supernatural enhancing the reader's experience. The authors Daphne du Maurier, in Rebecca, and Alice Sebold, in The Lovely Bones, use certain motifs differently such as setting, high emotions, and supernatural activities to portray and target the fear of the unknown in order to get their audiences most involved within the story. The setting has a considerable contribution to the mood in gothic literature, thus enhancing the fear element. In Rebecca, the story, as a flashback, takes place …show more content…
In Rebecca, the narrator experiences the fear that something horrific might occur to her as she lives in an insulated mansion. She explains about her fear of what is unknown, "… for I had the odd, uneasy feeling that I might come upon … something that might harm me, that might be horrible." (Maurier, 115) The uneasiness and discomfort that Mrs. De Winter experiences create the idea that something may happen to her within the acres of her new home that could be deadly. In comparison, in The Lovely Bones, Buckley is Susie's little brother, the youngest Salmon child. Susie had a warm and close relationship with Buckley. He is about four when Susie is killed yet he believes in Susie's ghostly ability to communicate with the living, and he sees her several times. She wonders, “Had my brother really seen me somehow, or was he merely a little boy telling beautiful lies?” (Sebold, 95) The fear Susie experiences rouses her desperate and tenacious need to have her family know she is watching over them is increases as she figures out she is able to communicate with her family . Sebold and Mauier use the factor of high emotions effectively. However, Maurier describes the fear of the unidentified well since she uses relatable fears and targets accurate