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
He begins with considering these notes and comments as “offhand”, “dismissive” and “nonsense”, but he soon explained the importance of such notes for the reader. Words are a link and connection between author and reader and reader always find links with the thoughts and circumstances in which the author or poet has written the text or readers have read it. “I remember once… what the person must look like why wrote "Don't be a ninny" alongside
In the attempt to capture truth in writing, writers and readers alike are cognisant of the artifice that occurs in the process of writing. This oxymoron; that truth and authenticity can result from artifice is the basis of the conflict that occurs between concepts of reality, truth and literary realism. The nature of fiction itself presents tension between truth and artifice: writers abide by the facets of literary realism, which has a “fidelity to the truth” (M.H. Abrams), and must create artifices to deliver meaning and create truth, utilising techniques of fiction such as metaphor, figures, imagery and dialogue which aren’t necessarily true. In order to create a sense of authenticity, Nam Le abides by verisimilitude in his short stories “Love and Honour and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice” and “Tehran Calling” in his collection The Boat.
Specific topics of interest include the point of view of the narrator, how this influences the way we perceive the stories, and why the authors chose these ways of telling their stories. A good way to begin is by considering the general effects of the point of view of the narration on literature. Ignoring the very rare second person point of view, novels are either first or third person. First person viewpoints tell the story as the lead character sees it. This may introduce a question of reliability, since their perception of reality may be tainted or their knowledge may be limited.
The way that he get’s the audience involved (as an illusion), almost putting them in the old man’s position, is why Poe is unique and inclined above many readers alike. Alfred C. Ward has a very strong yet intriguing take on Poe’s writing style, he writes,“Two things, at least, should be remembered, however, when we make these strictures in regard to Edgar Allan Poe’s work. First, that he had ever before him the aberrations of his own troubled mind—doubtfully poised at all times, perhaps, and almost certainly subject to more or less frequent periods of disorder: consequently, it was probably more nearly normal, for him, to picture the abnormal than to depict the average. Second, that literary men in general, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, were still in the trough of the wave of German romanticism, which exalted extravagant and clamorous and stormy sentimentality above the quieter, deeper, truer moods of human feeling.” I personally agree with Ward because all of Poe’s stories made me wonder if he was indicating himself. We all know he had an
Theme can be defined in three ways, “the abstract concept explored in a literary work, frequently recurring ideas, or repetition of a meaningful element in a work” (Melani). The theme of the story is very important because without theme you can’t truly understand the story as a whole. Without a theme the reader and sometimes the author can get lost. Everyone would assume the obvious theme would be revenge, but according to Bill Delaney it goes deeper than that. “What Montresor wanted – and perhaps what everyone wants who fantasizes about revenge – was not retribution, but closure” (Delaney).
Poe’s usage of literary devices and choice of words are what use to maintain the creepy feeling. The trepidation which characterizes the mood in Fall House of Usher is found through foreshadowing, allegory, and unity of both tone and diction. Poe uses foreshadowing to entice the readers and to hint at future events that may occur
In both of these stories the authors use imagery to help drive home their main points, although in a somewhat different manner. In “Desiree’s Baby" Chopin uses imagery to hint at the “truth” and lead up to the ironic ending. While in Carver’s “Cathedral” imagery is used to reinforce his main theme of don’t judge a book by its cover. Now we will take a closer look at imagery, and examine the intricacies of how these great authors use it in their works. So what is imagery?
Yes, it was this!” (2) He goes on to describe the vexing evilness of the old man’s eye by elaborating: “He had the eye of a vulture-a pale blue eye, with 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.” (2) He goes on to calculate exactly how he was to kill the old man, and thus sinks deeper and deeper into the pool of madness he has waded into. He even describes the sense of power he feels, as if to say that only a sane person could feel this sort of exaltation over such a brutal plot. “Never, before that night, had I felt the extent of my own powers-of my sagacity. I could scarcely
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.” Through his intentions we see only the work of a mad man, with no logical reasoning in order. the narrator from “The Black Cat” expresses, “Pluto -- this was the cat's name -- was my favorite pet and playmate.” and after the event of the narrator’s first wrongdoing towards the cat the narrator recounts “When reason returned with the morning -- when I had slept off the fumes of the night's debauch -- I experienced a sentiment half of horror, half of remorse, for the crime of which I had been guilty; but it was, at best, a feeble and equivocal feeling, and the soul remained untouched.