Every single day in life people fight. They fight against family, they fight against nature, and finally, they fight against themselves. Referring to the general psychology, the conscious mind - it is person’s well-known personality, which makes him or her aware about every action he or she does. On contrary, the unconscious mind is where person’s emotions like aggression, desires and memories are kept deep inside so he or she is not aware of. Most of the time people want to do something that is not right by the norms of society. So a lot of them restrain themselves from doing it. However, in different cases, a person who is doing whatever he want, deep inside feel guilt which he tries to hide even from himself. In the short story “William Wilson” by Edgar Allan Po, the main character was living a life of a bad person, who thinks only of himself. In his unconscious mind, he creates his alter-ego, which trying to make things right and be the best man. His alter-ego is a representation of his desires and thoughts deep inside. Considering movie Fight Club, directed by David Fincher, there goes the same idea of a man and his alter-ego, who represents his own true idea of right and wrong. Both stories have a lot of differences and similarities which are presented throughout the whole plot.
William Wilson is a guy with very high self-esteem, who was given carte blanche or in other words who always felt free to do whatever he wants without real consequences. His only weakness was hearing his name. He hated it for being such simple and common. “…upon the day of my arrival, a second William Wilson came also to the academy, I felt angry with him for bearing the name, and doubly disgusted with the name because a stranger b...
... middle of paper ...
...hat is how two the relationship of two different people with their alter-ego ends.
We not always go by our wants and desires. Sometimes, because we feel they are too dangerous for society and sometimes we feel they are too dangerous for ourselves. For William Wilson, his alter-ego was the best part of him, the part that he tried to hide. As for Tyler, his alter-ego was his threatening desires to society, a fight against system which he would never have without his alter-ego. Both movie and the story are similar in the way of person having alter-ego, but different in plot and in the ending of it.
Works Cited
Poe, Edgar A. "William Wilson." Lives Through Literature A Thematic Anthology. 3rd ed.
New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1995. 711-23. Print.
The Flight. Dir. David Fincher. Perf. Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Carter. 1999. Film.
In “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of the Amontillado’ Montresor and the unknown narrator are both murders through their confessions they reveal both their similarities and differences. The unknown narrator is trying to convince the auditor of his sanity while Montresor is attempting to convince the auditor of justifiable revenge. It is through these confessions they are trying to convince the auditor of their humanity and of their innocence through the justification of these horrible acts (Dern 53).
...er into a life less constrained by professionalism and decorum. However, in both instances, a balance is needed between the two personas. In Fight Club, the struggle is resolved when Jack beats Tyler at his own game by learning to not fear death and to live life to the fullest; however, there is no such ending in "The Other" and the struggle is left for us to resolve.
Edgar Allan Poe had a significant influence todays writers, he was a writer ahead of his times. Poe was one of the most celebrated American short story writers. He was also known as a famous poet, a critic, and an editor.
The works of Edgar Allan Poe are well known to be a rather dark style of writing. Many of the man’s stories and poems tend to revolve around the thought of death. His inspiration for his dark works could have come from the type of life Edgar Allan Poe lived. The author Edgar Allan Poe has a very dark writing style as shown in his works such as “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”.
Death, despair, and revenge, these three words form a treacherous triangle to any reader who dare enter the mind of Edgar Allen Poe. In many of his works these expressions seem to form a reoccurring theme. Comparing the works "The Mask of the Red Death" and "The Cask of Amontillado", we will discuss these themes while analyzing the method behind Poe’s madness.
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe, Jr. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was only two, so Poe was taken into the home of John Allan, a successful tobacco merchant in Richmond, Virginia. Although his middle name is often misspelled as "Allen," it is actually "Allan" after this family. After attending the Misses Duborg boarding school in London and Manor School in Stoke Newington, London, England, Poe moved back to Richmond, Virginia, with the Allans in 1820. Poe registered at the University of Virginia in 1826, but only stayed there for one year. He was estranged from his foster father at some point in this period over gambling debts Poe had acquired while trying to get more spending money, and so Poe enlisted in the United States Army as a private using the name Edgar A. Perry on May 26, 1827. That same year, he released his first book, Tamarlane and Other Poems. After serving for two years and attaining the rank of Sergeant-major, Poe was discharged. In 1829, Poe's foster mother Frances Allan died and he published his second book, Al Aaraf. As per his foster mother's deathwish, Poe reconciled with his foster father, who coordinated an appointment for him to the United States Military Academy at West Point. His time at West Point was ill-fated, however, as Poe supposedly deliberately disobeyed orders and was dismissed. After that, his foster father repudiated him until his death in March 27, 1834.
Known for his mystery, macabre and detective fiction genre, Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most remembered poets of all time. Usually when people think of him, mind images of premature burials, murders, madmen, and mysterious women who are taken back from pure death like some zombie-like creatures comes to mind. In 1809, Edgar was born the second son out of three, two of which became actors. After the death of his mother and father at the age of three, John and Francis Allan raised him in Virginia. Edgar was sent to the best boarding schools and later on attended the University of Virginia where he was successfully academic. He was forced to leave due to refusement to pay his gambling debts. In 1827, he moved back to Boston and enlisted in the United States Army where his first poems titled Tamerlane, and Other Poems were published.
Edgar Allan Poe was an excellent horror, suspense, and mystery writer of the eighteenth century. His use of literary devices and different literary techniques makes this writer important to American literature. This paper will show how Edgar Allan Poe has made an impact on Society and American literature as well as how Edgar Allan Poe developed the short story. I will also discuss and analyze some of his works and techniques he uses in his short stories and poems.
The chronicler reveals his insanity by admitting he stalks his martyr every night, “And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it --oh so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head.” His obsession indicates he has a mental illness that goes beyond physical wellness. The character seems to struggle with his own passing thoughts and his difficulty in deciphering reality and paranoia of his tale of the past. Storyteller denies his madness, “Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded --with what caution --with what
Throughout the life of Edgar Allan Poe, he suffered many unfortunate events and endured several difficult situations. Some speculate that it was these experiences that helped to formulate the famous writing style of Edgar Allan Poe. His dark tales such as "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" are horrific, and his poems such as "Alone" and "The Raven" show evidence that his life experiences influenced their dreariness. Poe's story plots and his own life are undeniably related and this relationship is intricately defined in many of his works.
The life of Edgar Allan Poe, was stuffed with tragedies that all affected his art. From the very start of his writing career, he adored writing poems for the ladies in his life. When he reached adulthood and came to the realization of how harsh life could be, his writing grew to be darker and more disturbing, possibly as a result of his intense experimenting with opium and alcohol. His stories continue to be some of the most frightening stories ever composed, because of this, some have considered this to be the reason behind these themes. Many historians and literature enthusiasts have presumed his volatile love life as the source while others have credited it to his substance abuse. The influence of his one-of-a-kind writing is more than likely a combination of both theories; but the main factor is the death of many of his loved ones and the abuse which he endured. This, not surprisingly, darkened his perspective considerably.
Human nature is a conglomerate perception which is the dominant liable expressed in the short story of “A Tell-Tale Heart”. Directly related, Edgar Allan Poe displays the ramifications of guilt and how it can consume oneself, as well as disclosing the nature of human defense mechanisms, all the while continuing on with displaying the labyrinth of passion and fears of humans which make a blind appearance throughout the story. A guilty conscience of one’s self is a pertinent facet of human nature that Edgar Allan Poe continually stresses throughout the story. The emotion that causes a person to choose right from wrong, good over bad is guilt, which consequently is one of the most ethically moral and methodically powerful emotion known to human nature. Throughout the story, Edgar Allan Poe displays the narrator to be rather complacent and pompous, however, the narrator establishes what one could define as apprehension and remorse after committing murder of an innocent man. It is to believe that the narrator will never confess but as his heightened senses blur the lines between real and ...
Lauter, Paul. The Heath Anthology of American Literature Fifth Edition Volume B Early Nineteenth Century: 1800-1865 2006
The similarities and differences between Poe and Hawthorne both show a dynamic and intriguing method that has lasted through the times. They both show an inner personal look through their writing about their loved ones. The dynamic writing between both writers depict the idea that no matter how morbid the writing love can shine through any view. With both writers there is a vision of morbid curiosity along with a romantic nature for the audience; by depicting death of a loved one to show a sense of connection with the audience. Although both are gothic romantic writers you can easily see that both have a different sense of life and death, and to which one holds more value.
A famous poet once said, " I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty." That famous poet was known as Edgar Allan Poe and he is seen as one of the most significant writers from the romanticism era. If you think about it, Poe was right. Poetry is a creation of beauty that one reads with the heart instead of their eyes. It allows you to express yourself and inspire others. poetry is everywhere, It’s the lyrics on the radio and the plot to your favorite movie. If you have never written a poem before, then you have not lived the life from a true literary perspective. Perhaps you just don 't understand the values of writing or maybe you aren 't able to express your thoughts into words, so I 'm going to show you how you can overcome these obstacles.