How Does Poe Use Repetition In The Tell Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe is an author best known for his distinct writing style in his poetry and gothic horror short stories. His stories repeatedly use many elements, such as point of view, an unreliable narrator, repetition, and gothic horror. Many consider him to be the master of the short story and the inventor of detective fiction. “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” are two examples of Poe’s short stories. “The Cask of Amontillado” is a story about a man, Montresor, who seeks revenge towards Fortunato, although the audience never truly learns his motivations behind this. He finds a drunken Fortunato at a carnival and coaxes him into entering his catacombs to taste some supposed Amontillado. However, he instead buries him. “The

Repetition is used to help enforce an idea in a story. In "The Tell-Tale Heart", the narrator often repeats words. The repetition of these adjectives is used to make the reader nervous and uneasy. For example, "I undid the lantern cautiously- oh, so cautiously- cautiously (for the hinges creaked)" This quote represents how the repetition of the adverb "cautiously" makes the reader feel on edge. The reader is frightened of how carefully he planned out the murder already, and the repetition only goes further to prove his mental instability. In "The Cask of Amontillado", Fortunato repeats the word "amontillado" in order to prove his doubts about the truth behind the wine being amontillado. According to the text, "'Amontillado? A pipe? Impossible! And in the middle of the carnival!' 'I have my doubts, and I was silly enough to pay the full Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter. You were not to be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain.' 'Amontillado!' 'I have my doubts.' 'Amontillado!' 'And I must satisfy them.' 'Amontillado!'' This proves how Fortunato is questioning the authenticity of the Amontillado. He was wondering what kind of petulant person would sell Montresor fake Amontillado. As the self-proclaimed Amontillado expert, he is honored that Montresor is coming to him now, but offended that he did not come to him first thing. He also may be thinking that Montresor is a little thoughtless

Some characteristics of gothic horror are mystery, horror, the grotesque, and violence. All of these are themes in Poe's short stories. In "The Cask of Amontillado", the mystery is found when you are wondering what Montresor was going to do to Fortunato, how he was going to get away with it, and what Fortunato did to deserve such cruel and unusual punishment. However, we never actually find out what Fortunato did to deserve such cruel and unusual punishment. Horror in "The Tell-Tale Heart" is when the narrator carefully plans out the murder of the undeserving old man. Violence and the grotesque are found in both stories when the narrators murder their presumably undeserving victims. In "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The old man's hour has come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once- once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done… The old man was dead" This shows how the narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart" tells about the murder in violent and grotesque detail.In "The Cask of Amontillado", "No answer still. I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and let it fall within. There came forth in return only a jingling of the bells. My heart grew sick- on account of the dampness of the catacombs. I hastened to make an end of my labor. I forced the last