The Tell-Tale Heart 2

Differences & Similarities

Differences

the narrator in FHU says h's imagining things, that he's oppressed. But in TTH, the narrator tries to persuade the readers he's not crazy.

the narrator in FHU tries to save R. Usher, his friend. In TTH, the narrator wants to kill the old man, even if he loves him.

length of the story.

no female character in TTH

Similarities

acuteness of the sense.

the story unfolds over a week.

the frontier between reality and fiction is smudged, blurry.

both narrators are deranged.

the fiction takes place in an old house in both stories.

we don't know the names of both narrators

murder / crime / death

The Metamporphosis, Kafka, 1915

1. This is the story of Gregor Samsa, who awakes one morning as he has become an ugly monster. He's depressed. 

2. It's a third person narrative. Gregor is a "monstrous vermin." He has many legs, he as turned into an insect, but he keeps thinking as if everything was normal.

The Thing on the Doorstep, Lovecraft, 1937

1. The narrator is a man who has killed his best friend with six bullets, but claims that he's not the murderer.

2.  It's a first person narrative. It's a confession, and it's highly reminiscent of Poe's characterization in TTH.

The Birds, Du Maurier, 1952

1. It talks about a man who has a menial job, and who looks at the birds.

2. The environment is described in great detail. We know when it takes place. It's a third person narrative, and the hero is described in action. Who's the main character ? Nat, or the birds ?

The Mist, King, 1985

1. It take splace in New England (USA). Billy is the kid of the hero and of his wife, Steff. The hero wants to buy sandwiches in and Pepsi in a supermarket. There's mist. Nature is described in great detail. Steff and the hero are in love.

2. It's a first person narrative. King describes a perfectly normal family life, and the fantastic elements will later disrupts it, when the readers will have identified with the characters.

Strangers, Koontz, 1986 (à écrire, déjà distribué)

1. It's the story of Dominick Corvaisis who is a somnambulist (dreamwalker). He wakes up in a closet. He thinks about his condition, and links it with folklore and anecdotes about lycanthropy and spirits.

2. It's third narrative story. We know his name, and it seems like a familiar setting. However, the character is primaly shown through his condition, and a possible trauma might explain it later during the plot. The character is there for the story to unfold.