The Tell Tale Heart Suspense Analysis

Through the use of suspense, authors can truly draw the reader into the story. Suspense in the case of gives the reader the sense of apprehension about was is going to happen next and anticipation. Two stories where suspense is depicted is Roald Dahl’s short story, “The Landlady” and Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The Tell Tale Heart”. Roald Dahl’s short story, “The Landlady,” is about a young man, Billy Weaver who wants to find somewhere to stay for a night for cheap, since he is traveling for business. However, when he comes across a cheap bed and breakfast, the Landlady there, ends up acting very strange and Billy only uncovers some of her secrets, before it is too late for him to escape. In Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The Tell Tale Heart,” is about someone, the narrator, who finds an old man’s eye immensely disturbing. After of seven nights of attempting murderer, on the eighth night, not only does the

eye open and begins to disturb the man, but the constant heartbeat drives the man mad and causes him to kill the old man. Therefore, suspense is depicted in both Roald Dahl's short story, "The Landlady" and Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Tell Tale Heart”, through the use of foreshadowing and repetition.
              One of the literary devices used in both Roald Dahl's short story, "The Landlady" and W. W. Jacobs' short story, "The Monkey's Paw" to depict suspense is foreshadowing. In “The Landlady”, Dahl is particularly careful in choosing to write “Each word was like a large black eye staring at him through the glass, holding him, compelling him, forcing him to stay where he was and not to walk away from that house…” Using this line from the short story, the reader is able to recognize the fact that there was a reason to why the author chose to describe the words outside of the Landlady’s Bed and Breakfast; to depict suspense. In a like manner, in “A Tell Tale Heart”, Poe writes, “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.” This quote reveals how the narrator thought that we interpreted him as a madman and it leads the reader to think why the narrator even initially brought up the point, then depicting suspense. In addition to foreshadowing being used to depict suspense in both Dahl’s and Poe’s short stories, repetition is also used.
Another literary device used in both Roald Dahl's short story, "The Landlady" and W.

W. Jacobs' short story, "The Tell Tale Heart" to depict suspense is repetition. In “The Landlady”, the Dahl writes, “…small notice that was there. BED AND BREAKFAST, it said. BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST.” As a result of having the phrase “bed and breakfast” repeated, the reader can uncover the fact that author wanted to emphasize that Billy was drawn to the notice, for a peculiar reason, therefore depicting suspense. To illustrate, in “The Tell Tale Heart”, Poe chooses to write, “I felt that I must scream or die!--and now--again!--hark! louder! louder! louder!” Subsequent to the repetition used when the narrator says “louder” multiple times, the reader can identify that the author is accentuating how the narrator can not handle his own guilt anymore and does not know how to deal with, thus creating tension that leads to suspense. Despite the many ways to depict suspense, in Dahl’s and Poe’s short stories the most prominent are foreshadowing and

repetition.
Hence, suspense is depicted in both Roald Dahl's short story, "The Landlady" and Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Tell Tale Heart”, through the use of foreshadowing and repetition. Through the use of foreshadowing, Dahl and Poe are trying to make you infer what will happen later on in the story, creating suspense. And through the use of repetition, both authors emphasizes different parts of the story, in hope that the reader will be impacted greater than if repetition were not to be used and will be curious to find out why the author has emphasized those particular parts of the story. The use of foreshadowing and repetition simply further elaborates how suspense is presented in the stories, and helps the reader be truly drawn into the story.