How Does Edgar Allan Poe Use Insanity

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Edgar Allen Poe expertly uses guilt to portray a deeper meaning to sanity and what it means to be insane, by representing guilt through personification and using relatable description in order to make it realistic, but not repetitive throughout his stories. Edgar Allen Poe’s descriptions portray guilt subtly and without too much resonation, in order for it to be found during an analysis. “My soul from that shadow that lies floating on the floor shall be lifted-nevermore!” – (Sestet 17, the Raven) The soul in this sense could be viewed as the narrator’s salvation, or his guilt of his past actions. Edgar Allen Poe represents guilt and insanity through the denial of one’s sanity in the tell-tale heart, due to the narrator’s constant debate of …show more content…

These methods are unquestioningly required to make a story dark, depressing and a general mood-killer, because they invoke a slight chuckle at the absurdity of the statement, followed by deep regret that one could laugh at such an exorbitantly graphic situation. “I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, thus ridding myself of the eye forever!” – (Page 1, the Tell-Tale Heart) Edgar Allen Poe expertly expresses the inner workings of a madman, without being too outlandishly miserable or nonsensical. These expressions delve into a tricky and tightrope-like subject, in whom the writer is forced to walk the path of insanity, without straying too much towards the lines of absurdity and mockery, a mockery almost to a sort of caricature of an ideal. While it is not unlikely that a psychopath strayed towards the line of mockery and believes everyone should be killed, because many have existed, but it is necessary to avoid this portrayal of insanity, due to it being misunderstood by the common person. Edgar Allen Poe delves into both sides of the tightrope in the Raven and the Tell-Tale Heart through their differences in writing and style; they could be described as …show more content…

The difference between guilt in the Tell Tale Heart and the Raven is how guilt is represented to them. In the Raven, the raven is guilt, suddenly shocking the narrator sending him into rage, shouting absurdities at raven to get it to leave. In the Tell Tale heart, Insanity is represented by the narrator hearing the non-existent beating heart of his dead victim, forcing him into a silent panic, which slowly built up as the heartbeat increased in pitch and volume. “Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend! Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s plutonian shore!” – (Sestet 16, the Raven) the opposites in the story are represented not by their reaction to grief, but their progression towards the grief over time. In the Raven, the narrator reacts suddenly and violently to grief, but once it is certain that the raven will not be leaving, the raven’s shadow hangs over him, driving him into a depression. In the Tell Tale Heart, the narrator starts off calmly but proceeds to increase in anger and agitation, until he admits to the heinous crime he has

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