The Whole Town's Sleeping Setting Analysis

Ray Bradbury’s, The Whole Town’s sleeping, is about a woman Lavinia Nebbs, who is going to the theatre with her 2 friends, Francine and Helen. On their way, they find a dead body, which was their other friend Eliza Ramsell’s. Assuming it was the anonymous serial killer, nicknamed “The Lonely One”, they call the police. After the theatre trip, the friends head home. However, Lavinia senses someone is following her. Little does she know that someone is in her home? The genre of this book is Thriller/Suspense. The setting of The Whole Town’s sleeping gives an atmosphere of suspense by using short and simple sentences. “A man, under the light! No, now he’s gone! He was waiting there! She listened. Silence. The bridge was empty”. The usage of short sentences gets the point across faster and keeps the reader engaged with the story. It also creates a feeling of realism that the reader is involved in the scene and gives them a feeling that something negative is going to happen. uThe setting also gives an atmosphere of suspense when they are walking down the streets, past the wax dummies shop “Do you suppose if we screamed they’d do anything?” The characters

For example, he uses gothic imagery to describe the surroundings of the ravine. “Black crickets and dark green frogs and the black stream. The colours black and green can be associated with the atmosphere of the place, giving a scary ambience, making it more vulnerable. Bradbury also uses symbolism at the end of the story “She wished she were back in that time now, drinking from it, the night still young and not begun”. Here she is looking back at her life, wishing she could go back in time and redo the day. “The night still young and not begun”. This symbolizes her life and she wishes she stayed at home and did not go to the theatre. Since the story is mostly written in third person, the reader has limited knowledge about what the characters are