Edgar Allan Poe is one of the greatest writers of
short gothic fiction of all times and the first reputable American writer to
earn a living through writing alone; he was also a poet and a literary critic.
His passion, dedication and commitment in writing made him gave the readers
remarkable books to love. His legacy was a reflection of his creativity and
imagination, and to acknowledge his
artwork is a privilege. “The Tele-Tale Heart” and “The Masque of the Red Death”
are two of his classical short horror stories to be discussed.
“The Tele-Tale Heart”
The story shows a wearied relationship between the
narrator and an old man with a vulture eye [according to the narrator]. Horror
conquered the narrator because of those scary eyes; he had no other choice except
to murder the old man to satisfy his obsession which was an obvious declaration
of his insanity. Mainly, This type of horror fiction was unique, it shows a
psychotic case and the reader experiences it in a way or another. Additionally,
this form is so difficult to express because all sources of horror and suspense
are dependent on the narrator’s mindset, his unstable feelings are supposed to
be transmitted to the reader, so that he could live inside the narrator’s mind
and heart as well as to understand his reasons for committing such crime. This
aspect of the story should not be in contradiction with the main purpose of any
horror fiction which is to frighten, scare and startle the readers as much as
possible. So, I have to admit that “The Tele-Tale Heart” is one of the rare gothic fictions in the nineteenth century that
combined psychotherapy with horror, which is something to be respected. By the
way, Edgar Allan Poe wrote another short horror fiction in the same year [1843]
correspondent to this one named “The Black cat”, that also involved a ghastly
bond between the narrator and his large black cat but “The Tele-Tale Heart” was
more realistic in my opinion. Basically, it is understood that
the narrator lived in conflict between his lunatic mind and his sweet heart, as
he stated in the early lines how he loved the old man and that he had nothing
to do with his gold, which shows his humbleness and the good perspective of the
character in general before we go further through the events. The narrator was
eager to show his intelligence in
committing the crime throughout the whole story; but actually, it showed his
paranoia as an approval of his madness. The lantern he
used to carry in the chamber was supposed to be the source of light that showed
him the way or the guideline he used to follow, but in my opinion it was the symbol of his blindness and a clue of his
ignorance as well. Edgar Allan Poe maybe intended to use a “Dark” lantern to
prove my point of view or he placed it as a popular item of lightning and that
is it. The slight groan the narrator used to hear was the keyword of the plot
where horror begins as we approach to the murder description. Now, as a reader
I feel the torture and pain the narrator is suffering. Moreover, this aspect
shows how complicated the sequence of the plot was, I have to sympathize with
the old man who was the victim of a madman's illusion, and feel sorry for the
murderer due to his struggle as well. Edgar Allan Poe used the words “dreadful”,
“hellish” and “agony” to assure that the readers feel the illness of the
narrator. He insisted to reveal the evidence of his innocence as the murder
content lacked bloodshed or the use of a lethal weapons. The conclusion was
logical for a man driven to madness, the voices of the old man’s heart
[according to the narrator] is getting louder although he was supposed to be
satisfied after the death of the old man as the vulture eye is now closed
forever and he was happy even for a while. However, it is normal for a
psychopath to feel the guilt inside him and when it reaches its highest level,
this guilt fires up the sufferer to the extreme limit as he started screaming,
and the arrival of the policemen for investigation signified the exercise of
authority in judicial proceedings. Last but not least, Edgar Allan Poe
succeeded in showing psychology in an horror fictional story; the elements of
horror were embedded in details and the narrator's mindset was the “nucleus”
that centralized all the events. I advise all young authors to read "The
Tele-Tale Heart" especially if they are gothic fiction fans.
“The Masque of the Red
Death”
The story takes place in
Prince Prospero's castle, where the duke carry out secure procedures to protect
himself and other nobles from the deadly and disastrous disease that has spread
through the whole country “the Red Death”. The title itself refers to a great
gothic story before I started reading. The story combines fiction, horror and
death together which guarantees reading a terrifying story. Definitely, the Red
Death was the source and the cause of horror and death in the story, and the
mystery of this disease is an important element in creating the whole plot.
Edgar Allan Poe used the word “Avator” to shape the figure of the disease,
which was an old spelling of the word “Avatar” as an incarnation in human form.
Nowadays, Avatar is a well-known movie directed by James Cameron in 2009 that
yet became the world’s highest-grossing movie of all time, and also a graphic
representation of people in chat rooms or online forums. Moreover, the castle
of Prince Prospero is a classical settlement in gothic horror genre. Most of
the gothic characters inhabited castles for their accommodation in horror
stories like the legendary vampire count “Dracula” created by Bram Stoker. Edgar
Allan Poe described the impact of the Red Death firstly, to prepare the readers
for bloody horror events. The Masquerade ball was a popular event that was
almost embraced by royal leaders since the fifteenth century, where the guests
put on masquerade masks and special costumes in a joyful atmosphere with a lot of
fun and excitement. Edgar Allan Poe used the “arabesque figures” and “delirious
fancies” to describe the ball, referred to as “Hernani”, a famous play written
in 1830 by the French dramatist Victor Hugo. The duke used the ball as a method
of distraction from the Red Death and not to show his generosity or give
blessings to his companions, elements like music and wine were enough indicators
of enjoyment. From a political point of view, Prince Prospero aims at protecting
himself only with the nobles and he did not care about other ordinary citizens
which emphasizes the lack of justice in dealing with crisis in general. I cannot
assume that Edgar Allan Poe intended to show such aspect but the readers may
conclude that the duke and the noble guests deserved their fate because of it.
The description of the seven chambers showed the creativity of Prince Prospero,
the colorful designs ensured his vision as an artist and not as a ruler. The
western black [the seventh] chamber was an exception, its black velvet color
that did not match with the windows' colors, the deep bloody colored panes and
the fire-light beam that made the chamber look scary and awful. All these forms
of darkness showed where death will take place as a few guests stepped in front
of it. Furthermore, Edgar Allan Poe placed the gigantic clock of ebony with its
loud clang beside the black chamber to stimulate much more fear and terror as
the guests and musicians became a little bit confused. Now the readers could
expect the turning point approaching at any time. The author may have
exaggerated the description of the whole jolly atmosphere which could be boring
to some readers especially when he extended in showing the wearied attitude of
the guests. But, from a critical perspective, this is essential to raise the
level of intensity and horror gradually according to the story. The turning
point of the story came over at midnight when the clock bell rang twelve times
and the bloody masked figure of Death showed off to accomplish his sacred
mission and kill everybody, referred to as “Herod” who was the king of Judea
around the time of the Christ's birth and known for his cruelty and violence as
he killed several members of his family including his wife. So, the frightening
atmosphere was limited from the exposition until we reach the climax of the
plot and concentrated during the falling action stage till conclusion, which
was the main weak spot of the plot in my opinion. However, it did not have any
negative impact on the story framework . Actually, I expected that the
encounter between the Red Death and Prince Prospero would last much longer or
even with nobles despite their encouragement lately so that the readers could
witness sort of a battle between the deadly disease and its targets. However,
the Red Death acted like a terminator where no one could survive its
destructive power. Finally, I appreciated Edgar Allan Poe's vision with the
variety of fiction and horror elements in the story from the beginning to the
very end. If only the confrontation between the duke and the Red Death had been
more thrilling, the story could have been extraordinary.
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