The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe - Research Paper Example

?Edgar Allan Poe: Modern Day Edgar Allan Poe is one great in the world of literature. He has done various forms of writings whether in short stories, poems, and rational write ups that somehow influenced the history of literature around the world. In fact, he is recognized as a major progenitor of the many modern literary art works having inimitable, complex, self conscious forms that dominantly influenced the twentieth century manner of writing. To consider Poe as a writer and have his works analyzed is like discovering indubitable treasures that in all aspects deserves merit. Poe, in many of his short stories, magnificently combines embellished vocabulary and strong thematic plots which creates a force compelling his readers to devote their attention into his works and gauge them in deep contemplation of the abysmal meanings and concepts embedded in the story. Some of his works are rich with repetition for a subtle emphasis of his point. His written works are cooked with phantasmagoric imagery, elusive foreshadowing, double-edged symbolism and skewed contextual implications (Long). There is thematic parallelism is his works such as the “Cask of Amontillado”, “The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. The common leitmotif of these stories evolve in the idea of murder, revenge, issues of sanity, and the dark spirit of perverseness and evil that enveloped the characters of his plot. The repetition of words that are subtly reminding the readers that the story is headed somewhere and the foreshadowing of events is consistently engraved in the events of the characters. Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado is a good exemplary for horrific suspense thriller scenes considered as one of the best short stories throughout history. The story is contextually rich with ironies nevertheless contributing to the plot’s consistency and complete unity of the elements. Every line and spoken dialogues of the characters, Montessori and Fortunato, contributes to the totality of the effect that Poe tries to convey to his readers. Some of the most noted ironies start with the name Fortunato meaning “fortunate”. The atmospheric ambiance of the calculated atrocious act of revenge of Montessori to entomb his enemy Fortunato to be executed in the height of gaiety is also an irony. There is no specification of the deed that Fortunato has done towards Montessori aside from the subtle allegations about insults hurled upon him which, being rich and famous, may have scarred his pride deeply. Thus the incorrigible punishment such as death should suffice (“Cask”). The lofty ironic scenes of the story makes the readers acclimate with intellect so as to comprehend their deeper meanings. Other paradox includes, Montressor’s words to Fortunato “you are luckily met”, the coat of arms and the Montressor’s remarks about the mason, the jingling of the bells to announce a death, their constant toast of wine as if in celebration in contrast with a coming death, the atmosphere gradient from the carnival feast from that of the path towards Hades, and the remarks of the characters “let us be gone” to signify death. The elemental ingredients of the short story exemplify perfect unity of Poe’s thoughts and real intentions. He directed to uncover the events through foreshadowing and double-sided meanings in their dialogues. Meanwhile, the total effect of the short story creates an eerie feeling to whoever perceives. The horrific appeal is so strong that anyone can get captivated with the play of words between the characters. Poe has indeed endowed such compelling murderous act quite so invincibly. His plot for murder is quite flawless, incriminating the enemy with raw avenging without a single pint of trace. Montressor has indeed lived a life with impunity not until five decades. Another Poe’s work, The Tell-Tale Heart, is yet another magnificent work. It is a profound psychological archetypal for paranoia and sanity. In fact, the story began with the narrator defending himself from the accusation that he is insane. He denies his madness and accepts the guilt of murder that he has successfully implemented. Poe’s portrayal of the narrator’s intensity to have the eye of the old man eradicated lays the only motive for the murder scene that once again Poe had cleaned up. The convict could have experienced impunity if he didn’t reveal himself to the police. His over-sensitivity towards sound, senses and other thoughts that bind him with terror with the man’s eye had him done the atrocious act. His hatred towards the “eye of a vulture” of the old man creates in him a psychotic obsession seeing the eye as a separate entity from the old man that he professed to love. Also this overly reactions had him conceal his deed. He reacted so much to the beating of his heart thinking it as from the old man that he had hidden under the floor planks. He wasn’t able to cope with the emotional challenge of keeping a corpse in the house during the search of the police. He had himself convicted as he admits the crime and pointed out the dead body (“Tell”). Poe had written the lines of his story as if he has felt what the narrator felt. He devised the plot quite excitingly that made his readers feel the rush of adrenaline as the man of the story do the act of killing the old man softly. During the many hours of observing the old man before having to slaughter him gives an eerie impact to those who picture out the scenes. His imagery through words deserves every right for merit. Another suspense story of Poe is The Black Cat. This is another murder story where the character has flawlessly executed a crime and hidden the dead body so seamlessly. The character however, admits his mind to have deteriorated which is in contrast with that character from The Tell-Tale Heart. He is aware of his character that changes due to his blood overcome by alcohol. He even knew that a spirit of perverseness had possessed him that made him kill the first black cat that he used to love. Thus, there is no motive of the killing as compared with that from The Cask of Amontillado. However, he still committed manslaughter as he accidentally axed his wife and intentionally hide the body behind the walls. There is also the presence of irony as the presence of the second cat can be represented as the previous cat reincarnated to plot revenge towards the man. There is a psychological struggle in the character’s mind that he professed since the start of the story (“Black”). The three stories of Poe stated above have similarities. All of them commit the crime of murder so perfectly executed in the absence of even a light trace of evidence. Poe is good at hiding these crimes as he sewed his setting, time, and character into perfect stitch. He is good at hiding evidences and cleaning up the mess. There is impunity with his characters with regards to physical evidence is concerned. In all of Poe’s tales, there is no background iota of the characters. Some causes and motives are even shadowed. But the effects of such hurts and pains are explicitly and intricately discussed. Almost all of Poe’s characters have some psychological thing going on in them. Intoxication with alcohol is mainly the reasons for it. All of his characters are quite addicted to drinking. This can be a revelation of himself, where he is a drunkard himself. He even died of mysterious reason, where speculations of his death were due to his extreme drinking habits. Nevertheless, in Poe’s style of writing, he is an epitome of a non-stereotype storyteller. He is focused with the effectiveness of his plots powered with his sophisticated context, brilliant language command, perfectly cooked up imagery, and unity of the overall elements that a short story can have. He is not concerned with the moral and other conventional ideologies that writers at this age do. He is indeed one of the forerunners of the “art for art’s sake” propaganda that influenced the modern way of art and literature (Edgar). Poe’s powerful terminology challenges his readers to contemplate further to what is seen on the lines. He calls for intellectual comprehension in interpreting beyond the superficial level (Long). This is why his stories are greatly used as studies in many academic purposes. He deliberately weaves his chosen context to have the readers contemplate deeper and even take one word at a time. Such is the talent of a virtuoso in creating syntax of words colored with various hues. They are delicately placed one by one by a master’s hands in which in totality, art is in every way an art. His words are not just for the sake of complication, but, his powerful language creates an impact to the entirety of the plot. Poe’s imagery in his writings also plays a vital role. As he describes his characters, he reveals the internal happenings within his character’s mind and heart so powerfully. Maybe this is due to the first person narrator telling a story style that he is using. In this way, he can portray and describe in full length what is not seen. He can intricately play with the reader’s minds as he asserts the little things that happen inside the heart and mind of his characters such as the beating of the heart, the adrenaline rushing, the feeling of nausea, irritability and others. All the three stories are rich with this. Montessori in The Cask of Amontillado felt the adrenaline rushing in him as he is slowly showing his enemy his deathbed. The atmosphere filled with nitre, the darkness of the pathway to the underground of the Palazzo, and all the thoughts going on in his mind are best rendered by the first person-narrator style. Also, the man from the Tell Tale Heart describes his emotions and thoughts about his irritation with the eye like vulture to the old man he loves is spoken directly. Poe had perfectly revealed the man’s struggle with the eyes, as well as he had described quite impeccably the man’s emotions as he stood in the dark abyss during the many nights as he watch the old man sleep. The thrill heightened at the night of the murder scene where he relates the man’s overly sensitive senses describing the heart of the man pounding so loud that the neighbors can hear them. Actually, he is hearing his own heartbeat rushing with intensity as he slowly do the deed of killing. The emotions in The Black Cat are also easily portrayed by first person narrator. Poe had implicitly stated the man’s thoughts as he experienced irritation towards the giant black cat and his being possessed by some sort of dark spirit of perverseness which coerced him into the act of killing. He best describes the act as he slayed the cat. He also captioned the death of his wife with the emotions he felt during the act and after the body was hidden (Cliffnotes). The psychological intensity that is common with Poe’s characters is indeed best described through a first person narrator to reveal the true psyche of the characters (Cliffnotes). There is revelation of psychological realism that is not common to other stories at his time. The experiences foretold are first hand and the emotions are clear and concise. This produces an impact to readers to feel what the characters feel like the rushing of the adrenaline and the eerie feeling of having killed a person. There is a fearless expression in Poe’s stories to reveal even the most morbid details. He may have taken his stories and tales of action during the war years when he was still in the army (Poestories.com). Also, the political, social and cultural conditions at this time were in turmoil due to some radical minds that sought for acceptance in a world where standards are strictly imposed. He crafted arts without hesitation to show to the public the real things that happen in the psychological realms of the human mind. He even chose to explore the minds of a criminal, a murderer and someone who is not gullible for sins. In his time, these topics were a taboo, and restricted religiously as this is instigated as negative influence to the readers. He is not afraid of the critics that may impose distaste upon his works. In fact, a lot of people did not accept his stories as in accordance with the rightful art as the literature and art at that time are caged with certain criteria and standards. However, this did not stop Poe from creating the masterpieces that are considered now as literary treasures of all time. Due to his boldness in his imagery and tales, he was able to influence other minds to slowly unfold another era for style of writing- the modern way. His stories became a model to many stories that are surfacing one by one in the twentieth century. Art for art sake has been, in all its context became a reality because of him. Poe is a legend. That can not be contested. He has made a very big impact to modern day artists and modern writers. His writings are in all aspects, art in its perfect and unique form. Works Cited Web Edgar Allan Poe. Poetry Foundation. Chicago, IL. 2012.. 3 Dec 2012. Retrieved at [http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/edgar-allan-poe] Long, Jennifer. Edgar Allan Poe’s Style of Writing. 2010. Web. 3 Dec 2012. Retrieved at [http://suite101.com/article/edgar-allen-poes-style-of-writing-a236686] Poe’s Short Stories. Sparknotes, LLC. 2012. Web 3 Dec 2012. Retreived at http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section6.rhtml Poestories.com. An Exploration of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Design 215 Inc. 2005- 2012. Web. 4 Dec 2012. “The Tell Tale Heart” Summary and Analysis. Poe’s Short Stories. Cliffnotes.com. Web. 3 Dec 2012. Retrieved at http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/poe-short-stories/summary-analysis/ “The Black Cat” Summary and Analysis. Poe’s Short Stories. Cliffnotes.com. Web. 3 Dec 2012. Retrieved at http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/poe-short-stories/summary-analysis/ “The Cask of Amontillado” Summary and Analysis. Poe’s Short Stories. Cliffnotes.com. Web. 3 Dec 2012. Retrieved at http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/poe-short-stories/summary-analysis/ Read More