Psychology and literature both divulge in aspects of life people would otherwise evade, namely death. Margaret Atwood and Edgar Allen Poe have become known for their unsettling writing subjects, yet death is not simply another macabre literary experiment. Two stories so different in terms of structure, narrative, and overall tone would appear to have nothing in common, yet Atwood’s “Happy Endings” and Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” share a mutual underlying theme that through death, beginnings and endings share a synonymous meaning. Psychologists recognize their theme as a definition for death; “Death is the end. Death is the beginning. Death is an end and a beginning (Kastenbaum 7).”
In terms of structure and tone, “Happy Endings” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” share no commonalities. The structure of “Happy Endings” lacks animation and elegance to parallel the dismal tone of death concluding each segmented story. The narrator tells it in a matter-of-fact manner that consists merely of “what happens next” in simply constructed, adjective-less sentences. Through this lackluster structure, the …show more content…
Through phrases such as “you can see” and “you’ll notice” (Atwood), the narrator prohibits any outside interpretation, making the narrator the only means by which information can be translated. By not giving the characters dynamic personalities in “Happy Endings”, the narrator fosters a situation that makes it difficult for the reader to connect with them; the audience instead connects with the narrator. The narrator guides the reader through insipid plots and concludes with the theory of unoriginality making every story the same. Had the narrator developed the characters, the reader may view them as people, not simply placeholders in a scripted story, thus giving less credence to the narrator’s
In terms of structure and tone, “Happy Endings” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” share no commonalities. The structure of “Happy Endings” lacks animation and elegance to parallel the dismal tone of death concluding each segmented story. The narrator tells it in a matter-of-fact manner that consists merely of “what happens next” in simply constructed, adjective-less sentences. Through this lackluster structure, the …show more content…
Through phrases such as “you can see” and “you’ll notice” (Atwood), the narrator prohibits any outside interpretation, making the narrator the only means by which information can be translated. By not giving the characters dynamic personalities in “Happy Endings”, the narrator fosters a situation that makes it difficult for the reader to connect with them; the audience instead connects with the narrator. The narrator guides the reader through insipid plots and concludes with the theory of unoriginality making every story the same. Had the narrator developed the characters, the reader may view them as people, not simply placeholders in a scripted story, thus giving less credence to the narrator’s