Comparative Gothic Essay Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart”, Paul Berry’s “The Sandman”and Neil Gaiman’s “Don’t Ask Jack” are examples of the gothic genre. Gothic fiction is created to evoke fear and a mysterious suspenseful atmosphere. In “The Tell Tale Heart” the narrator kills the old man because the old man has a big eye that he doesn’t like and which scares him. The sinister mood is created with words ‘the eye of the vulture’. In “The Sandman” there is a boy in his bed trying to sleep and the sand man is a raptor. The sandman frightens the boy and steals his eyes to feed his babies. In “Don’t Ask Jack” there is a jack in a box in an old attic who comes out at night and tells the children secrets which are not known to the readers.
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‘The eye of a vulture’ which he claimed the old man had repulsed the murderer and ’whenever it ran upon him his blood ran cold’ The murderer uses the vulture eye as justification to murder the old man and ‘rid himself of the eye forever.’ The bird of prey [raptor] in ‘The Sandman’ is a supernatural figure with feathered arms, a huge hooked chin and ugly nose which resembles the crescent moon. This raptor steals the eyes of the little boy in his bedroom and feeds them to his chicks. This is a most sinister act leaving the little boy blind. Furthermore, the final shot shows the little boy walking with other children who have unfortunately suffered the same fate. This final scene is sinister and extremely scary It was created by the actions of the Sandman and the suspenseful music. In ‘Don’t ask Jack’ the supernatural element is Jack. The readers are told that Jack tells the children secrets at night which is not possible since he is only a toy. The secret that Jack tells the children affects them later in their lives. The affect it has on the children as adults is inferred as being bad because Jack only comes out at night when it is dark. This is the time when evil presents itself. Darkness and night-time and supernatural subjects are present in all three …show more content…
The murderer uses discourse to convince the readers that he is sane. He asks rhetorical questions ‘How then am I mad’ A number of things he says however reveal the contrary. He alludes to the old man’s evil eye, obsessed, watching him sleep for a week. He executes the plan to murder the old man although he has never done him any wrong. ‘Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim’. The author personifies death as if it was something that happened naturally and he had no part in it however, the narrator is the stalker, and black shadow is his. Similes are also used to create a menacing mood. Examples are ’it increased my fury, as the beating of the drum stimulates the soldiers into courage,’ ‘dark as midnight’ and ‘a simple dim ray like the thread of a spider. Repetition is also used ‘to feel, to feel’. Fear is evoked by showing what the irrational mind is capable of. Connotation creates the sinister mood by using words such as dark, echo mad, hours and shadow. All three stories occur at night. Similes are used in ‘Don’t tell Jack to show when and how Jack emerges. ‘As slow as sunset describes how slowly the evil and the darkness arrives. Repetition is also used ‘’he would come closer, closer to create a menacing mood Images are used to portray fear in ‘The Sandman’. Examples are shadows,
‘The eye of a vulture’ which he claimed the old man had repulsed the murderer and ’whenever it ran upon him his blood ran cold’ The murderer uses the vulture eye as justification to murder the old man and ‘rid himself of the eye forever.’ The bird of prey [raptor] in ‘The Sandman’ is a supernatural figure with feathered arms, a huge hooked chin and ugly nose which resembles the crescent moon. This raptor steals the eyes of the little boy in his bedroom and feeds them to his chicks. This is a most sinister act leaving the little boy blind. Furthermore, the final shot shows the little boy walking with other children who have unfortunately suffered the same fate. This final scene is sinister and extremely scary It was created by the actions of the Sandman and the suspenseful music. In ‘Don’t ask Jack’ the supernatural element is Jack. The readers are told that Jack tells the children secrets at night which is not possible since he is only a toy. The secret that Jack tells the children affects them later in their lives. The affect it has on the children as adults is inferred as being bad because Jack only comes out at night when it is dark. This is the time when evil presents itself. Darkness and night-time and supernatural subjects are present in all three …show more content…
The murderer uses discourse to convince the readers that he is sane. He asks rhetorical questions ‘How then am I mad’ A number of things he says however reveal the contrary. He alludes to the old man’s evil eye, obsessed, watching him sleep for a week. He executes the plan to murder the old man although he has never done him any wrong. ‘Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim’. The author personifies death as if it was something that happened naturally and he had no part in it however, the narrator is the stalker, and black shadow is his. Similes are also used to create a menacing mood. Examples are ’it increased my fury, as the beating of the drum stimulates the soldiers into courage,’ ‘dark as midnight’ and ‘a simple dim ray like the thread of a spider. Repetition is also used ‘to feel, to feel’. Fear is evoked by showing what the irrational mind is capable of. Connotation creates the sinister mood by using words such as dark, echo mad, hours and shadow. All three stories occur at night. Similes are used in ‘Don’t tell Jack to show when and how Jack emerges. ‘As slow as sunset describes how slowly the evil and the darkness arrives. Repetition is also used ‘’he would come closer, closer to create a menacing mood Images are used to portray fear in ‘The Sandman’. Examples are shadows,