The Cask of Amontillado

Individualism in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe was a journalist, a pamphleteer, a merchant but he was most famously known for being a novelist. His most famous book, being Robinson Crusoe, is set on a deserted island where a stranded man has to survive for 28 years. This oeuvre belongs to the English early novels and created a new form of storytelling. A storytelling in which Defoe wants his readers to believe that they are reading factual history rather than a piece of imagination…

Naguib Mahfouz, considered to be one of Egypt’s finest writers, utilizes his ability to skillfully compose his works, which illustrate the issues plaguing his nation. Such cleverness can be observed in his novel Midaq Alley. As stated by the title, Mahfouz focuses on the turmoil surfacing in an alley in Cairo. Through the development and digression of his characters, Mahfouz highlights the toll which circumstantial poverty can have on a closed-off society. A revolutionary period for Egypt led…

No name Wit“The disease had sharpened my senses-not destroyed-not dulled them.” (p.265) “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a story told by, and only by the narrator, whom is the main character. In the story the narrator appears to have lost his/her mind, despite the constant and ever-present assurances that he/she is perfectly and infallibly sane. Although to contradict what the narrator says the narrator has a strong vibe of insanity around himself/herself, this is due to the brutal murder of the old…

Point of View in ¨The Pit in the Pendulum¨ Edgar Allen Poe's first person narrator in ¨The Pit in the Pendulum¨ is a strong survivor but being in captivity is driving him insane. In first person the readers become the strong survivor, that is the unreliable prisoner of Poe's famous short story and they get a deeper, and more visceral experience because of it. In first person point of view the reader sees the story through the eyes of the narrator, their view and interpretation of the events.…

In most literary works, minor characters influence the major character. The minor character does this either indirectly or directly. In this instance, Lymon, a minor character in “The Piano Lesson”, indirectly influences Boy Willie Charles and directly influences Berniece Charles . The Charles siblings are longtime friends with Lymon and have a made a connection with the two. Whether it be a demanding or intimate relationship connection. These relationships add purpose to the play by…

Betrayal--it is something that quite a number of people dread, on account of its gravity and ability to truly hurt and shake someone to his or her core. A traitor can come in many shapes and sizes, from all walks of life; according to Shakespeare, however, those who are closest to an individual are also those who are most likely to break faith with the aforementioned individual. This is reflected in his quote, “There’s daggers in men’s smiles; the near in blood, the nearer bloody.” In context,…

The Raven Symbolism “The Raven” is a narrative poem written by Edgar Allan Poe. Many authors have used talking birds and ravens in their writing, but used in Poe uses the raven to represent a sad longing for his dead wife or lover with the emotions of loneliness, sadness, fear,madness, and death. “The Raven” was inspired by “A Tale of the Riots Eighty” by Charles Dickens. Throughout the poem, the narrator looks for some answers about seeing his wife, Lenore again in the afterlife as he stares…

Machiavelli's last argument "the end justifies the means" is a quite controversial issue. In his book Machiavelli explains gives an example of Agathocles and Oliverotto da Ferma. Both of them seized the power by cruelty. They killed others in order to come to power and stay in power. Well, I said it's a controversial, because sometimes the end does justifies the means, but sometimes not. For instance, cheating in the exam (the means) in order to get a good mark and make your mother happy (the…

“The Pardoner's Tale vs. The Wife of Bath’s Tale” Greed is so powerful that it murders some of the closest people to you. Geoffrey Chaucer is the author of The Canterbury Tales which teaches many great life lessons that will go on forever. “The Pardoner’s Tale” educates on the feeling of greed and “ The Wife of Bath’s Tale” expresses what women really want. The reasons why “The Pardoner's Tale” is a better tale is because it is more entertaining and it teaches a better moral that can relate to…

Epics in India and elsewhere have always been a rich reservoir of tales. Time and again, different perspectives emerge from the re-readings of these ancient tales, inspired by the challenges thrown up by the vicissitude of contemporary life. As Workman has observed “…the literary attractiveness of mythology is due to its enduring depiction of significant and sometime very uncomfortable relationships, some admittedly between man and his environment, but others of at least equal importance between…