Comparing Poe and the Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allen Poe has been recognized as one of the greatest American writers for many years. His dark and eerie tales are like no others. Many say that his darkness comes from his own life and the tragedies he had gone through. However, recent claims say that Poe’s ideas were created in a mind that suffered from a mental illness, Paranoid Schizophrenia. This claim is clearly evident when looking at his short story: The Fall of the House of Usher.
Hoang 01 Lisa Hoang 124/01 Mrs.Maccherone Poe, the Father of Mystery Stories, uses many literary devices to create a specific mood to present the story smoothly. Growing up, Poe felt lonely and a sense of loss. Because of growing up with those emotions, Poe’s works are full of horror, mystery, and fear. Throughout the story of Fall House of Usher, a creepy feeling is maintained from the beginning to the end. Poe’s usage of literary devices and choice of words are what use to maintain the creepy feeling.
About anyone within the world of literature could connect The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Masque of the Red Death together with their unnerving connotations. Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe refined bloodcurdling stories for that time and both helped in setting the bar for horror. Two themes found in Poe and Irving’s work include Ignorance and Imagination vs. Reality. Edgar Allan Poe’s work portrayed much spook.
Mary Shelly references this epic poem in her novel because The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Frankenstein are tales of life and death and they epitomize the themes of consequences, beauty, and hubris. Victor and the ancient Mariner both became obsessed with their quests; Victor with his creature and the Marnier with the albatross. These goals were so important to them that they took over their lives and blinded them from everything else. The Mariner explains that “agony returns; and till my ghastly tale is told, this heart within me burns” (Coleridge 578-580). His punishment of killing the bird is that he has to keep telling his story over and over again.
The Devil and Tom Walker Gothic literature was and still is a very common form of literature in which the point of writing is to make people scared or to question their beliefs. It started around the Puritan times and was directly opposed to their views, so it was aimed at them to make them question their beliefs. Gothic literature is usually extremely dark and gloomy with more than a little death and decay throughout the story. It also almost always has some form of supernatural being or event. “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving is a perfect example of gothic literature because it has all of the characteristic features of it.
We turn off the lights when watching scary movies, and when it’s time to go to bed, we secretly make sure the closet doors are shut. Fear keeps our hearts pumping and endorphins rushing, for it is an emotion that reminds us of our mortality. How ironic it is to experience more life in our fascination with death. The two legendary writers, Poe and King, have ruled the universe of death and horror with remarkable success, both gifted with the talent of introducing each reader to his or her own subconscious fears. Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King are the masters of their craft, blessed- or perhaps cursed- with imaginations that set higher standards in the field of writing.
Edgar Allen Poe is a writer and poet who, even in his own time, is highly recognized for his bizarre and fascinating stories. Most of his pieces involve death and murder, and they also question the character’s sanity. Many of his stories have been turned into movies and his great work has inspired many modern authors. One author in particular is Stephen King. Mr. King has won numerous awards for his work and is considered one of the greatest writers alive today.
The Cask of Amontillado Edgar Allan Poe was a great writer of the nineteenth century, one who wrote about suspense, mystery and horror. He thrills his audience with suspenseful stories, short stories and poetry. Edgar lived a very troubled life, first, marked by the death of his parents and then by the death of his wife. The subjects he chose for his stories and poetry were very dark in nature, which mirrored his life that was plagued with gambling, drinking and mental illness. Some would say that these elements in his life made him the brilliant writer that he was.
The Cask of Amontillado There are many different occasions where readers see that Poe used foreshadowing to show that Fortunato will ultimately die within the catacombs. Edgar Allan Poe also uses irony throughout the whole story as well to show that Fortunato will perish. Poe has a very unique and dark style of writing and it is shown greatly throughout this story. In "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe, the author shows foreshadowing and irony of Fortunato’s death through the actions, dialog, and setting of the story. Edgar Allan Poe, who was born in 1809 has works of art that have influenced many other writers throughout time (Kirszner and Mandell).
Such as the works of Edgar Allan Poe darkness of his pieces are in unity with his inner being. The suspenseful and ominous style of “The Pit and the Pendulum” and Poe’s poem “The Lake”, both show the usage of sensory images. Being the “father” of horror stories, Poe’s aids his readers through the power of descriptive writing, grasping their attention with rich sensory imagery that conveys the writer’s emotions. One of Poe’s greatest stories that tricks and strikes terror in our hearts is “The Pit and the Pendulum”. Poe wanted the readers to feel the terror and horror that the narrator felt.