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The Tell-Tale Heart, A Rose For Emily, And My Last Duchess

Decent Essays

In the baffling tales of “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “A Rose for Emily,” and “My Last Duchess,” the narrators give in-depth descriptions about the characters and their surroundings. The central theme in these tales comes frightfully alive early on in the stories, but still manages to produce a dramatic ending in every tale. In each of these three first-person narratives, the narrator’s motivation to tell the tale influences the credibility of the story, which makes the narrator’s point of view, credibility, and motives, surreal to the reader. In the heart-pounding tale “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator leaves no time to get to know the two characters but begins the story by planning the death of the old man’s eye. The …show more content…

On the eighth night, the narrator loses his so-called insanity and goes in to kill the man. The way the narrator describes the events leading up to the murder of the eye and concealment of the body is precise and sly. The dramatic irony at the end of the tale describes just how delusional the narrator is; his guilt was making “a mockery” of him. Hearing the heart beating in a ringing tone, louder and louder, he shirked “dissemble no more! I admit the deed! Tear up the planks! - here, here! - it is the beating of his hideous heart!” (40). The narrator hears the heart of the old man at the end of the tale in his head, showing the credibility of the tale and the characteristics of the character. The ending of the story merely describes in one sentence that maybe now he knows he has a disease for the worse. The first person point of view is not always told from an “I” point of view, but can also be told as an objective point of view, best described as a “fly on the wall.” In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” Miss Emily Grierson’s forlorn life is narrated through the gossiping members of Miss Grierson’s town. During the story, the narrators seem to alternate, each one giving different details about Miss Emily’s life. In the beginning of the story, Miss

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