“The Tell-Tale Heart” vs. “The Haunted Palace”
Death and sorrow has entered everyone’s life at some point, but it can definitely have different effects on us. Edgar Allan Poe’s two short stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Haunted Palace” both deal with death and evil, which raises a question, how has evil effected Poe in his life to drive him to write pieces of writing such as these. “The Tell-Tale Heart” is about a man taken over by insanity and killing an old man because of it. “The Haunted Palace” is about this beautiful Palace that was then taken by evil and turned into a place of sorrow. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Haunted Palace” both are acutely unalike, but have alike themes and meaning of symbolism.
Both texts
…show more content…
In “The Tell-Tale Heart” evil consumes a being, but the evil keeps consuming and destroying. Like a virus you can silence it with treatment; it can’t be removed from your deoxyribonucleic acid. “that I must scream or die! and now --again --hark! louder! louder! louder! louder! “Villains! I shrieked, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!”” (Poe 5). On the other hand, in “The Haunted Palace” evil comes, eradicates, and leaves the allay kingdom a hollow husk. “And travelers, now, within that valley, through the red-litten windows see vast forms that move fantastically to a discordant melody; while, like a ghastly rapid river, through the pale door a hideous throng rush out forever, and laugh—but smile no more.” Although, there are differences the text is still similar because wherever evil lurks and strikes destruction is always going to follow close behind.
Moreover, there are many different craft moves used between “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Haunted Palace”. In “The Haunted Palace” Poe uses symbolism to show that good things will rot away in the wrong hands.”Banners yellow, glorious, golden, on its roof did float and flow this—all this—was in the olden time long ago)” (Poe 2), While in “The Tell-Tale Heart” Poe uses thought shot to show that the narrator is insane. “TRUE!--nervous--very, very dreadfully nervous I had been
…show more content…
(Cara) Yes, it could be said that it is only the narrator's imagination. This is a good point, yet it fails to account for the narrator killing a man because of what he thinks. The claim that insanity eats you alive is supported in the text, “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 my mind to take the life of the old man” (Poe 2).
“The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Haunted Palace” by Edgar Allan Poe share similar themes and craft, yet are highly different. Terrorists are evil dwellers that slaughter the purity of life. Just as any other evil creature would do. Death is also seen as evil, and many people have lost someone in their lives. Evil will always be one step ahead, so it can try to destroy that life. Evil will either succeed or fail, but there is no way to ever eradicate