The Gift Of The Magi Tone Analysis

In “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Scarlet Ibis” dark symbols and tones shape the plot, which allows man’s inhumanity to man, as a theme, to be expected. Both authors use imagery to allow readers to paint a picture of each setting in their mind. Also, each author adds in many symbols to make a concrete object into an abstract idea. In “The Cask of Amontillado” written by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hurst symbols, imagery, and the theme of man’s inhumanity to man are used to uniquely explain each story line.

While reading ”The Scarlet Ibis” it is clear that Hurst uses foreshadowing to give the reader the sense that something bad may happen later in the story. The first example of when Hurst uses foreshadowing for dramatic effect is when the Narrator describes why he is disappointed with his brother Doodle. “... and I wanted more than anything else someone to race…” from the statement we can infer that he (the Narrator) would do anything to get the ‘perfect’ brother, even if that means possibly overlooking Doodles health problems. We already had seen part of the evil and terrifying side of the Narrator in the passage, “... I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow.” the passage just proves my point, he doesn't really care

James Hurst, the author of “The Scarlet Ibis”, and Edgar Allen Poe, the author of “ The Cask of Amontillado”, both display a theme of appearance versus reality.The appearance versus reality theme means that information one believes to be true may not be (at times). “The Scarlet Ibis” displays theme in relation to Doodle’s well-being while“The Cask of Amontillado” shows the lesson by how the use of verbal irony can be practiced to trick Fortunato, and how human emotions guide what Fortunato chooses to believe. Overall, “The Scarlet Ibis” and “the Cask of Amontillado” both effectively display the appearance versus reality theme in their own distinctive ways.

In the fictional story “The Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst illustrates several themes of the text through the symbols of the Old Woman Swamp and green. Doodle “climbed rope vines”(Hurst 3) at the Old Woman swamp and “learned [how] to walk [there]”(Hurst 3). Old memories can bring people together. For instance, Doodle going to the swamp with his brother brought back memories of them having fun. This brought them closer, he realized he didn't always dislike his brother. Doodle walked through the “shady cool… dark green woods”(Hurst 4). Innocence can be found in nature. The quote helps explain how Doodle learned how to walk in nature and felt relaxed. Consequently, Hurst places importance on the Old Woman’s Swamp and green in order to uncover hope

The setting of the story is very descriptive to where you can see it in your head:” Then when the slanted rays of the sun burned orange in the tops of the pines, we’d dropped our jewels in the stream and watch them float away toward the sea”(601). The setting of the story can be hard to understand if the author doesn’t describe it well. Yet, in “The Scarlet Ibis" the author describes a clear picture in the story and where it is set. The setting of the story can affect how the characters relate to it and shows how descriptive the writing is The bird, the scarlet ibis, is also described very well the first time we see it in the story. The bird in the story can be described as: ” … a bird the size of a chicken, with scarlet feathers and long legs… its wings hung loosely..”(601). The bird is one of the most important things in the story. It describes the birds features and characteristics. With this picture in your head, you can tell there's something wrong with it. With imagery, you are able to see vivid pictures in your mind that can help understand the story better. This is another great example that makes “The Scarlet Ibis” the best

James Hurst’s use of symbols, imagery, and figurative language in the story “The Scarlet Ibis” creates an extremely dismal tone.

"The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon the carpet of the same material and hue. ... The panes were scarlet—a deep blood color.... There was no light of any kind... but in the western or black chamber the effect of the firelight that streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood-tinted panes, was ghastly in the extreme,” (“The Masque” 342). Poe brilliantly uses color to achieve the desired mood. The color black often represents melancholy or death. Scarlet, of course, exhibits the color of blood. Poe exploits the use of these two colors, black and scarlet, to create a feeling of macabre.

Edgar Allan Poe uses many gothic elements in Masque of the Red Death, such as a gloomy setting. A gloomy setting is described by having little color, no happiness, and decaying setting. The outside world was gloomy because of all the death

The second example of red is found in the quote, “For a long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain.” Hurst contrasts Doodle to the scarlet ibis. Covered in brilliant red blood, Doodle had bled to death. The narrator transforms Doodle into the scarlet ibis in an effort to hide from the horrific truth that Doodle is dead. The image of Doodle is so gruesome, so Hurst tries to lighten the scene by making it sound more beautiful, by using words such as brilliant red. The narrator does not realize how alike Doodle and the scarlet ibis are until he holds Doodle in his arms, and he can feel his slender frame and sees the bright red blood on his body, which looks like the scarlet ibis’s

The main themes of Edgar Allan Poe’s works are death, perversity, revenge and destruction. The settings he employed in the given short stories, especially in The Fall of the House of Usher and The Black Cat are Gothic. Therefore, naturally the mood of these stories would be dark and sepulchral. However, this is not a trivial employment undertaken to put the reader in a certain kind of zone.

Secondly, both Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne share a very similar tone through their writings that affects the perception of evil in their stories. For example, “And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror”(Poe, 11) represents a nervous, yet saddening tone presented by Allan Poe taking in consideration the repetition of a statement made by the main character in “The Tell-Tale Heart”. As well as Allan Poe, Hawthorne presents a mysterious gloomy tone where the minister’s veil makes the readers question themselves about the main purpose for using the piece of crape. An example of this gloomy and overwhelming mystery tone would be, “When Mr. Hooper came, the first thing that their eyes rested on was the same horrible black veil, which had added deeper gloom to the funeral, and could portend nothing but evil to the wedding” (Hawthorne, 11) letting the readers know that all of the villagers gathered at the funeral disliked the veil, for it only brought more mystery and sadness.

Edgar Allen Poe is known for the various literary devices he uses in his works. One of the most famous devices he uses is symbolism. In many of his stories, including “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe uses symbolism to further develop each story by the messages he writes between the lines. Symbolism is an important aspect of Poe’s many works, seeing as how it allows the readers to make connections within the stories. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe represents symbolism through the title of the short story, the outfit Fortunato wears, and the Montresor family motto and coat of arms.

Poe’s use of symbolism is very evident throughout the story of “The Masque of the Red Death”. Much has been made about the meaning of the rooms that fill Prince Prospero’s lavish getaway. One such critique, Brett Zimmerman writes, “It is difficult to believe that a symbolist such as Poe would refuse to assign significance to the hues in a tale otherwise loaded with symbolic and allegorical suggestiveness” (Zimmerman 60). Many agree that the seven rooms represent the seven stages of human existence. The first, blue, signifying the beginnings of life. Keeping in mind Poe’s Neo-Platonism and Transcendentalism stance, the significance of blue is taken a step further. Not only does blue symbolize the beginning of life, but the idea of immortality is apparent when considering these ideas. “Perhaps ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ then, is not quite the bleak existential vision we have long thought it to be”, expounds Zimmerman (Zimmerman 70). Poe’s use of each color is significant to the seven stages

Among Poe’s work, I will typically illustrate these three works “The Black Cat”, “A Tell Tales Heart” , “The Fall of the House of Usher” , and “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” to dedicate the use of symbolism. Other works will be briefly mentioned.

“But she was humble and obedient, and sat meekly for many weeks in the dark, high turret-chamber where the light dripped upon the pale canvas only from overhead” (Giordano, Robert) this quote helps the reader know the setting. The other symbolism that Poe uses would be color to symbolize life. A quote from “The Oval Portrait”, “And he would not see that the tints which he spread upon the canvas were drawn from the cheeks of her who sate beside him” (Poe Edgar), Poe using this analysis to give a better understanding the readers that the color from the brides cheeks gave the painting the illustration of life (Thompson R.). As the husband added more and more color to the picture with paint it gets darker, this coming to realize as he is making the picture darker his wife is increasing the death of his wife.