Comparative Essay The Tell-Tale Heart vs. The Cask of Amontillado
Edgar Allen Poe is considered to be one of the great masters of horror. This certainly holds true for his stories The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado. Both of these stories are written in the in the first-person limited, from the perspective of two murderers. These stories contain many similarities and differences in terms of tone and irony, imagery and symbolism, theme, and the diction of the protagonist. In both of these stories, these elements, working in tandem, are very effective in creating a sense of horror in the reader.
The tone of these stories is very similar. In both cases, the story is told from the killer’s perspective, allowing us a deeper insight …show more content…
Montresor manages to convince Fortunado to accompany him by asking for his help in determining the validity of a wine. Fortunado’s pride in his wine-tasting ability is what convinces him to follow Montresor, in hopes of displaying his skills. No such theme exists in The Tell-Tale Heart, as the narrator in that story cares little for his pride. The diction of the protagonist in The Tell-Tale Heart bears few similarities to that in The Cask of Amontillado. One of the few similarities is that both characters speak with a certain surety that what they do is right. They believe that they have done the appropriate thing, and their language reflects that. Another similarity in diction is the archaic expressions and phrases used, although this is because of the time period in which these stories were written. Words like “dissimulation”(The Tell-Tale Heart 2), “hearkening” (The Tell-Tale Heart 3) and “unredressed” (The Cask of Amontillado 1) are not typically used in modern English. Of the many differences observed in the diction of the protagonists of these stories, perhaps the most obvious is the broken, disjointed sentence structure seen in The Tell-Tale Heart, which contrasts with the elegance and fluidity of expression seen in The Cask of Amontillado. One could content that the protagonist of The Cask of Amontillado is fairly well-educated, as he appears to have a relatively high social standing, and consequently his speech should be rather well-developed when compared to the speech of the protagonist of The Tell-Tale Heart, who appears to be some sort of servant, denoting a lack of higher education or status. One could also explain the speech patterns of the narrator as being a product of his madness. Personally, I believe that Poe has done a very fine job of creating a pair of hauntingly memorable stories. I enjoy that the stories are told from the
Edgar Allen Poe is considered to be one of the great masters of horror. This certainly holds true for his stories The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado. Both of these stories are written in the in the first-person limited, from the perspective of two murderers. These stories contain many similarities and differences in terms of tone and irony, imagery and symbolism, theme, and the diction of the protagonist. In both of these stories, these elements, working in tandem, are very effective in creating a sense of horror in the reader.
The tone of these stories is very similar. In both cases, the story is told from the killer’s perspective, allowing us a deeper insight …show more content…
Montresor manages to convince Fortunado to accompany him by asking for his help in determining the validity of a wine. Fortunado’s pride in his wine-tasting ability is what convinces him to follow Montresor, in hopes of displaying his skills. No such theme exists in The Tell-Tale Heart, as the narrator in that story cares little for his pride. The diction of the protagonist in The Tell-Tale Heart bears few similarities to that in The Cask of Amontillado. One of the few similarities is that both characters speak with a certain surety that what they do is right. They believe that they have done the appropriate thing, and their language reflects that. Another similarity in diction is the archaic expressions and phrases used, although this is because of the time period in which these stories were written. Words like “dissimulation”(The Tell-Tale Heart 2), “hearkening” (The Tell-Tale Heart 3) and “unredressed” (The Cask of Amontillado 1) are not typically used in modern English. Of the many differences observed in the diction of the protagonists of these stories, perhaps the most obvious is the broken, disjointed sentence structure seen in The Tell-Tale Heart, which contrasts with the elegance and fluidity of expression seen in The Cask of Amontillado. One could content that the protagonist of The Cask of Amontillado is fairly well-educated, as he appears to have a relatively high social standing, and consequently his speech should be rather well-developed when compared to the speech of the protagonist of The Tell-Tale Heart, who appears to be some sort of servant, denoting a lack of higher education or status. One could also explain the speech patterns of the narrator as being a product of his madness. Personally, I believe that Poe has done a very fine job of creating a pair of hauntingly memorable stories. I enjoy that the stories are told from the