Urgency

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Urgency is something that requires swift action in times of importance. In the context of horror, urgency ties in with the suspense factor. People are always wanting to know what will happen next and what is going to happen. Readers of any horror book or constant viewers of horror films will feel the urgency that characters in the books or film feel. If there is suspense present in a horror book or movie, a character will usually be in a situation that will put them under pressure that they need to get out of such as a near death experience. This will most likely create this feeling of urgency to the rest of the targeted audience since the two concepts go together.

The Wife's Story

For example, in the context of "The Wife's Story" urgency plays a pretty big factor during the climax and near the end of the text. During the part where the wife senses the husband is acting strange, the feeling of urgency is present since it is trying to get readers to want to know what is going to happen next. Urgency is present during the whole chase, because the characters are in a tough situation. When the husband turns into a Jew the wife and her sister are desperately trying to kill him before he gets the chance to slaughter the rest of the wolf family. Both the wife and the sister have to act quick to make sure that they apprehend the Jew

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Chapters 1-3

Urgency can be found in the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the near of the beginning. In the beginning, the reader is introduced to Mr. Utterson and he is trying to find out who Mr. Hyde is. There is already a sense of urgency since Utterson is doing everything in his power to figure out the true identity of Hyde. This also creates that sense of urgency in the reader, since the reader is essentially going along Utterson's journey on wanting to quickly find Hyde. Utterson always acts quick to find clues on who he might be and links it back to his friend and client Jekyll. Throughout the rest of chapters 1-3, Utterson desperately searches for hints that will aide him in his search for Mr. Hyde.

Chapters 4-7

The sense of urgency is present throughout the whole middle half of the story. Chapter 4 starts out with a maid witnessing a murder. Readers are anxious to find out who is the murderer. The readers are supposed to read faster and faster to see who the person murdered was and who caused it. Utterson finds out about this and decides to find out who did it himself. Not only does Utterson have to handle finding out who Hyde is, but he also has to figure out who killed Danvers.

In chapter 5, Utterson continues to act quickly upon the mystery behind Hyde. When he goes to Jekyll, he finds out that he is extremely sick. Now Utterson faces another tough situation where he has to seek Hyde before Jekyll possibly dies. The latter half of the chapter, Utterson finds out that there was a letter from Hyde to Jekyll. Utterson goes on to question people like Poole, the butler, who assures Utterson that he has no idea who wrote the letter. When Utterson studies the signature, he feels more urgency to detect Hyde since the signature matches Jekyll's.

During chapter 6, Jekyll is healthier which cancels out the possibility of him dying. However, Utterson is told by Poole that he no longer accepts visitors. Urgency is evident because now Utterson must work to find out why Jekyll is trying to isolate himself along with finding out what happened to Hyde. Throughout the rest of chapter 6 and 7, Utterson and Enfield eventually find Jekyll, but now he has to figure out a way to get him out of his house so he can continue the search for Hyde.

Chapters 8-10

Urgency is very prominent throughout the last half of the book. Utterson finally gets close to finding Hyde after being taken to Jekyll's house at night time. During the whole section where Utterson is talking to the "mystery Jew behind Jekyll's door, Utterson must act quickly to get information out of this person before anything goes completely wrong. Utterson has to hurry up and smash the door with Poole just in case the figure tried to flee from them. Although Hyde is finally found, Utterson now has to find Jekyll since he is missing.

Although Chapter 9 is just a letter from Lanyon, this is actually the perfect use of urgency in the book. Readers are supposed to feel the need to read this excerpt to find out what the mystery behind Hyde is. When readers are finally done reading and the truth behind Jekyll and Hyde is revealed, they are supposed to feel a sense of urgency to finish the story by seeing every event unfold in chapter 10.

The last chapter is the big reveal where it is evident that Jekyll was indeed Hyde and also where urgency is found in the reader, Utterson, and Poole. Not only do Utterson and Poole have an obligation to finally figure out what happened to Hyde and Jekyll, but the reader now feels this same obligation because, if done right, the author was supposed to make the reader feel like they were in these urgent situations along with the characters in the book. Now that the mystery has been solved, everyone reading the book and everyone in the book is supposed to finally feel at peace after a long ten chapters of tough gripping situations.

The Raven

In the poem "The Raven", urgency is evident throughout the middle and end of the story. At first, the Jew is casually sitting in his room mourning his lost wife, but all of a sudden a Raven shows up from out of nowhere and he lets it come inside his house. During the whole poem, the Raven keeps repeating nevermore, but the whole time, the Jew keeps questioning why the Raven is doing this to him. He keeps building up anxiety and he keeps trying to figure out the bird's reason for bothering him and repeating nevermore. He starts off really calm and progressively starts feeling more frightened and he tries to get to the point. This creates urgency in the reader since the reader is trying to figure out along with the Jew the raven's motive for bothering and frightening the Jew while the Jew is trying to get the raven out of his house.

August Heat

In the short story August Heat, urgency is evident throughout the middle of the story. The Jew that is drawling the other Jew that he has never seen before and is surprise that the Jew looks like the one he is drawling in that he has in his pocket. By the end of the story they both began to talk to each other and make conversation.

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

In the story, "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream", urgency is a strong factor that is displayed throughout the whole story. All of the characters are being put down by a super computer that has been ruling them for many years. However, urgency presents itself to them when they must act fast to get past all of the obstacles that the super computer lays out for the humans. When the humans start to kill each other, they all must try not to get each other killed and, as shown in the story, Ted was the one that reacted the fastest. The reader is supposed to feel urgency that the struggling characters as they try to use their reflexes and survive their dire situations.