The Tell-Tale Heart 'And The Cask Of Amontillado'

Does the reliability of a narrator have an effect on how a reader perceives the events of a story? If so, just how much of an effect does it have? Edgar Allan Poe clearly portrays the answers to these questions in the stories “The Tell Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” by utilizing “reliable” and “unreliable” narrators in opposing stories. In “TTTH” the story is told in the eyes of a mentally insane man who often lies to himself and the reader to justify his insanity and make the reader believe he is “clever”, which leads him to be seen as an unreliable narrator. In “TCOA” the story is told in the eyes of Montresor, a man who tells the reader his true thoughts and plans about his plot to murder Fortunato, which leads him to be a reliable narrator. The narrator in “TTTH” shows that an unreliable narrator leads the reader to be skeptical and in strong disbelief, as the narrator in “TCOA” shows how a reliable narrator will create a story that is easily

In the opening paragraph of the story the narrator says, “TRUE! -- nervous -- very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses -- not destroyed -- not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad?”. In this statement the man is stating reasons for why he believes he is sane and clever as opposed to being “mad”. Although, the narrator is stating invalid points and evidence that prove nothing of his sanity or justification. This therefore leads the reader to constantly stop and question the accuracy of the account of each event, which proves this narrator to be