|
|
|
|
"The Tell-Tale Heart"If you think back to Grade 10 and before, most of Edgar Allan Poe's writing is about the strange, macabre, and morbid; in fact, his themes and style make him seem more European than American. For example, in "The Cask of Amontillado" you have a normal person killing another as revenge for teasing, in "The Raven", you have a demonic bird that haunts some poor guy, and in "Annabel Lee" there is someone sleeping on his lover's grave. Strange, but true. In this story we are presented with a psycho (psychopathic killer) or dangerous madman. He LOVES the old man and the old man has done nothing to harm him, but he hates his eye and thinks it is an Evil Eye. He hears his beating heart in the room just before he kills him and AFTER he is dea.! He confesses his murder WITHOUT being challenged or having it proven for him, but this could also be his conscience working on him. He is dangerous because he decides to kill the old man, plans the murder in detail and proceeds carefully. More worryingly, he acts kindly to the old man before he kills him to prevent him from suspecting anything, so we also begin to suspect people who treat us well. The narrator (or story-teller) builds suspense by 1. Coming up with a creative way of doing something (we know he will kill the old man, but don't know he will simply frighten the old man to death) 2. Making us wait before he tells the next step of the story (stops to tell us something about time before telling us what happens on the eighth night 3. Foreshadowing events (giving us small clues about what will happen) when he enters seven nights in a row, 4. Creating an atmosphere of horror (a madman in a dark room at night wanting to kill a scared old man).
|
|
Questions or problems regarding this web site should be directed to
disenglish@hotmail.com.
|