Allan Bloom

Most people associate the word insane with some type of mental disorder. Some associate it with insane asylums. Some people even associate the word insane with themselves. But how does one categorize a person as insane? When is it okay to assume their insanity? In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” it is apparent that the main character is insane when he plots how to kill a man because he does not like his eye. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, one could characterize…

“The Tell-Tale Heart” is a short story written by the novelist Edgar Allan Poe. That depicts a confession of a mentally unstable murder who is overcome with his own paranoid rationalizations. Poe had lived a life of destruction, darkness and tragedy. Poe, born in 1809, lost his mother at the age of three. He was raised by his foster parents in Richmond, Virginia (Kirszner and Mandell 325). Poe started to gamble in order to levy money for food and clothing because he suffered from a lack of…

The Complex and Rebellious History of American Literature Many scholars agree that the history of American Literature has slowly evolved from one philosophy growing out of or rebelling against the common belief of the time. Each stemmed out of another to create another philosophy, another lifestyle, and another culture. Some of the most the important philosophies in American history are Puritanism, Deism, Romanticism, Transcendentalism, Realism, Naturalism, Modernism and Existentialism. Many…

During this second set of readings, five authors caught my attention for their writing styles, historical relevance, relatability, creativity, and originality. During the first sets of readings after Barlow, Tecumseh and his speech “The White Men Are Not Friends to the Indians" caught my eye. Personally as a minority myself, I felt that I could relate to him to a slight degree and understand his perspective on his uphill battle against the Americans. I also felt that his speech itself was…

Identity forms an important part of the tell-tale heart. The identity of the narrator and their perception of self and their own insanity forms part of the short story’s overall charm and mystique. Poe as a writer is very aware of the effect his writing has on readers and purposefully crafts this character along with the character of the old man in order to create an intimate and suspenseful piece of writing. By following his own Gothic manifesto Poe is able to utilise his writing and narration…

Hop-Frog is a dark revenge story by Edgar Allan Poe, that perfectly captures human capacity of evil. In Dark Romaticism, the protagonists are similar to antagonists because they are all prone to sin. The “good guy” would have a dark side and capacity for evil. As such, The protagonist in Hop-Frog is portraited as cruel and inhumane as his nature. With that being said, All the characters malevolent motives and actions are indicative of the Dark Romantic Movement. Hop Frog and his friend…

Tell-Tale Heart Can you imagine yourself in a dark room with a possibility of a random man there trying to kill you? Well this is the main character action towards the old man. In the story Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe this is the issue the main character goes through. The main character wants to kill the old man because of the way his eye looks. However, every night he goes into the old man 's house to kill him his eye is closed. So he doesn 't have the anger the kill the man and his…

movies and even real situations that end up being dangerous because of a dark secret. A story compared to the Lottery 's continuous theme of a dark, untold secret that can have repercussions till the end is, “The Murders in Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe. This short story by Poe is most known for is mystery that…

Many people have a fear of public speaking, heights, or spiders. In the Tell Tale Heart, however; one might find a newfound fear for a roommate stalking you in your sleep whilst planning your murder. This story distinctly uses naturalism, specifically in the case of the narrator. Naturalism plays with the ideas of men as beasts and also with fate versus free will. Both of these themes are displayed by the narrator. For instance, the narrator may be categorized as a beast since he plans this…

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “the Birth Mark” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Both have many connecting elements, especially the theme of “Strength as their own destruction.” In both stories the protagonist has an obsession that leads to their demise. They both take pride in things that cause fatalities in their lives. And last, they both take these two reasons as justification for playing God. I believe that the characters have a considerable amount of pride in their abilities that they…