Use Of Mood In Contents Of A Dead Man's Pocket, By Richard Connell

In the physical reality, mood is used to distinguish how someone feels. However in the literary world, authors tend to manipulate mood in order to draw a reader in. Within Jack Finney 's "Contents of a Dead Man 's Pocket," Finney manipulates the reader’s mood in order to capture their attention. Similarly, Richard Connell alters the readers mood by creating suspense within his story "The Most Dangerous Game," drawing the audience into the story. However, while Finney creates anxiety among the readers through description, Connell creates tension through the characters speech, thought, and describing the actions of others. Although Connell uses more elements to create angst, Finney 's method of creating suspense draws the reader in more effectively. Jack Finney masterfully manipulates the reader’s mood, creating tension in his audience and capturing their attention. Finney effectively describes the main characters dire situation, expertly fashioning the mood of the story. Within the story, Tom Benecke, the main character, sits on the verge of a promotion, and everything relies on a piece of paper that flies

By describing the actions of Rainsford, Connell creates tension within his audience. For example, Rainsford decides to create a trap for General Zaroff, the antagonist. To create the trap Rainsford begins to dig frantically. Finney writes that Rainsford "... had dug himself in in France when a second 's delay meant death. That had been a placid pastime compared to his digging now" (13). This suggests that Rainsford had taken part in digging the trenches in a World War, and by comparing the two events, the readers can tell that Rainsford sat in a terrible situation, much worse than a World War. Reader’s understand Rainsford’s race against time in order to survive. Connell’s intelligent way of altering the readers mood exploits the readers curiosity, making the person continue to