Both H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein are novels that introduce danger in the form of an "enemy" - the details of which enemy are largely parts unknown to the reader. Wells and Shelley, despite dealing with enemies in different forms (one a single monster, another a squadron, one man-made, and the other beyond human comprehension), both present the threat of this enemy in terms of tension and suspense. While reading about this “enemy,” the reader is made anxious by the use of ominous hindsight in the narrative and the gradual revelation of the monster at hand. Both monsters are introduced slowly and in a seemingly non-threatening manner, but these details, combined with the disturbing foreshadowing in the narrative, develop the idea that there is a threat at hand. The reader is offered little or gradual information about the enemy, and as a result, both writers create tension around the unknown, making the reader feel the threat of danger viscerally, as if the reality of each narrative were their own. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Both authors use ominous omens to indicate to the reader that there is a constant threat, but a threat that the reader still knows little about. The use of retrospective is an integral part of the narratives, in making the reader aware that worse will come of every event they are introduced to. For Shelley, the use of prolepsis is integral to communicating the constant threat that the monster poses in his story. When we first meet Victor, he is described as “terribly emaciated with fatigue and suffering” – it appears that he is not only physically distraught but has also endured extreme emotional strain. Readers subsequently wonder what the reason for this "fatigue" might be, as Victor begins to warn Walton that his destruction is the result of a scientific effort. He comments on how Walton seeks "knowledge and wisdom" as he "once did" and proceeds to ask the captain to listen to his story in hopes that he will learn from his mistakes. The use of the adverb “once” not only informs us of his previous (i.e. no longer) quest for knowledge, but implies a kind of remorse. This suggests that Victor “once” sought wisdom and strove to become a great scientist, but his experience with such scientific development has led him to consider it a thing of his past. Shelley's use of prolepsis here links his previous scientific activity to his current state of decay. Another example is when he returned to his home shortly after the "birth" of the creature, expressing that he "did not conceive [at that time]" what "anguish" he was "destined to endure" following the monster's creation. . For readers of Frankenstein, Victor's employment of galvanism and current scientific theories would be relatable to them and spark curiosity about where science could advance us as a society. Yet hearing him talk definitively about his search for “knowledge and wisdom” (he sought them “once”) casts a negative light on what scientific endeavor might actually cause. We are constantly reminded, through this use of prolepsis, that his contribution to science did not lead to success and greatness, but to him becoming this “man on the brink of destruction.” Victor himself is, therefore, evidence of the threat of danger in his life, in his story: the constant threat of the monster and the death it brings. In the War of the Worlds, retrospective is contrasted with ithe narrator's feelings during the early stages of the invasion. Evidence of the narrator's confidence during these phases is seen when he reassures his wife that "the Martians were tied to the pit by sheer heaviness, and at most could only crawl out of it." The adjectives present highlight how empathetically confident the narrator was with this false knowledge – that the enemy was held back by “sheer heaviness” and could only move “a little.” Even the phrase “at most” is a sort of overly reassuring colloquialism, demonstrating the level of confidence the narrator had in feeling safe. The retrospective turns his confidence into foreboding. When he heard of the army's advance against the Martians, he stated that "it just didn't seem like a fair fight to me at the time." By adding "at that time" to the end of this expression there is an immediate juxtaposition of his opinion after the events, with his complacent confidence then (representative of most Victorians during the peak of the British Empire) and his sympathy towards the Martians. Ironically, in the end the fight is not “fair” at all – by subtly adding “at that time” to his comment, the narrator hints at the threat of destruction looming in the future. Not only that, but the reader is curious and eager to know why the situation might be less than a “fair fight.” Especially since this was published at a time when people were easily unnerved by the potential realities presented by the literature (consider how people reacted when The Battle of Dorking was published and the need for the government to reassure the public) , Wells's elusive review of the invasion from the future would no doubt have left his readers uneasy. As a result, both narratives create tension through subtle moments of sinister retrospection that indicate a constant sense of threat to the future, from which both narrators reflect on events. The use of contemporary fears or curiosity in scientific development or the possibility of invasion are intertwined in both novels and increase the sense of threat already created by prolepsy and foreshadowing. Similarly, both Shelley and Wells highlight the revelation of each “enemy.” in such a gradual way that it creates suspense – such suspense that it leaves the reader feeling threatened but with little information about what the threat actually is. This gradual introduction of the enemy is most poignant in The War of the Worlds, as the Martians are slowly and painfully revealed to the narrator. Not only do the cylinders arrive one after the other over the course of several weeks, but the first description of a Martian is drawn and embroidered with visceral adverbs. He describes it as “A large greyish, rounded mass, the size, perhaps, of a bear” which was “rising slowly and painfully”. Not only do the adverbs “slowly” and “painfully” emphasize the Martian's movement in a way that generates suspense, but the narrator also demonstrates uncertainty in attempting to describe him – “the size, perhaps, of a bear.” The word "maybe" indicates a hypothesis: he can only guess at the size of this Martian, due to the "slowness" with which it is revealed. There is little information gathered about the Martian, leaving the reader curious to understand the details of what is observed. Next the narrator describes how the Martian regarded him “firmly” and “heaved and throbbed convulsively.” Again, these adverbs sound painful and suggest that the Martian is struggling. For this reason, when he met them for the first time, the narrator thought that it was "hardly" a "fair fight", a hypothesis that in.