A Hanging and A Tell-Tale Heart - 1541 Words

Within a short story, there is usually an obstacle that the main character has to persevere through. Between the characters of the guard from George Orwell’s â€Å"A Hanging† and the servant from Edgar Allen Poe’s â€Å"A Tell-Tale Heart†, they both experience the act of taking another person’s life. The guard from â€Å"A Hanging† works at a prison in Burma where felons await execution. His job is to lead the convicted men to their doom and makes sure everything goes routinely and swift. While the servant from â€Å"A Tell-Tale Heart† is a psychopathic man who lets his obsession over his boss’s glasseye lead him to plot and carry out his death. Throughout both stories, the protagonists reach a moment when they need to take part in the organized killings†¦show more content†¦As shown, the guard finds it hard to accept the justifications for killing. He sees life as something precious and feels that even if the option to end someone’s life is there, using it would be inhumane. On the other hand, in the story of â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† it is clearly shows that the servant has no regard for life. He states that â€Å"whenever [the eye] fell upon me, my blood ran cold† (Poe 1). This â€Å"very gradually† (Poe 1) led him to the point where he â€Å"made up [his] mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid [himself] of the eye forever† (Poe 1). This alone displays that the servant considers life as something that is simply disposable because he sees one flaw in the old man. He feels that the only way to be able to be satisfied is to get rid of what is bothering him. When it comes to both of these characters, their views on apply death are completely different. The guard sees that there is something wrong with ending the life ofsomeone who is completely healthy, while the servant feels that life is something that could be cut short and ended without a second t hough. Finally, both protagonists differ in the way they react to the deaths. For the prison guard as soon as the killing took place â€Å"an enormous relief had come upon [them] now that the job was done† (Orwell 34-35). The killing causes such a burden on him and the rest of the staff because it was their duty as guards, they never have any say as to if they could spare the prisoner.Show MoreRelatedThe Tell Tale Heart And The Black Cat786 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† and â€Å"The Black Cat† are two short stories written by Edgar Allan Poe. Both stories share the elements of death and outrageousness; both have frightening night time scenes as well. In both of the short stories the protagonists of both stories seem to have very little or nothing in common. Their marital status, living conditions, and responsibilities are very different. If the reader looks more closely, the two men appear alike in many ways: both share their criminal histor yRead MorePoe Essay809 Words   |  4 PagesEdgar Allan Poe said â€Å"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.† Throughout his short stories; â€Å"The Black Cat† and â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, Poe sets up his characters to subconsciously reveal their insanity. Often using syntax clues and patterns, Poe shows the madness of the narrators of his short stories. The constant theme of denial of insanity further convinces the reader of the character’s psychosis. Characters themselves often prove they are not in touch with reality through theirRead MoreCompare and Contrast Essay the Tell Tale Heart and the Black Cat1042 Words   |  5 PagesIn both the â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart†, and†The Black Cat†, the stories end with a death of a person. Some events in the murder are similar and different. In this paragraph, I will talk about the story, â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart†. In the beginning of the story, the narrator wants to kill an old man, who lives with him, because of his vulture eye. He decides that he will watch the old man at night and shine a light on his vulture eye. If he sees the eye he will kill the old man. InRead MorePoe: An Analysis of His Work862 Words   |  4 Pageslies, hope, revenge, and guilt, the stories in this assemblage are suspenseful and convey powerful messages. Of all the amazing stories that comprise this anthology, â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, â€Å"The Black Cat†, and â€Å"The Pit and the Pendulum† are the best three in the compendium. Written by Edgar Allen Poe, â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† is a thrilling story about a man who commits an atrocious deed. 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For example in The Tell-TaleRead MoreCharacteristics Of Horror Suspense In Literature734 Words   |  3 PagesDeath†, and â€Å"Tell Tale Heart†), W. W. Jacobs (â€Å"The Monkey’s Paw†), and H.P. Lovecraft (â€Å"The Outsider†), many of the characteristics of the genre were used. Some of the characteristics of the horror genr e is suspense, internal and external sources of horror, and setting. Authors create suspense is by describing the character’s anxiety and/or fear, foreshadowing, using vivid language to describe what’s happening, and raising questions in a reader’s mind. For example in â€Å"Tell Tale Heart†, Poe describesRead MoreMaus : A Survivor s Tale I And II902 Words   |  4 PagesStephenie Igboanugo Ms. King- ­Zimmerman AP Language and Composition 2 October 2016 Quarter 1, Long Form #2 Maus I and II In the nonfiction novels Maus: A Survivor’s Tale I and II, Art Spiegelman creates a multi-themed book by his use of various connection rhetorical devices. Guilt is one of the most prominent themes of the book. Two types of guilt are present in his books: survivor’s guilt and familial guilt. Spiegelman s, familial guilt comes from the death of his mother. The guilt that heRead MoreThe Black Cat And Tell Tale Heart936 Words   |  4 Pagesnarrative.† I agree with what Lovecraft has to say about Poe’s protagonist. In each of his stories like â€Å"The Black Cat† and â€Å"Tell Tale Heart† both of these stories have such an amazing horror into them but when you start reading more about the main characters you realize that all his main characters always do make the same decisions including â€Å"The Raven†. Starting off With Tell Tale Heart, in the beginning, the narrator of the story is shown as a caring person who allowed the old man to leave with him and