The narrator of “The Pit and the Pendulum” appears to thrive off his own insanity, evident in the way that he says “Hearken! And observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story”; no sane person could recount for their murderous and torturous actions “healthily” and “calmly”. Furthermore, the way in which he constantly reassures the reader of his sanity ultimately has the counter effect of expressing the insanity which he possesses as shown by his rhetorical questioning of “how, then, am I mad?”, “Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this?” and “If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body”. If the protagonist was in fact sane, why would he feel it were his duty to constantly remind the reader of the fact that he is not “mad”?
Poe presents a narrator who is vile and brutal. He is a murderer who is open to admitting this and he believes that he is right in performing this task. Poe is trying to show that when in first person perspective, there may not always be trust or preference of the narrator. Poe has written this story in a form so that the audience feels more sympathy for Fortunato rather than the narrator. He does not give the reason why Montresor wants revenge on this poor man, leaving the option open that the narrator may be simply mad.
Stopping is hard as the addcitive substance alters thinking patterns in the brain o drug use continues even though they know no reward is coming. They effectively have no self control. This means they have shorter periods of abtinacne. One of the strengths of the disease model addiction is that there is supporting reaearch. Volkow gave Ritalin to a group of participants he found that some of the participents enjoyed the experience while others didn’t.
He subjects the poor characters of his novel to every imaginable evil that man has been wont to commit in order to prove that this could not be the best of all worlds. Secondarily, Voltaire also seems to have other bones to pick. Hardly a paragraph is written that does not contain a sarcastic comment about or outright mockery of some person, idea, or institution. It is a credit to the skill of the author that he is able to present his criticisms with a humor that is as intoxicating as it is relentless and controversial. The sheer number of insults and implications made by the author coupled with a healthy sprinkling of aristocratic inside jokes would indicate that he essentially wrote this book for himself and other like-minded intellectuals of the enlightenment that disapproved of the status quo or could at least appreciate his cheeky sense of humor.
Jekyll’s affair contradict with the introduction of his personality in the very beginning of the book, Mr. Utterson likes this letter because it says that his friend Dr. Jekyll is not blackmailed and the evil person Mr. Hyde will not distract Dr. Jekyll again. Also Mr. Utterson feels guilty and blames himself for his past suspicions, for Mr. Hyde does not intend to blackmail Dr. Jekyll at all. By contrast, Mr. Hyde fully realizes his unworthiness of inheriting Dr. Jekyll’s properties. However, Mr. Utterson is upset with the fact that the letter was from Dr. Jekyll as well after he lets his clerk compare the letter with Jekyll’s own
When the narrator is the protagonist and tells the story from a personal account it makes the overall impact of the story more vivid. The narrator in this story is mentally challenged and adds to the overall effect of horror by continually stressing that he or she is not mad; He tries to convince us of that fact by how carefully this brutal crime was planned and executed. He begins the story inquiring, "How then am I mad?" and states, "Observe how healthily--how calmly I can tell you the whole story" (Paragraph 1). The narrator tries to prove how sane he really is before the reader has read enough to make any kind of judgment about him.
Chillingworth is a doctor but who is he helping? In the novel, The Scarlett Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the vengeful Chillingworth skillfully and quietly tortures Reverend Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne for their passionate affair. Just as the book states “The intellect of Roger Chillingworth had now a sufficient plain path before it. It was not indeed precisely that which he had laid out for himself to tread.” If this is so, how and why does he end up inflicting the psychological trauma that he does? It appears that Hawthorne infers Chillingworth initially had another plan, a plan that would not ruin Arthur Dimmesdale’s life.
In Poe’s story, the narrator was a very nervous man but doesn’t want the reader to think he is insane. Throughout the story he tries to defend his sanity. He even goes on to say “The disease had sharpened my senses—not destroyed—not dulled them” (37). How can he be crazy if his senses have been heightened? The narrator communicates to the reader how he thinks he is sane by justifying his actions.
O'Brien creates an intentional paradox for his readers when he writes the violent, but grabbing story of Rat Kiley and then at the end of the story, tells the reader that the characters and events of the story did not happen just as he described them, but that they happened in a totally different way to other people. But he insists that the story is true. With this, O'Brien challenges the reader to discover the truth of the event. O'Brien gets the reader to figure out what fiction of this book is actually worth. Firstly, did O'Brien confuse the reader when he said that the events did not happen after the reader became involved in those events?
A critic from the Literature Network said “Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" consists of a monologue in which an accused murderer protests his sanity rather than his innocence. The point of view is the criminal's, but the tone is ironic in that his protestation of sanity produces an opposite effect upon the reader. From these two premises stem multiple levels of action in the story. The criminal, for example, appears obsessed with defending his psychic self at whatever cost, but actually his drive is self-destructive since successful defense upon either implied charge— of murder or of criminal insanity— automatically involves admission of guilt upon the other (1).” In summary, when Poe creates two personalities within one character, one part of the character will blame the other part of the character. Eventually on part of the character will give in and accept everything.