Modern artists today generally use images of physical and mental illness in literature. In The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, both short stories show the usage of illness, madness, and fear. In both stories Poe tries to convince the readers that the characters are physically and mentally ill. Edgar Allen Poe creates these vivid characters which have successfully assisted the building of plot and ideas. Through the use of images of physical and mental illness in an illustrative language, Poe demonstrates how a person’s anxiety and terror can lead to insanity. The Tell-Tale Heart is a story told through an unnamed narrator’s point of view who claims that he is not insane, but rather has some sort of “disease”(Poe
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Writing to his friend, our narrator, Roderick has been sick, afflicted by a disease of the mind and he is pleading for help. The narrator explains how “the MS. gave evidence of nervous agitation. The writer spoke of acute bodily illness—of a mental disorder which oppressed him”(Poe 232). With this being said, Poe illustrates to the readers that we are dealing with a peculiar character. Roderick tells the narrator of his illness, a "nervous affection"(Poe 235) which has resulted in a few strange signs of illness. Physical signs of illness such as a “ghastly pallor of the skin,...miraculous lustre of the eye,...silken hair”(Poe 234). The cause of this would possibly be a result of the failing health of Madeline, his beloved sister who is near death due to a mysterious …show more content…
Poe uses Madeline’s death as a climax to stimulate the plot and Roderick’s madness. The Narrator notes the increasing madness of Roderick, the “ghastly hue—but the luminousness of his eye had utterly gone out...huskiness of his tone was heard no more...him gazing upon vacancy for long hours”(Poe 241). The narrator is frightened that he too is beginning to feel infected by Roderick’s condition. The narrator fears that he too may be surrendering to madness. We can see the narrator “struggled to reason off the nervousness which had dominion over [him](Poe 241). Upon the death of the Madeline, Roderick soon succumbs to insanity:
Not hear it?—yes, I hear it, and have heard it. Long— long—long—many minutes, many hours, many days, have I heard it—yet I dared not—oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am!—I dared not—I dared not speak! We have put her living in the tomb!(Poe 244).
As we see here, Poe is using repetition of words and exclamation to signify the tension that is occurring in this scene. As a result we see Roderick in complete fear and shock that he is losing his mind. Poe demonstrates this by using words to illustrate the terror as Roderick shouts “Madman! I tell you that she now stands without the door!”(Poe 245). Another illustration showing the terror that Roderick experiences is that Madeline is seen
Writing to his friend, our narrator, Roderick has been sick, afflicted by a disease of the mind and he is pleading for help. The narrator explains how “the MS. gave evidence of nervous agitation. The writer spoke of acute bodily illness—of a mental disorder which oppressed him”(Poe 232). With this being said, Poe illustrates to the readers that we are dealing with a peculiar character. Roderick tells the narrator of his illness, a "nervous affection"(Poe 235) which has resulted in a few strange signs of illness. Physical signs of illness such as a “ghastly pallor of the skin,...miraculous lustre of the eye,...silken hair”(Poe 234). The cause of this would possibly be a result of the failing health of Madeline, his beloved sister who is near death due to a mysterious …show more content…
Poe uses Madeline’s death as a climax to stimulate the plot and Roderick’s madness. The Narrator notes the increasing madness of Roderick, the “ghastly hue—but the luminousness of his eye had utterly gone out...huskiness of his tone was heard no more...him gazing upon vacancy for long hours”(Poe 241). The narrator is frightened that he too is beginning to feel infected by Roderick’s condition. The narrator fears that he too may be surrendering to madness. We can see the narrator “struggled to reason off the nervousness which had dominion over [him](Poe 241). Upon the death of the Madeline, Roderick soon succumbs to insanity:
Not hear it?—yes, I hear it, and have heard it. Long— long—long—many minutes, many hours, many days, have I heard it—yet I dared not—oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am!—I dared not—I dared not speak! We have put her living in the tomb!(Poe 244).
As we see here, Poe is using repetition of words and exclamation to signify the tension that is occurring in this scene. As a result we see Roderick in complete fear and shock that he is losing his mind. Poe demonstrates this by using words to illustrate the terror as Roderick shouts “Madman! I tell you that she now stands without the door!”(Poe 245). Another illustration showing the terror that Roderick experiences is that Madeline is seen