Psychosomatic Understanding Assignment

Running Head: EDGAR ALLAN POE’S ‘TELL-TALE HEART’ AND ‘THE CASK OF
AMONTILLADO’
Edgar Allan Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:
Table of Contents

EDGAR ALLAN POE’S ‘TELL-TALE HEART’ AND ‘THE CASK OF
AMONTILLADO’
1
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................6

EDGAR ALLAN POE’S ‘TELL-TALE HEART’ AND ‘THE CASK OF
AMONTILLADO’
2
Introduction
Edgar Allan Poe and his fascination with the mystery around death in the form of
murders which is narrated by the murdered himself reveals the psychosomatic understanding
of the working of the mind in him and his writings. Both the work belonged to the phase in
his life where he was fascinated with murder mysteries which were revealed to the audience
in a reversed way where the readers are left intrigued to re-read the short stories in order to
find out that they have not missed any detail by the psychoanalysis by the author. The
murderers in both the stories are individual who emanates confidence in their narrative as
well as establishes that their mental ability was not compromised with the help of elaborate
planning. The lines, “I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is
unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser.”(Poe, 2020). The statement shows the
psychological strength that is developed in the murderer, allowing him to narrate the stories
of cold-blooded murder with a terrifying calm. The thesis statement stands for the thematic
similarity in the short stories with the difference in intensity of the crime that is conveyed
with the help of setting, characters, plot and scene of the works.
Discussion
The setting of the short stories is similar in the manner that they are more eerily
explained by the murderers themselves to prove their point. In the case of Montresor, we see
him explaining it as a mean of establishing himself as the defender of the name of
Montresors. While in the case of Tell-Tale Heart, the narrator, as well as the victim, remains
unnamed like the mystery behind the murder. They both explain every step and their
similarity lies in the elaborate and precise detail that they observed to get the result. The
setting of the murder is shown to be the dark place which reflects the darkness of the psyche,
which made them carry out the heinous crime (Yusuf, 2018). The setting in case of
Fortunato’s death does not arrive as suddenly as in the case of the old man. The readers get