Why Does Edgar Allan Poe Use Of Suspense Essay

In “The Pit and the Pendulum”, the atmosphere is dark and unsettling. In addition to the setting and characters, there are various other factors that give the story a creepy feel to it. Furthermore, the narrator’s thoughts and descriptions add to the ominous mood of the story. For example, the tale states, “By long suffering my nerves had been unstrung, until I trembled at the sound of my own voice, and had become in every respect a fitting subject for the species of torture which awaited me” (Poe 5). At this point in the story, the narrator, falling into his torturers’ trap, tips on the verge of insanity and begins to lose hope. The reader can easily picture the narrator, cowering against the wall, eyes wide, flinching at the slightest of sounds. Therefore, along with the horrifying aspects of the torture chamber, the unstable narrator and his thoughts create a foreboding and macabre feeling characteristic to gothic

Because of his constant use of imagery, Poe is able to create suspense in his writing. An excerpt from Edgar Poe’s story The Tell-Tale Heart states, “It was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe” (Poe 82). In the story, Poe uses descriptive words which can make the reader experience what is happening. “…the low, stifled sound…” gives the reader an inclination that something bad is about to happen. A part of Poe’s short story The Tell-Tale Heart says, “It was a low, dull, quick sound—much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath—and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly, more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased” (Poe 84). Yet again, Poe has created a sense of suspense by using words one would be able to experience. “A low, dull, quick sound” is imaginable as well as a little frightening to the reader. Poe uses imagery in his stories to create suspense by involving the reader in his writing.

Edgar Allen Poe is one of the greatest Sci-Fi/Mystery writers of all times. Two of his most popular poems, “The Tell Tale Heart” and “The Pit and the Pendulum” have elements that relate to each other but at the same time they differ. The use of suspense in his poems is proficient, and it makes the readers want to read on because they are intrigued and they want to know what is going to happen next! Poe gives a good example of what an unreliable narrator is in his poems, he shows that sometimes they can’t be trusted because of their actions and what they say and do. The themes in the two poems are greatly different, but show a clear panorama of what the poems are going to be about. While the theme in Edgar Allen Poe’s “Tell Tale Heart” and “The Pit and the Pendulum” are different, the way he used suspense and unreliable narrator are alike.

On January 19th, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, one of the most influential writers of all time was born. This person was Edgar Allen Poe and his works of literature would change the world of writing forever. Edgar Allen Poe was a master of creating a mood of suspense and exhibited this through two of his stories, “The Raven” and “Cask of Amontillado”, where there was much suspense built through many different methods. Poe creates suspense by using word choice, plot structure, and literary elements.

In Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The Pit and the Pendulum,” Poe, uses the horror elements of isolation, madness, and plot twist to add suspense to the story. In the beginning, the narrator is standing in front of what he describes as judges as they decide his fate, which adds suspense because the audience doesn’t know what could happen to the narrator when the judges punish him. Secondly, he is all alone, or so he believe. He is the only one experiencing the things that are being done, he is isolated from everyone and it is very dark. The narrator thinks, “My worst thoughts, then, were confirmed. The blackness of eternal night encompassed me,”(Poe 3) as he lays on the damp ground. Towards the middle, the narrator going mad because the Spanish

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe is a first-person narrative short story that showcases an enigmatic and veiled narrator. The storyteller makes us believe that he is in full control of his mind yet he is experiencing a disease that causes him over sensitivity of the senses. As we go through the story, we can find his fascination in proving his sanity. The narrator lives with an old man, who has a clouded, pale blue, vulture-like eye that makes him so helpless that he kills the old man. He admits that he had no interest or passion in killing the old man, whom he loved. Throughout the story, the narrator directs us towards how he ends up committing a horrifying murder and dissecting the corpse into pieces. The narrator who claims to

Have you ever wondered why you might find yourself on the edge of your seat at a horror movie? Or, maybe you find your heart racing once you get to the climax of a certain novel? Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous American authors known for his dark tales and poems. When reading his works, many feel drawn to them because of wanting to know what will happen to the characters. In many of his stories and poems, Poe uses different elements of suspense that contribute to the plot and features they have. In, The Raven and The Pit and the Pendulum, the creation of suspense is shown through the utilization of sound devices, imagery, and allusions.

Edgar Allen Poe is a well-known author that has published multiple stories including “The Tale-Tale Heart”, “The Raven”, and “The Cask of Amontillado”. Many that read his stories notice his development of an eerie setting and events that build suspense throughout each of his stories; many believe this is because he writes about events that happen around him in his life. Born on January 19, 1809 Edgar Allan Poe’s his parents die by the time he reaches the age of three, and Edgar is put up for adoption. Edgar is adopted by John and Francis Allan. By 1829, Poe’s step mother dies, and his step dad has nothing to do with him.

Edgar Allan Poe integrates his work in “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” by anonymously creating the narrators in first person point of view. Poe vividly uses imagery to help the reader understand the character of the two narrators; Poe uses his gothic, writing techniques to illustrate the narrators and differentiate them in the two short stories. In both short stories, the narrators are given a role: to be killed or be the killer. Edgar Allan Poe distinguishes the role of the two speakers in “The Pit and the Pendulum and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Edgar Allan Poe justifies the role of the speaker in “The Pit and the Pendulum” to be the one facing death.

From hauntingly beautiful eulogies to macabre experiences this story is nothing short of Edgar Allan Poe's expected work. This story is set in the Spanish Inquisition and told from a man set for execution. Poe uses the first-person point of view to reveal inner thoughts of the speaker, vivid imagery of the setting, and their near-death experiences to create a suspense throughout the story The Pit and the Pendulum.

Through the first person narrator, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” shows how a man can be so intelligent and so brutal at the same time. The reaction from the action a man takes shows his true inner feel about a certain situation. Edgar presented two visuals throughout his writing in which one is from the eyes of the old man and from the eyes of the murderer. The violence portrayed by the murderer is seen by fear and this can be seen throughout the story through the times he shows his nervousness.

In a true horror story, the feeling of terror is often created by suspense. Suspense is the anticipation and anxiety of the unknown, which is a common factor in “The Pit And The Pendulum.” The narrator tells us that “ I am sick- sick unto death.” This description of certain death creates the feeling of anticipation. Poe often uses repetition to create suspense. In this story, Poe creates this feeling by the lack of description. The reader does not know what the storyteller is on trial for. This creates the feeling of the unknown. Another part of the story that creates tension is when the narrator is exploring the dungeon. A feeling of complete solitude and lack of knowledge while in the tomb creates anxiety. The action of the

The Tell Tale Heart is simply an invigorating tale of a criminal who tried to prove his sanity by writing about his own account of how he killed a man. Poe describes the actions seen through the eyes of a senile narrator. The narrator focuses on the old man's eye and determines to commit a conscious act of murder. He insists on seating the policemen in the very room where he had assassinated the old man just a few hours before, the old man's body was disclosed beneath the floorboards at the narrator's own admission and admits his crime because of the loud beating of the heart. Throughout the entire story, the readers can expect detailed descriptions of how the murder was accomplished and what thoughts – sane or insane – went on inside the murderer’s mind. He prides himself on his strategic planning and mastery at deceiving others. In this story, an effect which may evidently be observed is the doppelganger effect, as depicted in the old man’s identification with the murderer who is also the narrator of the story (Chua 350).

Edgar Allan Poe’s writing style in his poems and short stories is often labeled as exceptionally dark and mysterious. His narrative, The Tell-Tale Heart written in 1843, is no exception to this popular label. The main focus of this story is to describe in detail what happens before and after the murder of an innocent old man. Poe tells the story from the perspective unnamed main character and vividly illustrates the decline in their mental stability through the use of Imagery, Symbolism and Allegory.

Poe’s life mainly dealt with constant death which is reflected through his work. He constructs a world of uncertainty considering he often saw himself as an outsider. One work that can exemplify his dark yet horrific imagery is The Tell-Tale Heart. From this story, the reader is able to analyze the murderer’s guilt of stowing away the old man’s heart in a gruesome manner. With this vivid image in mind, one can get a sense of how the narrator is unsustainable.