Comparative Analysis of Poe's Unstable Narrators

The short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, published in January of 1843 and the story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, published in November of 1846 were both written by Edgar Allan Poe. The stories both have notable similarities and differences. Although both stories encompass an unstable narrator, the narrator's personality, motives for murder, and how they display guilt differ in each story.

The narrators in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” are both unstable murders. They might both be unstable but their personalities are drastically different. The narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” is very impatient and impulsive. Poe shows that the narrator was impatient when he said “ But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety seized me --the sound would be heard by a neighbor! The old man’s hour had come”(108)! Instead of waiting for the perfect time to kill the old man, the narrator acted impulsively, killing the old man because of his fear of the neighbors hearing

the old man’s heartbeat. Contrary to the narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the narrator in “The Cask of Amontillado” was very patient and had a well thought out plan for Fortunato's demise. Montresor gave Fortunato multiple opportunities to leave the catacombs where he would be murdered. For example, Montresor says”"The nitre!" I said; "see, it increases. It hangs like moss upon the vaults. We are below the river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle among the bones. Come, we will go back ere it is too late. Your cough --"” The quote shows that the narrator, Montresor is very patient because he is willing to let Fortunato leave the catacombs, prolonging his murder. Not only are the narrators unstable murderers but they also have motives for the murders.

The narrator in both, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” do commit murder but their motives are very different. The narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” murders the old man because of his eye. When the narrator says “I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever”, the reader is able to see that he is killing the old man so that he does not have to look at his eye. Contrastingly, the narrator from “The Cask of Amontillado” Montresor, has a different motive for murder. Montresor kills Fortunato not for his appearance, because Fortunato had insulted him. When Montresor says “THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge” the reader knows that the revenge he speaks of is death. In addition to having motives for murder, the narrators both display guilt in the stories.

In the stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” the narrators both display guilt.

But the ways in which they show the guilt are different. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” the narrator is very clearly displaying signs of guilt. For example when the narrator says “Yet the sound increased --and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound --much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton”. The sound that the narrator is describing is his own heartbeat. His increasing heart rate would be a sign that he is feeling guilty and eventually his guilt really gets to him and leads to a confession. Where as the narrator in “The Cask of Amontillado” clearly does not feel as guilty. After Montresor kills Fortunato he says “ My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so”. What Montresor was really feeling is guilt but he doesn't even recognise that. He shrugs it off as the dampness and continues on with his

life.

The short stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado”, both by Edgar Allan Poe have many pronounced similarities and differences. As the reader will notice both stories do include an unstable narrator, the narrator's personality, motives for murder, and how they display guilt are quite different.