Another frequently repeated motif in Poe is the HEART. The HEART is important as both the physical “pump” of the body and as the centre of all feelings and experience. Considered a “Romantic,” (the capital “R” denoting a literary movement and time period) Poe places far greater emphasis on the HEART (representing emotion and experience) than on the head (representing intellect, rational thought and scientific reasoning.) In a sense, the HEART is the wellspring for all of Poe’s tales and poems.
He often has an UN-NAMED NARRATOR telling the stories for him. However, each narrator is different, distinct from any other. The reader is not meant to see the narrator as Poe himself but rather as a separate character or “persona.” Some of Poe’s narrators are sane, some are clearly not; and some, well, Poe reminds us quite often what a FINE LINE separates SANITY FROM INSANITY!
Poe frequently uses a PREMATURE BURIAL motif and also a motif of SUFFOCATION. These two concepts are sometimes linked, as a kind of “Life-in-Death” theme. LIKE IN “The Tell Tale Heart,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” “The Fall of The House of Usher,” and other tales.
Tension plays a major role in this play “For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down.” There is an hour-long wait with the tension of who’s going to break first. Also there is the ever-growing sound of the heartbeat “It grew louder, I say, louder every moment.” There is also the entrance of the police and wondering whether or not he will be caught.
The belief in the EVIL EYE dates back to ancient times and even today, is fairly common in India and the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. References are made to it in the Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu faiths. The belief centre’s around the idea that those who possess the EVIL EYE have the power to harm people or their possessions merely by looking at them. Wherever this belief exists, it is common to assign the EVIL EYE as the cause of unexplainable illness and misfortunes of any kind.
To protect oneself from the power of the eye, certain measures can be taken. In Muslim areas, the colour blue is painted on the shutters of the houses, and found on beads worn by both children and animals. In extreme cases, the eye, whether voluntarily or not, must be destroyed.
It is altogether possible that Poe would have had knowledge of that rather strange belief, which creates another interesting twist to the story. Maybe the narrator, who tries to convince us that madness is not really the issue, is telling the truth. Maybe this vile act is necessary in order to destroy the power of the old man’s EVIL EYE!
Atmosphere plays a big part in any classic horror story in order to paint a vivid picture to keep the reader interested. In “The Tell Tale Heart” there are many examples that create a menacing atmosphere. The fact that the narrator says that he arrives about midnight, Midnight being known as the witching hour, this creates a feeling or horror. Also it is “black as pitch with the thick darkness”. The reason people are afraid of the dark is the fear of the unknown. You can’t feeling scared that if the “old man” wakes you know that he will be killed. With noises like “hinges creaking” you are just waiting for the man to wake up which also creates tension. There is also “death-watchers in the wall.”
Another key factor for any horror story is Unpleasant Detail. It makes people repulse and creates a motion. In “The Tell Tale Heart” it is the description of the old man’s eye “One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture- a pale blue eye, with a film over it.” Also the murdering and dismembering of the old man’s body “I dragged him to the floor and pulled the heavy bed over him… First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.”
It is ironic that the narrator, who is from the beginning of the story considering himself to be the model of patience, seems to be bothered by the notion of time and the irrevocable direction that it takes. The narrator hears the heartbeats as irreversible time: “a watch… enveloped in cotton.”
In the beginning the narrator thinks that the organ of sight, the Evil Eye, is so vexing; but in the end, a sound, the beating of the old man’s heart, is what condemns the madman. While he was guarding against one danger he was being overcome by another- Irony.
It is the narrators’ conscience that leads him to confess. It is neither the police nor a witness that dooms the narrator; it is the narrator himself who instigates his own demise. How ironic, and terrifying, it is that a madman who has no need for reason finds it impossible to carry on without justice.
You would normally associate a disease or illness as a negative but the narrator tells us that the disease has benefited him this is ironic “The disease has sharpened my senses- not destroyed- not dulled them.” The disease in this case is obviously a severe case of emotions, and as such he must confess the repulsive murder of an unarmed old man.
“(For the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers).” This is ironic for the purpose of the shutters is to keep robbers out.
Madness creates unpredictability. “The Tell Tale Heart” consists of a monologue in which the murderer of an old man protests his sanity rather than his guilt: “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded…” By the narrator insisting so emphatically that he is sane, the reader is assured that he is indeed deranged. By using this irony the narrator creates a feeling of hysteria, and the turmoil resulting from this hysteria is what makes “The Tell Tale Heart” a classic horror story.
The murder of the old man is motiveless, and unconnected with passion or profit. But in a deeper sense, the murder does have a purpose: to ensure the narrator does not have to endure the haunting of the Evil Eye any longer. “I loved the old man… For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this!” To a madman, this is as good of a reason as any: in the mind of a madman, reason does not always win out over emotion.
Modern vs. Classic
Modern films have great effects unheard of hundreds of years ago, intense stories and bad guys you just love to hate. Classic horror can’t be beat for atmosphere and mythic storylines, along with monsters that reflect much of the human condition. I think classic horror runs into problems today because watching videos has become a social thing- a lot of noise, talking and other distractions allows you to pick up the action and general appeal modern horror has to offer but not the atmosphere and plot of classic horror.
The heroes/heroines are usually fairly good-looking teenagers giving appeal to their generation. In teen horror they usually make sequels depending on how successful the first one was. With the ‘Scream Trilogy’ and the two ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ films the killer involves a masked man/men going on a killing spree yet failing to kill the main character. There is also the suspense of guessing who the killer is. The film usually gives you several suspects to keep you guessing. Where as with ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ you already know who the killer is but there is the suspense of when he is actually going to kill him.
Unlike with modern horror there is only really one character in the whole story.
The classic films of the thirties and forties had interesting plots, good art direction and were well acted. The monsters in the films were normally not evil, but victims of circumstance. The creature was an animal defending his territory, the monster of Frankenstein was a child in the body of a behemoth abandoned by his creator, the Phantom and Quasimodo were deformed freaks shunned by society despite having souls filled with beauty, the Mummy was sentenced to eternal life because he used the forbidden Scroll of Thoth to bring his lover back to life and the Wolf Man was the ultimate victim – knowing his condition and unable to do a thing about it despite his best efforts. Only Dracula seemed to follow the path of evil on his own volition. There was also a lot of good in these ‘monsters’, and many children could identify with them being misunderstood and not really bad. Many kids accepted the classic monsters as friends, and this ignited the monster craze of the sixties. The films are timeless, and many do not seem all that dated even by today’s standards. Modern horror, on the other hand, revels in being brutal, graphic and evil. Monsters like Freddie Krueger, Leatherface, Pinhead, Michael Myers, Hannibal Lector and Jason are evil and rotten to the core. These seemingly unstoppable madmen won’t rest until everyone in their way is dead, in the most creative and imaginative ways. These films generally revolve around the battle of good versus evil- good usually wins in the end, but at a high cost and the survivors normally are annihilated in the sequel, proving that evil only has to win once.
