In 'A Hero' a few distinct moods are created by the different places Swami finds himself in. We know from the name Swami that he is from another culture. Swami 'sleeps in the passage' which would again be associated with a less privileged society than our own. It is apparent to the reader that this story is set in Asia with animals like 'tigers' and 'scorpions' described in the story. The story opens with Swami's father reading the newspaper; he tells Swami of a boy who has 'courage' and that courage is very important; so father decides that Swami should prove how courageous he is by sleeping in the office.
The moment Swami hears this, the mood changes to a 'frightful' one. This is because he has always slept next to his grandmother and sleeping alone in the 'dusty' office is a scary prospect. As soon as Swami realises that the matter was 'beyond his control' the mood becomes tense as Swami realises he has no control of his fate. Swami is so worried about the prospect of having to sleep alone that he tries to persuade his father by telling him that he will sleep alone 'next month'; 'Swami pleaded' with his father to let him sleep in the passage.
In contrast the passage has a mood of security and warmth provided by the love of his 'grandmother'. This place is where Swami hides from his father. This mood is disturbed when his father forces him to move and he has to go to the sleep in the office. The setting of the office creates fear. There are many contributing factors which make it a scary place. For swami it is the unknown; he imagines there are 'scorpions' behind the books.
Swami had heard stories of his friends being taken away by the 'devil' which bring intense fear into his mind, though he finds a small amount of comfort in hiding underneath the bench.The 'dusty' office seems to be neglected which makes the place seem cold and frightening especially to a young boy. As Swami is sleeping his dreams and thoughts reflect his apprehension and as he hears something moving the mood becomes one of outright panic! Swami grabs what he fears and attacks it, he faces his fear and ultimately this leads to relief for him. As the story comes to a close Swami is congratulated for stopping the burglar who he attacked, especially at the school where there is a buoyant and festive mood, and ultimately there is relief that he can go and sleep back in the passage 'beside his granny'.
The Red Room by H G Wells starts with a conversation between a young man and a 'man with the withered arm' in the house keeper's room of the deserted castle. The three old people try to scare the young man from going to a red room in the castle. The mood is obviously of fear in the three old people, whereas the young man is disbelieving because he has been alive for twenty eight years and has not seen a 'ghost'. This creates a mood of confidence, which contrasts with the beginning of A Hero in which Swami is very afraid of the proposition of spending a night in the office.The young man leaves the room with the old people in it, and as he walks out, there is a mood of apprehension created by the 'oddness' of the three 'old pensioners' who could almost be ghosts themselves. As the young man comes closer and closer to the red room he becomes more tense; the 'dusty' corridor and the odd shadows on the wall give the impression of this place being uncared for and uninhabited; the young man reacts to the shadows with fear and puts his hand on his 'revolver' to provide a bit safety.
As soon as he realises that the odd happenings are only shadows he feels quite relieved and despite the intimidating surroundings the mood is far calmer as he realises that there is nothing to be scared of. When he enters the red room, the mood is nervous and he checks 'the fastening on the door' and goes around the room discovering what is in the darkness of the room. As he explores his surroundings he becomes more comfortable and is quite sure that there is nothing to fear.After he has lit the room and become partially comfortable in his surroundings the lights start to go out. In a frantic rush to light the candles the mood becomes one of intense fear as he lets out a 'cry of terror'.
As the lights in the room go out quicker than he can 'light them' we come to the most atmospheric part of the story in which he feels the darkness of the room engulfing him and in this darkness the things he most fears can get him. The light acted as his safety net and as that disappears he is plunged into fear and worry about what is out there.As in A Hero the setting exaggerates the fear already present in the minds of the two characters. In 'The Red Room' the young man has a battle with his surroundings to stop the 'shadows' engulfing him.
He fears a physical thing which is happening to him, whereas in A Hero the majority of Swami's fear comes from his mind. The 'Red Room' has a mysterious quality which immediately evokes fear; there are many stories surrounding the room which put a doubt into the young man's mind.When he enters the room he does not believe that the red room is haunted, but as the darkness comes in, the room seems to attack him and he does believe. The mood is created not only by the room but by the darkness. In 'The Red Room' the young man starts to believe in the stories that surround the red room whereas in 'A Hero' Swami finds out that what he fears in the office is not real. The mood of fear that is present in the office is the same fear as that created in the red room, but one sense of fear is created from the boy's mind and the other from the engulfing darkness of the setting.
