To many people's surprise, fear can actually be very helpful. Besides it saving you and others in some cases, it also leads people to be more cautious of their surroundings and what to do in some situations. However, in many cases, it can also be harmful as it can lead to paranoia, obsession, and being unable to enjoy life's pleasures. In some situations, people act out of fear, and it can lead to horrendous results, including death. But if you use fear to your advantage by to think logically, you can live life with more pleasure, success, and happiness. In some of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, he uses symbolism, irony and hyperboles to show the results of fear and how it distorts people's minds. In the “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Masque of Red Death,” Poe uses symbolism throughout the stories to show us that death is always there and that guilt is the consequence of some actions. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the old man that the narrator loves, has an eye which is constantly watching and judging him. Even after the narrator kills the old man …show more content…
It often shows who the person is on the inside and how much, if at all, how fear distorted their mind.The narrator survives, but only because of one reason; he put his fear aside and thought logically. In every situation that he faced death, despite being scared of dying, he thought logically and thoroughly: “far and wide--with the shriek of a damned spirit; to my heart with the stealthy pace of a tiger(70), “I rubbed the bandage wherever I could reach it… busied themselves with the anointed bandage… I was free”(71). He saw the pendulum as a spirit and a tiger, which are both things that people fear, but he managed to survive because he put his fear aside and used logic to survive. Most people, when faced with death, give in to fear, which only has negative results, but he doesn't, and he