When reading books that include murder and mystery, one is left intrigued. It makes one wonder if people are being murdered deliberately and whether or not they actually deserve to die. The genre of murder and mystery prevailed and flourished in the era of Edgar Allan Poe. In both his books, “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”, he left me intrigued and oblivious as to why the main characters would behave in the manner which they did. First, who exactly was Edgar Allan Poe? Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous American short-story writer, poet, critic, and editor. He was famous for his tales of mystery and horror. Two of his stories that include mystery and murder are “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” …show more content…
These two stories are similar in many ways, yet they are quite different. Before discussing the many similarities and differences, knowing the stories is important, for those of who have not read either of the stories.
A summary of “The Cask of Amontillado” is as follows: Montresor, the narrator, begins the story by telling us about how Fortunato had insulted him, and that he had to get revenge. He lures Fortunato to follow him by telling him that he had a bottle of Amontillado. So then they both go to the underground catacomb of the Montresor family. When they get to a man-sized hole, Montresor chains Fortunato inside, then bricks up the hole, and leaves him to die there. At the end, Montresor says the this has happened fifty years ago, and that no one found out about …show more content…
it. “The Tell-Tale Heart” starts with a nameless narrator that loves an old man and has nothing against him, except the man’s pale blue eye. The narrator hates the eye and decides to kill the old man to get rid of it. It takes a week for the narrator to get the guts to kill him. After he eventually kills him, he cuts him up into pieces and hides them under the floorboards. When the police come, he convinces them that nothing bad happened. When they go to the old man’s room, the narrator hears a ticking sound that doesn’t stop. In the narrator's imagination, it is the sound of the old man’s heart beats. He then leads the police to the man’s cut up body. Now discussing the similarities in the plots of the stories.
Both stories involve the narrator committing murder, and both murderers knew the men that they killed. This seems to hint that the narrators might have been psychotic. Also, both narrators seem to give rather weird or ambiguous reasons as to why they want to murder their victim. In addition, both of these stories detail intentional murder and the careful way each of the narrators plans to kill his victim and hide his body.
The similarities don’t just stop at the plot, there is also a similar way in writing that occurs. First, both stories are in first person point of view. Both stories also include a dark and spooky mood to them. Also, both stories have a genre of horror or gothic fiction, short stories.
As much similarities as there is, there are also many differences. The first difference in the plot is that in “The Cask” the narrators says that the reason behind him committing murder is that Fortunate has wronged him and that he has to get revenge. While in “The Tell-Tale” the narrator says he loved the old man, and the only reason he wanted to kill him is because of his eye; which is not a very reasonable excuse. There is also a difference in the fear of being caught. In “The Cask” Montresor is sure no one will find out about the murder while the narrator in “The Tell-Tale” is very anxious and feels guilty about the
murder. There are many differences in the tone and writing style in the stories. The tone in “The Cask” is creepy, elegant and funny, while in “The Tell-Tale” it is dreadfully nervous and sad. The writing style in “The Cask” is somewhat ironic, while in “The Tell-Tale” it is quite chaotic. After noting the similarities and differences in both stories, we are able to see who just one writer is capable of creating two different stories similar, yet completely different. The mystery and horror in both stories are one of the most obvious ways to link them to Edgar Allan Poe, one of the greatest writers in history.
They heard! I was certain of it.” The characters aren’t developed very much in both of the stories, however, their characteristics are different. The main characters in both of the short story are two people, but the protagonist is developed innocent and the antagonist is unrighteous in “Click Clack and Rattle Bag”, “I reached over and tousled his hair.” “I would have pulled away, then, if I could, but small, firm fingers pulled me forward, unrelentingly, into the dark.” show that the young man wants to take care of the kid, but the kid uses his good looks and tone and finally kills the man. And on the contrast, the
One of the most famous authors in American history is Edgar Allen Poe, thanks to his intricate and unsettling short stories and poems. One of the strongest aspects of Poe’s writing style is the allure and complexity of the narrator of the story. These narrators, ranging from innocent bystanders to psychotic murderers, add depth to such a short story and really allow Poe to explore the themes of death and murder which he seems to have an unhealthy obsession towards. Furthermore, he uses these narrators to give a different perspective in each of his many works and to really unsettle the reader by what is occurring throughout the story. The narrators, whether an innocent witness of death as in "The Fall of the House of Usher" or a twisted murderer as in "The Cask of Amontillado" are used by Poe to discuss the themes of death and murder within these stories and, depending on their point of view, give a different take on such a despicable act such as murder.
Edgar Allan Poe is known for some of the most horrifying stories ever written through out time. He worked with the natural world, animals, and weather to create chilling literature. Two most notable thrillers are “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Poe was infatuated with death, disfigurement, and dark characteristics of the world. He could mix characters, setting, theme,and mood in a way that readers are automatically drawn into reading. Both of these short stories have the same major aspects in common.
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated literary authors of all time, known for writing very suspenseful, dramatic short stories and a poet; is considered as being a part of the American Romantic Movement, and a lesser known opinion is he is regarded as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. Most recognized for his mystery and macabre, a journey into the dark, ghastly stories of death, deception and revenge is what makes up his reputation. The short story under analysis is a part of his latter works; “The Cask of Amontillado”, a story of revenge takes readers into the mind of the murderer.
The most evident motifs in both novels are madness, nonacceptance and the concept of betrayal. that
In Edgar Allan Poe’s works, there are many similarities between them and his life. There are plenty similarities to find when only focusing on two of his stories, The Tell Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado. When paying close attention, it is easy to notice the similarities and differences between Poe‘s life and his stories..
Poe presents the narrators of "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado" as devious, obsessed characters. Both are overpowered by the need to consume the life of their victim. Though they use different strategies to carry out the murders in different ways, obsession is the driving force in both. It is this obsession that inspires them to design cunning strategies and carry out the executions.
The power to change is man’s greatest struggles, since a strong influence that lead them to where they are now. It is also the price and journey that both Montresor in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Tell Tale Heart” and the narrator of the “The Cask of Amontillado”, another of poe’s story. In both story the narrators, both indicate that they want to get rid of an addiction they had that is driving them to madness, and in order to do so they, must do it at any cost. Both narrator clearly plan on their instincts and carefully plans out methods in which leads them to their satisfaction. These stories contain many similarities and differences in the use of tone, irony and symbolism, of the protagonist. Through these characters and their actions,
First of all, the themes of these two stories are very centered around courage. In “The Killers,” both the people in the diner and Ole Andreson are put into a situation where they must be brave and make difficult choices. For example, Nick left the diner after the gangsters left in order to warn Ole of their arrival, risking his own life in the process. Then, Ole decides that he should stop running from his past and face the people who will kill him by saying, “There ain’t anything to do. After a while I’ll make up my mind to go out.” In the beginning of “Macomber,” Margaret treats Frances as though she can do whatever she wants without him leaving her, such as cheating and kissing another man in front of him. His response to this was to say, “There wasn’t going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn’t be,” which shows that he had allowed this to happen before. Later on, though, he stands up for himself against her more and says, “If you don’t know what we’re talking about why not keep out of it?” which is something that he never would have said in the past. This scares Margaret, which is why she kills him. The reason why these stories were written were also similar are to carry a message of the positive and negative effects of having courage. “The Killers” has a more negative connotation of be courageous by
Poe 's work as an editor, a poet, and a critic had a deep impact on American and international literature. His stories mark him as one of the originators of both horror and detective fiction. Many anthologies credit Edgar Allan Poe as the "architect" of the modern short story. Poe was the author of the two short stories “The Tell Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado”. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” the narrator has an obsession fixed on the old man’s “evil” eye which leads him into madness and hate, and to killing the man he claims that he loved. The Montresor of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” hates his enemy Fortunato and he becomes obsessed with the thought of getting back at Fortunato, his hate becomes increasingly
The Cask of the Amontillado slowly revealed the darkness in Montresor at the beginning paragraph of the story, and towards the end, it was vividly evident. Montresor even found pleasure chaining Fortunato and plastering a wall around him, to be locked up for eternity. Fortunato said, “For the love of God, Montresor!”(1244) This was right before Montresor was about to put the last brick in the wall to finish his dark deed. Montresor replied, ““Yes,” I said, for the love of God!””(1244) Montresor found a dark pleasure in the slow and painful murder of Fortunato, the
These two authors are very similar. Both use dark, surrealistic language. Both men show different aspects of the descent into madness. Also both men use a descriptive, intelligent writing style. Instead of appealing to your emotions, or telling you what you should be feeling, they describe what is happening. Their descriptions may induce certain emotions, such as disgust, fear, or sadness, but they appeal first to the mind. They appeal first to the mind, and when the mind dictates to the heart that this is wrong, or strange, then the heart stirs and provides the appropriate emotion. Their writing styles may have their differences, but on the whole they are more alike than they are different.
The theme of revenge in “The Cask of Amontillado” is the driving force for the entire short story. The main character, Montresor, vows to take revenge against the other main character, Fortunato, because of an “insult” that Fortunato has apparently made against Montresor (Baraban). This is evident in the opening line of the short story when the narrator Montresor states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge (Poe 1612). This opening line makes it obvious that the insult is what directly led to Montresor’s insatiable desire for revenge, but there are also some underlying factors that could have indirectly led to this revenge as well.
In both stories, the chief characters plan in great detail the actions they will take to rid themselves of that which haunts them. The narrator of "The Telltale Heart" is the killer, and he explains in the telling of his story how he felt no ill will toward the old man, but how it was the old man's pale eye that caused his "blood (to) run cold; and so by degrees - very gradually - (he) made up (his) mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid (himself) of the eye forever."[382] Later, he reflects on how meticulously he goes about entering the old man's room, planning the murder. "For seven nights - every night at midnight" he enters the sleeping chamber.[383] Prince Prospero, in Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," decides to take with him many friendly "knights and dames"[386] from his court and hide away in secl...
There are many differences in the storylines, the content and setup, as well as the endings of these two stories. The way that an author lays out his details can make a story enjoyable or unpleasant. Every author has his or her own writing style and gives the reader subtle hints into the investigation of mystery works of literature. The ability to attempt to solve the crimes as well as the getting to know the inner thoughts of the character in the story allows for more enjoyable reading. The fulfillment of a good story rests solely in the mind of the reader.