Comparing and Contrasting Edgar Allan Poe's Short Stories: Analysis

This essay offers a comparative analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, 'The Tell-Tale Heart' and 'The Cask of Amontillado,' exploring the psychological underpinnings of the narrators and their crimes. The essay delves into the thematic similarities of murder and madness, examining the settings, characters, plots, and scenes within each story. It highlights the narrators' unreliable perspectives, the use of dark and unsettling settings to reflect the characters' mental states, and the limited cast of characters contributing to the urgency of the plots. The analysis also discusses the motives behind the murders, the murderers' states of mind, and the plots' structures, emphasizing the psychological derangement that drives the characters' actions. Furthermore, the essay explores the themes of sanity, eccentricity, and the characters' detachment from normal life, providing insights into Poe's exploration of the human psyche and the complexities of the human condition. References to various academic sources are included to support the arguments made.

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

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

2EDGAR ALLAN POE’S ‘TELL-TALE HEART’ AND ‘THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO’
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

3EDGAR ALLAN POE’S ‘TELL-TALE HEART’ AND ‘THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO’
the signs in case of Fortunato with the fact that he was taken by Montresor under the ground
and each threshold that they passed showed the symbolism of death standing at the corner. In
case of the old man, it was the darkness of the night, but the reader is taken aback with the
sudden leap of action as the narrator worked his way into the final act with the stealthiness of
a cat.
The characters in both the stories are very limited and hence shows the urgency of the
plot and the layer of the crime in which it was committed. Both the stories show a clear
indication that the relationship between the victims and the murderers were healthy, but their
difference lies in the way narrators thinks. Montresors state of mind depicted the darkness
within and the psychological dilemma in the narrator is transferred into the readers where
they flow along with the narrative instead of searching for the reason behind the crime. He
had started believing that Fortunato has been laughing at the high name of his name while
there is no evidence of it in the story as well as in his memory (Yusuf, 2018). This
assumption can be seen as the mystery which has pushed him to plan an elaborate murder
plan of his friend. Due to the relationship in both the stories, the murderers are well aware of
the habits and routines of their victims. Montresor moreover goes to the length of establishing
a positive image in front of the world and learning about his weakness (Arntzen, 2018).
While in the case of the old man, their relationship is not specified, but their exchange is
shown to be jovial to the point that he states, “I loved the old man.” Making it an ambiguous
subject for the readers (Poe, 1992). Both of them, in the end, could not keep their patience
and shows their animalistic nature when they murder their victims ruthlessly. The lack of
evidence in one and the complete lack of motive in the other story sets them apart due to the
state of mind of the murderers. Montresor stays calm and is collected in his decision that his
crime stays hidden in the cellar for half a century but the narrator in Tell-Tale Heart could
hear his guilt in the form of the heartbeat he has just stopped.

4EDGAR ALLAN POE’S ‘TELL-TALE HEART’ AND ‘THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO’
The change in the plot of the stories shows that these mysteries do not possess any
true relationship with the motive neither they are dependent on the emotion of revenge or
anger that can be seen as the depiction of psychological instability in the murderers. The plot
of The Cask of Amontillado shows Montresor as the individual with the ability to dole out a
plan and caring it out with the precision till the end (Yusuf, 2018). The most significant
difference is that Montresor can keep his secret hidden in the cellar and have lived for more
than half a century to narrate the tale of his success. However, the psychological push that is
shown in the narrator where he could hear the heartbeat of the old man even after his death is
seen as the doom which was awaiting him after his confession (Poe, 1992). The plot of the
narration, in this case, reveals that he was being deemed unstable by others and he took the
opportunity to demonstrate his working capability.
The theme of both the short story is the psychological derangement which was caused
due to the occurrences of their lives which they have managed to harbor into the criminal
ability to plan an activity with such precision. In the case of Montresor, it is his mind against
him, which leads him to believe that his friend has insulted him by putting g his family’s
name to shame. It shows the megalomaniac tendency in him due to which he cannot bear
seeing the slight implication that someone can look down upon him. In the case of the old
man, the theme of eccentricity comes at the forefront with the narrator demonstrating it thrice
in the story (Bee, 2016). The first is the instance of murdering him by crushing him under the
bed, the second being the precision with which the floorboard is removed and replaced and
the third being the confidence with which he invites the police for the conversation in the old
man’s bedroom.
Conclusion
The narrator and the normalcy, which is adapted and portrayed in the stories show
that they were set against the normal life, and they lacked the understanding of the working

5EDGAR ALLAN POE’S ‘TELL-TALE HEART’ AND ‘THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO’
of human life. Both the stories show the eccentric nature of the murder and the extent to
which the murderers go to establish themselves as individual with extraordinary ability. Both
the mystery, however, remains unsolved for the readers because the motive or the evidence
supporting is absent from the narratives. The works deride the readers from closure on the
stories making the characters as immortal in their memories.

6EDGAR ALLAN POE’S ‘TELL-TALE HEART’ AND ‘THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO’
References
Arntzen, E. (2018). The Cask of Amontillado.
Bee, J. (2016). The Art of Death: Murder According to Poe, Hitchcock, and De
Quincey. Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism, 9(1), 7.
Medoro, D. (2017). Introduction: Edgar Allan Poe and Nineteenth-Century Medicine. Poe
Studies, 50(1), 2-11.
Poe, E. (1992). The Tell-Tale Heart. Retrieved 11 April 2020, from
https://www.vincentianacademy.org/ourpages/auto/2015/3/3/54989284/The%20Tell-
Tale%20Heart%20-%20Edgar%20Allan%20Poe.pdf
Poe, E. (2020). The Cask of Amontillado. Retrieved 11 April 2020, from
https://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Poe/Amontillado.pdf
Yusuf, A. (2018). Gothic Elements and Psychoanalytic Study in the Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar
Allan Poe. EDUCULTURAL: International Journal of Education, Culture and
Humanities, 1(1), 13-19.