I had heard about the
Red Herring many times. And for once a Literary Device/Technique did not
confuse me. After I read about it, I easily understood the Red Herring and its meaning and significance.
As we all know, a Red Herring is an
idiomatic term/expression that refers to the technique in fiction, of diverting
attention away from an item of significance. It’s also called a smoke screen or
a wild goose chase.
My personal belief is
that the technique of a Red Herring is
more effective in mystery fiction, where to take away attention from the
real criminal, an innocent person may be deliberately cast
in a guilty light by the author, through the cunning use of false emphasis, deceptive clues that completely mislead a reader, and also through the usage of loaded words, or
over emphasis of certain objects or people. Its like laying a false trail of
bread crumbs.
This is done to
misguide the reader, so that the real culprit enjoys freedom from
suspicion. And ultimately when the real culprit is caught, the reader is taken
completely unaware and is shocked beyond expectation. It’s said that some
writers even create a false protagonist to misguide readers.
For me Snape in the Potter series was a great
example of a Red Herring. I always
thought Snape was on Voldemort’s side, but the last book revealed that Snape
was Dumbledore’s man and was secretly on Harry’s side.
As for me, though I
have adopted the Red Herring as a tool in my story, I am not sure how
successful I have been or how effective it is. Have any of you used the Red
Herring in your stories? Does any
example of a Red Herring come to mind?
