Comparing The Tell-Tale Heart And A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

I am impressed with the variety of literary terms expressed within the short stories that we are considering for publication, and the vast array of genres they represent. “The Tell-Tale

Heart” is an exciting horror-fiction story, expressed through characterization and flashback. I enjoyed the Naturalism of “To Build a Fire,” brought to life through setting and imagery. “A

Clean, Well-Lighted Place” is a modernist short story that caused me to reflect on the realities of age and loneliness through the use of unique points of view. African-American fiction is represented by “Sonny’s Blues,” expressed through the conflict and resolution of the relationship between two brothers, ending in an epiphany. I was both intrigued and disturbed by the symbolism

Therefore, I am writing to recommend “The Tell-

Tale Heart,” “To Build a Fire,” “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” “The Yellow Wallpaper,”

“Sonny’s Blues,” and “A Sound of Thunder” for inclusion in the new anthology.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” is an indispensable story that provides examples of flashback and characterization. The majority of the story is told as a flashback through a 1st Person narrator who tells of a past event. The narrator exclaims, “Hearken! and observe how healthily-how calmly, I can tell you the whole story” (37). Another example of flashback is revealed by actions given in the past-tense: “But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded-with what caution-with what foresight-with what dissimulation I went to work!” (37).

Characterization is another important literary term represented in “The Tell-Tale Heart.” This story is an account of how and why a madman’s unprovoked anger led him to commit murder, conceal the body, and ultimately confess to the crime. The madman states there was no material

Fairfield

The majority of the text is delivered as conversation between the two waiters. After the old man has been sent away and the café closed, the point of view shifts to 1st Person, from the perspective of the older waiter. This unique change provides insight into his thoughts and feelings as he “continued the conversation with himself” (171). He thinks about the importance of having a clean, well-lighted café in the late hours. In addition, he questions what he fears and determines, “It was not fear or dread. It was a nothing that he knew too well. It was all a nothing and a man was nothing too” (171). His thoughts continue on and he recites a version of the Lord’s Prayer in which most words are replaced with nada, meaning “nothing.” For example, “Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name” (171). After finally arriving home and going to bed at daylight, he sums up his thoughts of aging and loneliness with this final thought: “it is probably only insomnia. Many must have it”

(172).

The 4th story I recommend is “The Yellow Wallpaper,” for its representation of symbolism. The wallpaper symbolizes the woman’s mental state and the entrapment she