In his short stories, Edgar Allan Poe always strived to portray the darker side of human soul: its fears, passions, desires, misconceptions and so forth. These motifs are traceable in many of his works. In particular, we may analyze such novellas as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Fall of the House of Usher. They are reminiscent to each other not only in terms of themes, but also in terms literary devices, narration mode, and imagery. One may suggest that they exemplify the so-called Gothic style, but horror elements are used only to bring out the major ideas. These stories are believed to one of the most prominent examples of the authors and in some degree, they throw light on his own personality and his most intimate feelings.
While discussing the peculiarities of Poes style, we need to pay special attention to the form of narration. For instance, in such novellas as The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado, readers look though the eyes of the murderers. The writer intends to gives most deep insights into the inner world of a person, who cannot perceive reality in an adequate way, the story teller says “The disease had sharpened my senses… I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth” (Poe, 1110).
Poe shows that that the desire to kill can distorts his perception. As for The Cask of Amontillado, we can say that Montresor also lives in the realm of his illusion. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that both narrators cannot identify the reason why they want to commit murder. They are overwhelmed by the remorse of conscience: Montresor acknowledges “My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so” (Poe, 1097), but he refuses to believe that it is due to the atrocity he has done. In these stories, the author demonstrates the corruption of heart and soul. Naturally, we cannot argue that these works are autobiographical and occasionally, it seems that the author deliberately places himself in the position of such people.
Such theme as the corruption of persons soul is explored in the story The Fall of the House of Usher. First, we may mention that Roderick Usher also suffers “from morbid acuteness of the senses” (Poe, 1099). Everything displeases him, and he is extremely disinclined to speak with others. He is ill with some malady, which does not have any logical explanation. The feeling of moral and physical decay dominates the story.
At the very beginning, Poe depicts the gloominess of Ushers house, which bears striking resemblance to a tomb, and its owner is buried in it. The author eloquently proves that a man can bury his soul alive, and this is the characteristic feature of Roderick Usher and Montresor. The tragedy is that they do not realize this fact. Certainly they have some misgivings but they try to rejects them in every possible way. While reading these stories, one cannot get rid of the idea that Poe once lived through similar experience.
Furthermore, these stories have the elements of a Gothic novel, because in all of them, Poe creates the atmosphere of bleakness and despondency. The action takes place mostly in the darkness, but this is not physical darkness but spiritual one. Ironically, none of the characters is willing to come out of this state. Of course, each of them understands something is wrong but they do not do anything to change this situation. To conclude, these works of Edgar Allan Poe must not be viewed as only as mere Gothic stories, because they demonstrate how a person can intentionally suppress or destroy the most precious part of his being, his soul.
Bibliography
Ann Charters. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1991.