'Edgar Allan Poe ‘Tell Tale Heart’ and ‘The fall of the house of Usher’ Essay\r'

' describe how Poe uses spoken communication to create gentle wind and describe the do main(prenominal) of mind of the makeer and Roderick demo. Consider how the neo subscriber might respond to these stories.\r\nDaniel Tiernan 4U\r\nEdgar Allen Poe was an Ameri plenty short mind writer, editor for magazines and poet during the early to mid 19th century. d sliminess of his short stories, ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ and ‘The come to of the fellowship of designate’ were both written during the victorian sentences when medieval publications was at it’s height in popularity. The main thesis and features of Gothic literature ar mystery, af terror, supernatural, big disintegrateing offers or castles and the dead.\r\nThe prim reviewers were fascinated by the supernatural especially, with umteen even believing in witches and black magic. Ideas equivalent these be still found in horror stories straight off and as well in films, even the main attractor for horror movies has changed from supernatural, to find of hearings wanting to be frightened. Poe was a productive imagination of Gothic literature, and his main base for create verbally was madness, which features in both stories that we meet studied. His written material does non just include madness, just also its implications and what it can consequence to if left untreated.\r\nIn the opening designates Poe captures the lecturer’s attention with Capitalisation, the use of ecphonesis mark, repeat and a rhetorical doubtfulness. ‘ straightforward! †head-in-the-clouds †precise, precise dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?’ The bank clerk is communicating with us from the commencement and the capitalisation of the articulate True, which is non normally use to open a sentence. He also uses an exclamation mark on the opening word True which makes the ref feel as though he has sho uted the word out, which is quite bizarre.\r\nThe repetition and garbled handleness of the opening words sets a refrain tempo to the f up to(p), which ignites the referee’s attention and, lends to the reviewer’s opening theory that the fibber does non have a level headed mind. The rhetorical question that Poe uses, ‘why will you say that I am mad?’ is a good literary turn as it involves the contributor and builds a relationship by means of the dialogue between the boshteller and the subscriber, engaging the audience and makes the commentator believe that maybe the bank clerk doubts the stability of his aver mind. All these factors show the reader the written reportteller has an agitated mind and potently suggest the fibber’s insanity.\r\nPoe develops an image of a disturbed psyche in the first paragraph, who hears portions in his head. ‘I hear all things in heaven and in Earth. I heard numerous things in hell on earth ,’ This makes the reader shadowy that the cashier is unstable and his actions atomic number 18 the com partds of the voices in his head, when referring to hell we suspect that some of these voices are evil and darkening in their nature. A foreboding ambiance is thus produced and it makes the reader to read on with excitement mingled with also a little nervous anticipation.\r\nPoe builds up irresolution passing well by utilise imagery and he also mutes the tempo cut to describe how s baseborn he was moving his own fall out, comparing its speed to that of the irregular hand of a clock. ‘A watch’s minute hand moves more(prenominal) quickly than did mine’. This definition of how slow he moved his transfer makes the reader oddity astir(predicate) his mental health and lends to the theory that he is maybe a schizophrenic with a great deal paranoia and an extremely strong desire to kill. The juvenile reader would like this because in todayâ €™s stories and films it is often that in that location is a mad piece with a mental civilise who is the villain and/or murderer.\r\nMidnight was a time when some Victorians believed that supernatural forces were at work. Poe uses this myth to create a dark foreboding atmosphere. The fibber tells the reader that he entered the obsolete populaces room e genuinely(prenominal) night ‘about midnight’ and reinforces the atmosphere by the use of repetition of the idea of the witching hr. ‘Every night just at midnight’ and ‘ serious at twelve’. The teller is expression up indecision for the reader by placing his evil deed during what the Victorians called the witching hour. For a Victorian reader they would know the mythological idea that dark powers were at their strongest at midnight, for the modern reader however this plausibly would not have the same disbeliefful effect.\r\nPoe uses hands of a minute clock when describing how slow ly the narrator moves his own hands. It is a clever play on words, but has good effect as it builds suspense and makes the reader wonder about the stability of the narrator’s mind. ‘A watch’s minute hand moves more quickly than did mine’ This sentence paints the picture of the narrator very very slowly entering the room and it is quite frightening to imagine, it makes us wonder what the narrator is thinking.\r\nPoe describes how powerful and confident the narrator is vox populi in his own sensibleness, this underlines the growing whole step of menace. This produces a strong sense of foreboding and tension, ‘ neer before that night had I felt the design of my own powers †of my own sagacity. I could scarcely prevail my feelings of triumph.’ This sentence is very sinister, as it shows the narrators confidence and audacity in his actions and so called ‘Powers’. It shows how he is almost dizzy and very excited about his evi l plan. This would be attractive for modern readers as it is quite expectant and makes us want to read on to entrap his plan in full detail. A modern reader can relate this in adult maley modern day films.\r\nPoe increases the tension when describing how the narrator took an hour to put his head into the door opening. The narrator gives the word picture that his sanity has been questioned before, and on that pointfore he asks us candidly. ‘Ha! Would a madman have been so wise as this,’ This adds to the overall effect of horror by the narrator continuously stressing to us that he is not mad and tries to dispose us of this by dilate how carefully the murder was planned. By doing so Poe assures our convictions that the narrator is insane. Poe encounters that deranged people often try to convince that they are sane when to an outsider they clear are not. It bridges a gap that is quite uneasy in real life and he has introduced it into his invention.\r\nThe narrator is distressed by the honest-to-goodness man’s clouded cataract like pump. It disturbs him so oftentimes that he says it is the reason he must kill the man. ‘… resembled that of a vulture †a pale blue eye with a film over it.’ Poe uses a metaphor to compare the eye to that of a vulture, a chatterbox which feeds off the dead remains of animals. This introduces the idea of death, and cold and makes one apprehensive of the eye. The description of the pale wild blue yonder of the eye, could suggest that the narrator feels the eye looks right into him and his conscience, and that this scares him. Poe emphasizes the old man’s eye describing it as, ‘. . evil eye’ the modern reader can relate to this feel as it is still prevalent in many cultures today.\r\nPoe builds the anticipation to a climax when he describes the old man’s fear. ‘Groan of mortal(a) terror’ Poe uses emotive language here and continues to bu ild the suspense; the reader can empathise with the old man as indeed does the narrator. ‘I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him’ this is in direct conflict with the narrator’s actions, he thence(prenominal) went to say, ‘. . . although I chuckled at tinder.’ This demonstrating that he ignores his conscience and follows his overriding intention from his heart to kill. The ‘mortal’ is very suggestive that the old man knows his denominate.\r\nPoe then uses the devices; psycheification and metaphor when he says that, ‘death . . . stalk with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim.’ This is very powerful as it gives the impression of death being a living malevolent force. It is fear-provoking as it suggests that we will be followed before we die and be sucked into a goddamn vacuum. The modern reader could link this idea with the notorious Grim Reaper. He is a legend that is so-called to take us from this earth to the subsequentlylife.\r\nPoe raises the tempo of the story to an electric climax describing the switching of the old man’s heart. ‘It grew quicker and quicker, louder and louder every instant.’ This use of repetition is demonstrating the old man’s fear and replicating the beat of his racing heart, and so we read each word like on heart beat.\r\nThe raise in tempo of the Old man’s heart is relative to the raise in the narrator’s fury. ‘It increased my fury, as the beating of a arise stimulates the soldier into courage.’ This suggests that he feels that he is being further from a higher power, and his obeying orders (perhaps voices in his head). In asset it is saying that his cause is just and he is exonerated like a soldier in a just war.\r\nWhen the narrator murders the old man, Poe is quite faint about the inside information. Much is left to the imagination of the reader after(prenominal) teaching the desc ription of how he died. ‘I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him.’ For the modern reader this would not be satisfactory as nowadays we watch films with practically more graphic details, and imply to clearly picture how the murder was committed.\r\nThe actual murder itself is an anti-climax. In a manner if fact fashion, the narrator ‘dismembered the body. I cut off the head and the accouterments and the legs.’ This makes the reader wonder if the narrator has a conscience at all as he is able to do this without a hint of guilt, as he mutilated a corpse. At this point in the story, the narrator feels he is all powerful and has got away(p) with the murder.\r\n‘I smiled, †for what had I to fear?’ However the foreboding starts to increase again when the narrator hears the old man’s heart beating again. ‘It grew, louder †louder †louder!’ The narrator is clearly suffering from hallucinatio ns, perhaps brought on by guilt. The policemen march can hear nothing. The narrator then starts to omit his mind completely. ‘I foamed †I raved †I swore!’ The feeling that the narrator’s guilt starts to crescendo to it’s peak when he blurts out a confession, in front of the startled police officers. ‘dissemble no more! I admit the deed!’\r\nIn the story of ‘The fall of the house of Usher’ the perspective is set by a Poe’s description of a gloomy atmospheric setting. ‘The clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens’ suggesting threat. also Poe uses personification when he describes the hall of Usher as ‘melanc holy place’. He starts extending the personification of the House later on in the paragraph, when he writes, ‘the vacant eye-like windows’.\r\nAll these descriptions thus depict an image of a desolate, ominous place. The narrator compares comprehend the House of U sher to the horrible reality of somebody for whom the effects of opium are wearing off, revealing a horrible reality. ‘The bitter lapse into everyday life-the dread(a) dropping of the veil.’ The modern reader would associate this with freeing ‘Cold Turkey’. This is good imagery from Poe as it shows clearly that this is not a place someone would like to be and as a result sets a very foreshadowing beginning to the story.\r\nJust before the narrator enters the house he describes an outdoor with some neglect including, ‘Minute fungi’. This suggests decay as Fungi lives off dead remains. and so firmly setting the story in an atmosphere of gloom and decay.\r\nPoe also writes of a barely overt crack extending from the roof to the bottom of the house. ‘Barely graspable fissure’ this is very foreboding as the reader is already contemplating the significance of the crack in this atmosphere of decay. He is also hinting strongly at what is liberation to happen to the house. The modern reader is familiar with the medicamental style of the haunted house tales, which is typically set in a place like this. However they would not like the idea of being told the outcome of the story early on, as today stories and movies usually have a big climax where the ending is then discovered.\r\nWhen the narrator enters the house the atmosphere of foreboding continues to build, there is nothing cheerful to be codn. ‘The general piece of furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique and tattered’ also Poe describes ‘an atmosphere of herb of grace’. olibanum making the reader feel on the alert of the House.\r\nThe narrator then focuses on the appearance of Roderick Usher. ‘A cadaverousness of complexion’ we feel the extent of the narrator’s shock as Poe has used emotive language; ‘cadaver’ is a dead body.\r\nTo add to this strike appearance the narrator describes Roder ick’s mental state, ‘An excessive, nervous agitation’ this would suggest that Roderick does not have a level headed mind and that he suffers from extreme anxiety. Also we can see he is frightened of the future, ‘I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR’ This shows the skill of Roderick’s despair and we can feel his terror, however question the stability of his mind.\r\nPoe then introduces Madeline, Roderick’s babe into the story. She appears and disappears almost in a ghostly fashion. The narrator is ill at ease ‘I regarded her with an show astonishment not unmingled with dread’ this creates and apparition- like image of Madeline, which again is a popular theme in modern day horror stories.\r\nThe sense of foreboding continues when Roderick informs the narrator that Madeline has died. Roderick did not want to weigh Madeline’s physicians because of the bizarre nature o f her illness. He told the narrator he did not want them probing her corpse for medical science. ‘An unnatural precaution’. This is peculiar and erratic on the part of Roderick because in the strong ghostlike times that the tale is set, a normal person would want the body buried on holy ground very quickly.\r\nPoe adds a sensation of claustrophobia when he writes about Madeline’s burial. ‘Half sm new(prenominal)ed in its oppressive atmosphere.’ The burial tomb being very confined could be a metaphor for the lives they are trapped in.\r\nThe narrator is unable to sleep after Madeline’s burial, he goes to Ushers room where he notices a deteriortion in Roderick’s demeanour. ‘A species of mad gloating’ and ‘His air appalled me’. To become uncontrollable is very typical of an insane person and so this heightens the stories suspense and sense of foreshadowing.\r\nPoe uses the technique of foreshadowing to hint to the reader of what will be Roderick’s demise. The narrator reads to Usher to try and calm him down as he is very troubled, however all of the tales three main plots are echoed by what is happening in the house; shrieks are heard, a metallic reverberation is heard, wisecrack and ripping sounds are heard. Roderick is very distressed and this adds to the reader’s apprehension of what is going to happen next. The modern day reader is very familiar with the musical style of someone coming back at night. Poe also uses the technique the rule of three, with three main plots in the tale which the narrator reads to Usher, this is effective because three is a number used commonly in literature and in the New Testament.\r\nPoe introduces the idea of the supernatural when Madeline, appears resurrected after being ‘encoffined’ and being shut behind a door of, ‘massive iron’ This is a very frightening image, and terrifies the reader and entices the reader as they are compelled to find out what happens next.\r\nThe full horror of Roderick’s fear is then realised when he dies of fright after Madeline attacks him, ‘A victim to the terrors he had expect’ The reader had also anticipated Roderick’s doom almost from the beginning of the story by information the title of the story. Poe builds the suspense consistently by means ofout the story.\r\nPoe concludes the story in a shocking and dramatic manner, the narrator ‘fled aghast’ away from the house and turns back to see a ‘blood red moon, shining through a crack in the house’ Thus symbolising the death of the house of Usher. This is very eery and metaphoric as not only has the House of Usher fallen but so has the superannuated family line. The suspense is maintained to the very end of the story when Poe uses personification ‘Long tumultuous sound, like the voice of a thousand waters’ when he describes how the lake entombs the House and all its occupants\r\nWhilst Poe is studied at school for academic purposes, I do not think that his books would be the first choice for the modern reader who is reading for pleasure. This is for many reasons.\r\nFirstly, the language used is very forward-looking and antiquated, and as in the ‘The settle of the House of Usher’ large tracts of literature are used as a device to increase tension. The modern reader has to have lots of patience to fully understand Poe’s writing and a high level of literacy is assumed by the author. Modern novels are much less literary and a much more basic vocabulary used. At the same time the modern reader expects more graphic details of murders than is provided in either the ‘Tell-Tale Heart or The Fall of the House of Usher’ Poe writes in much(prenominal) a way that much is left to the reader’s imagination and this is unsatisfactory nowadays when so much can be shown to the modern reader via ot her genres such as film and television. like music\r\nMoreover both of these novels are very much a product of Victorian times with their fury on night time terrors which reflected the beliefs of society at that time. Today’s society tends to dismiss these beliefs as old fashioned and irrelevant. However Poe’s writing is very skilful in his use of miscellaneous techniques and I admire him for that, but I strongly feel that he would not be such a successful writer if he was living today.\r\n'