The Tell Tale Heart 2 gr. B

 Similarities & Differences between FHU and TTH

 

Differences

• TTH begins in media res (in FHU there's a lengthy description of the house first)
• the narrator of FHU feels "oppressed," he imagines things, thoughts occur in his mind independently, he's lucid about his mental state / the narrator of TTH has delusions of grandeur (he can hear everything), he doesn't realize he's mad.
• no female character
• the house / the setting is not relevant
• FHU is substantially longer than TTH
• FHU is written in a traditional Gothic way. TTH ? not so much.
  

 

Similarities

• the acuteness of the senses
• the themes of disease, madness, death
  
• opposition between light and darkness
• the insistence on "the eye"
• We don't know who the narrator is / Few details about the narrator
• Vocab / Poe's writing
• The "crime" happens over a week

 

Poe's influence on modern horror writing

1. What's the story about ?

2. How is/are the character/s built ? (Characterization)

The Metamorphosis, F. Kafka

1. This is the story of a man called Gregor Samsa who sleeps and dreams like a man, but when he wakes up discovers that he has transformed into a "monstrous vermin," into an insect (a cockroach).

2. It's a third person narrative. The main character is given a name right away, this is the way the story starts.After giving him a name, Kafka depicts his "human bedroom" with details insisting on Samsa's normality, even banality. He know about his job, his taste in women, and his immediate environment. What's surprising is that Samsa doesn't seem to be shocked, he just wants to sleep some more.

Kafka published few of his stories in his lifetime. He left all his manuscripts to his best friend, asking him to burn the lot after his death. But his friend didn't comply and had his work published.

Kafkaesque = catch 22

 

The Thing On The Doorstep, H.P. Lovecraft

1. The narrator killed his best friend, shooting six bullets in his head, but claims he's not the murderer. The story takes place in Arkham Sanitarium. 

2. It's a first person narrative, in the form of a confession. There's a paradox : he killed his friend but he's not the killer. Just like TTH, this starts with "It is true !" The technique is the same as Poe's.

Lovecraft is one of the most influential writer as far as horror is concerned. He invented fictional cities (Arkham...), books (the Necronomicon...) and entities (Cthulhu...) that are still mainstays of countless books and movies.

The Birds, D. du Maurier

1. This story describes nature in Autumn. The protagonist is called Nat, he's got a disability, and he's fascinated with birds.

2. Nat is described as a normal man, who is solitary and has a routine. Contrary to the previous two stories, this one doesn't start in media res with fantastic elements. It's a third narrative. Nat is not the only character to be introduced, the birds are also presented here. They have no name, they have no desire, they have no thoughts.

D. du Maurier is a British writer who didn't specialize in fantastic stories. She had a long career, and much like Lovecraft, lived as a recluse. But contrary to him and to Poe, she enjoyed commercial success in her lifetime.