Comparing The Tell-Tale Heart And The Barn Burning

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Faulkner’s quote “The human heart is in conflict with itself” is a very powerful sentence, amply supported by a lot of fictional stories. This may be supported using two previously assigned short stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe and “The Barn Burning” by William Faulkner himself. The essence of Faulkner’s words is brilliantly captured in these stories and a well-defined connection can be made through various examples extracted from them. The Tell-Tale Heart introduces us to the narrator who clearly states he is not mad. However, his definition of mad is different due to his mental illness. He claims to have murdered an old man. He states, “I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture - a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees - very gradually - I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” (Poe 37) This was the only reason the narrator possessed to kill the old man. And his constant…show more content…
It was fighting against what it just made this man do. The man did not realize that his insides were at war due to his actions. This made him blurt out everything due to the “noise” that he heard and that continued to grow louder. It was this fierce battle in his heart that would not let him rest after what he had done. Hence, Faulkner’s quote is brilliantly satisfied with this example. Faulkner’s words could be additionally satisfied by “The Barn Burning”. This story, displaying young Sartorius Snopes as a protagonist, shows him at a Judicial Court with his father, Abner, on trial for the burning of his master’s barn. At this point of time in the story, Sarty is taught to be loyal to his family. However, he struggles within himself since he knows that his father is wrong. In spite of that, he still maintains a level of loyalty since he is taught to stand with his own
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