Poe's Stories brief biography of edgar allan poe
Download 0.58 Mb. View original pdf
|
Short Story By Flannery OConnor
- Navigate this page:
- Related Characters
| Related Characters Narrator (The Tell-Tale Heart) (speaker) Related Themes: Page Number 189 Explanation and Analysis The narrator of the story has now murdered the old man and buried his body underneath the floorboards. Ashe sits in the old man's room, talking to the police, he begins to hear a strange ticking sound--a sound which he believes to be the beating of the old man's heart. As we can guess, there is probably no actual heartbeat in the room. One could argue that the narrator, full of repressed guilt for his actions, has projected the sound of the heartbeat, undermining his own carefully planned murder. It's also possible that Poe intends the heartbeat to be a supernatural event--the old man is haunting his murderer from the grave, forcing him to divulge his secret to the police. In either case, though, the narrator's greatest enemy is his own irrational mind and his "over-acute" senses. Try as he might to getaway with a crime, the narrator's own fear and anxiety destroy his chances of getting off scot-free. The Pit and the Pendulum Quotes I had swooned but will not say that all of consciousness was lost. What of it there remained I will not attempt to define, or even to describe yet all was not lost. In the deepest slumber no In delirium – no Ina swoon -- no In death – no even in the grave all is not lost. Else there is no immortality for man. Related Characters Narrator (The Pit and the Pendulum) (speaker) Related Themes: Page Number 44 Explanation and Analysis In this story, a man is sentenced to torture by the Spanish Inquisition. Ashes sentenced, the man faints, and yet still remains somewhat conscious of his surroundings. As the man puts it, it's impossible to be truly unconscious- whether you're awake, asleep, delirious, or dead, some part of you is always at least somewhat aware of where you are and what's going on. The passage is a grim bit of foreshadowing, because there will be many times in the story when the narrator wishes he were totally unconscious. But there is no relief for the narrator--his dreams are just as terrifying as his reality. The sense of inescapable horror--of being "buried alive," whether literally or metaphorically--is typical of Poe's style. Looking upwards I surveyed the ceiling of my prison. […] In one of its panels a very singular figure riveted my whole attention. It was the painted figure of Time as he is commonly represented, save that, in lieu of a scythe, he held what, at a casual glance, I supposed to be the pictured image of a huge pendulum, such as we see on antique clocks. Download 0.58 Mb. Share with your friends:
|