Comparing the Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado

       When I was reading these two selections, I noticed that they had some interesting similarities and differences. All of Poe's works are dark and usually contain some type of suspense. These two were similar in that they both seemed to hint at the narrator being psychotic.
       In "The Tell-Tale Heart", the narrator does not give a logical reason as to why he wants to kill his neighbor. He says that his neighbor's pale blue eye is the reason. This is obviously not a legitimate reason to kill someone, or even become angry. However, the author tells the story with such rationale that by the end of the story, the reader almost forgets the ridiculous reason for the man's murder.(http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section6.rhtml)

       In "The Cask of Amontillado", which is also involves the narrator committing murder, there is somewhat of a different plot. In this reading the narrator, Montressor, talks about revenging the "thousand injuries" brought upon him by Fortunado. Though it would seem to the reader that revenge is a more logical reason to kill someone than how they look, the Montressor never explicitly states what Fortunado did to wrong him. On Poe's part, this suggests the narrator has psychological issues because since he did not inform the reader of what happened, whether or not it is something that merits punishment by death is solely up to the narrator's judgement.
       Both of these stories detail premeditated murder, and the careful way each of the narrators plan to kill his victim. (http://www.poedecoder.com/essays/cask/#style) The difference is the fear of being caught. In "The Tell-Tale Heart", the author can hear the heart of his victim beating and fears that the police can hear it as well. In "The Cask of Amontillado", the narrator is sure no one will ever find out about Fortunado's demise at his hands.
     Poe's way of writing dark, creepy, murderous stories is often repeated today. The scary psychological element is often used today and is wildly popular. It is often suspected that Poe had psychological issues himself, but the only thing known for sure is that he had difficulties in his everyday life.


Picture 1: http://www.notablebiographies.com/images/uewb_08_img0559.jpg
Picture 2: http://thetelephonebooth.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/edgar-allen-poe-1.jpg
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XTmWag6wfw