The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado Essay Example

man's chamber, remarking that we would have found it amusing: "Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in!" Similarly, Montresor presumes that we are familiar with him, stating "You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat." In addition, the protagonist of TTH suffers from delusions and hears voices. He acknowledges suffering from an illness that he believes has heightened his senses and given him the ability to hear what others cannot. However, he does not clarify the nature of this disease.

Edgar Allan Poe uses the sounds heard by his protagonist to highlight his disturbed state of mind. The individual's flawed reasoning becomes evident in the following line as he claims to hear "all things in heaven and hell." The repetition of hearing many things in hell hints at an obsession with diabolical ideas.

The old man's heart beating is compared to a muffled sound similar to that of a watch covered in cotton. The sound grows louder as the protagonist's frustration with the vulture eye increases, creating a chaotic and tumultuous torment in his mind. Poe also uses this imagery to increase tension as the police officers question and guilt overwhelms the protagonist, leading him to confess. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," the protagonist oscillates between narcissism and paranoia, believing himself to be superior while also having irrational suspicions of others. He makes sweeping generalizations about Italians, claiming that they lack true virtuosity and duping abilities when it comes to valuable jewelry and paintings.

It can be inferred that he harbors a xenophobic approach. The proof of his

irrational suspicion towards Fortunato is in his description of "accosting" him with "excessive warmth". The term "accosting" suggests aggression and contradicts the notion of amiability. The only fault Fortunato seems to have is his pride in wine-tasting, which certainly does not warrant murder. Additionally, Fortunato seems to be sociable and festive, unlike the solitary and resentful Montresor. The murders become even more terrifying due to their lack of a justifiable motive.

The narrator of TTH explicitly declares their lack of passion towards the old man. While acknowledging their love for him and that he never did them any harm or insult. The statement is presented within a paragraph tag.

The protagonist's mental instability is confirmed by his greater psychological obsession with the old man's eye than his emotional attachment to him. This is shown by his lack of desire for the old man's gold and his weak attempt to justify the murder with a supposition.

Similarly, in the case of TCoA, the narrator's ego and pride lead him to believe that Fortunato's insult justifies murder. The protagonists in both stories have distorted values that can justify murder for irrational reasons. Irony is present in both tales as the narrators carefully plan out their murders. In TTH, the narrator spends seven nights cautiously peering into the old man's bedroom to catch a glimpse of his vulture eye.

The character's abnormal psychological state is further demonstrated as they obsessively watch the old man every night at twelve. In a similar manner, Montresor has meticulously planned the execution of their revenge. By the time Fortunato arrives in the catacombs, Montresor has already set up the necessary tools for entombment. The planning

has been so careful that there will be no suspicion for "the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them".

The murders are not impulsive actions, but instead deliberate and savage deeds. The speaker does not suffer from madness, rather they take pleasure in the preparation and execution of the killings. The reader is appalled by how calmly and unemotionally the narrator portrays these heinous acts, emphasizing their deceitfulness and carefulness in carrying them out.

It is fascinating how the narrator in TTH distances himself from killing and only wants to shut down the Evil Eye of the old man. The protagonist lacks emotional engagement and fails to understand that this will cause harm to the old man. The narrator justifies their actions by claiming their objective is solely to remove the eye, with the old man being an obstacle. This detachment is a symptom of schizophrenia, which includes emotional instability, delusions, and disassociation from reality. Both narrators intentionally hide their true intent towards their victims.

Their deceptive friendliness towards their targets while secretly planning their murder creates an unsettling atmosphere in the stories. The narrator in TTH admits to being exceptionally kind to the old man in the week leading up to the murder. Meanwhile, in TCoA, the narrator "continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation." Both protagonists experience joy from the pain and suffering of their victims. In TTH, the narrator chuckles as the old man groans in fear, and after committing the murder, "smiled gaily to find the deed so far done."

It is unnerving to

readers when the protagonist finds joy in death and murder, which suggests their disturbed psychological state. Montresor stops his work so he can relish Fortunato's vehement struggle to escape the iron chains that imprison him in the niche. Both the narrators gain pleasure from hearing their victims suffer, indicating their sadistic tendencies. They prefer helpless victims who cannot defend themselves as further evidence of their cruel nature.

The narrator in TTH and Montresor in TCoA both choose a specific time when their victims are vulnerable. The narrator in TTH waits until his victim is in bed, while Montresor intoxicates Fortunato in TCoA. In both instances, the protagonists feel a sense of power and triumph over their helpless victims. The narrator in TTH even boasts about his "sagacity" and the fact that the old man will never suspect his true intentions. Both characters are confident that they will not be caught, with Montresor insisting on punishing with impunity.

Montresor foreshadows his plan to both Fortunato and the reader by offering him "De Grave", which means "of the grave". He also describes his family crest, which features a large human foot in gold on a blue background crushing a rampant serpent with fangs embedded in the heel. This imagery could suggest that Montresor views Fortunato as oppressive and overwhelming, but also recognizes his weakness - his pride in his wine expertise. Similar to the serpent biting at the heel of the giant, Montresor plans to strike and kill Fortunato. Alternatively, Fortunato may represent the serpent and Montresor sees himself as the crushing foot.

Both Montresor in 'The Cask of Amontillado' and the protagonist in 'The Tell-Tale Heart' display a

sense of invincibility as Montresor could easily crush the snake troubling him with just a foot step, while the protagonist boasts about placing their seat on top of their victim's corpse. Gothic elements persist in both as Poe explores abnormal psychological states. The setting in 'The Cask of Amontillado' exhibits this perfectly, with subterranean passages, winding staircases, damp catacomb grounds, piles of bones, and deep crypts, all illuminated by ominously glowing flambeaux. In Gothic literature, interiors are notoriously hazardous places and so the subterranean passages in 'The Cask of Amontillado' lead inevitably to death.

Within 'The Tell-Tale Heart', danger lurks within the confines of the house, mistakenly overlooked by the old man's firmly closed shutters as a safeguard against intruders. The theme of being buried alive, prominent in gothic literature and a fixation of Poe's own, is also evident. In 'The Cask of Amontillado', Fortunato is entombed within a small, enclosed space with dimensions akin to those of a coffin. Similarly, in 'The Tell-Tale Heart', although the old man is technically deceased and buried, his heart continues to beat – depicted as "a low, dull, quick sound" – signifying premature burial from the perspective of the narrator.

Both stories feature protagonists who are perceived as social outcasts. This is evident in Poe's description of Montresor's attire at the carnival where he is dressed in a black silk mask, setting him apart from the multicolored crowd. On the other hand, Fortunato is dressed in gaudy carnival clothes with a tight-fitting parti-striped dress and a conical cap with bells. These physical differences between the two characters symbolize Montresor's role as Fortunato's executioner.

Poe employs gothic tradition to depict

how the protagonists' primal urges come at a price of guilt. The protagonist in 'The Tell-Tale Heart' feels an obligation to confess the murder, whereas Montresor, five decades afterward, is compelled to divulge the event. These tactics enable the reader to gain insights into the psyche of a psychotic. The authenticity and strength of these portraits urge us to contemplate how Poe obtained such profound apprehension on this matter. The explanation is rooted in his personal life.

Despite suffering from delusions and depression, likely caused by alcoholism, Poe would vanish for days to indulge in laudanum and drinking before returning with renewed passion for writing. It's possible that his experiences during these episodes served as inspiration for delving deep into the human psyche. Overall, Poe was drawn to abnormal psychological states both in his own life and in his literature. In these two stories, he portrayed the protagonists as criminals, allowing them to explore the extremes of this behavior and go beyond it, ultimately leaving them feeling guilty and unable to handle their psychosis. This provides readers with a thorough exploration of the minds of those experiencing abnormal psychological states that is both compelling and thought-provoking.