This article will describe the differences of great author Edgar Allan Poe’s popular stories and other popular stories made over the last centuries. They will be compared to The Scarlet Ibis, and A Day’s Wait.
In the story the Cask of Amontillado, the plot of this story becomes how a friend (Amontillado) of Fortunato can help him recover from a sickness he believes is killing him slowly. He wants to take him back home knowing he is an important person and many people count on him. However Fortunato being Stubborn does not want to complete this journey home. “Enough,” he said; ‘the cough’s a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.’ ( Edgar Allan Poe). In the Scarlet Ibis it talks about a whole different kind of journey. It wasn’t one that required to travel over thousands of miles, rather it was a journey that required a long life ahead. Doodle who was supposed to have died shortly after birth, made a miraculous come back, and lived out his childhood. He grew up with many disabilities, and his brother would just not stand for it. He decided to teach him the ways of how to act like a human, all of that work fell short when Doodle died, and his brother’s journey with him had ended. One last story that was read, was A Day’s Wait. This story has a completely different plot than the previous stories. In a Day’s Wait, Schatz the main character becomes ill one day and he doesn’t exactly get the attention needed. His mother isn’t really an option throughout his tough day. His father, who is known as the only other figure in the house becomes irritated with the situation. He begins to read the same story over and over again to him and after a while begins to notice the impact he is making. Instead of trying to make a new impact he decides to leave the house entirely and just walk, not thinking of his priority of a father to Schatz.
Another greatly talked about Element is the setting. The setting is a big part of the story, and it makes a big impact on how the characters act. For instance in the story, The Tell-Tale Heart, the man begins to think of a plan to take this homeless person’s life. Every night he would enter the chamber where he slept and study what he did. He had to wear certain objects, for instance a lamp head to get in the room without making noise. “And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it –oh so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head.” (Edgar Allan Poe) Only because it was a chamber was that necessary. In the Scarlet Ibis, many settings take place throughout this story. The most common one used may be the field where they played, and where the brother decided what was best for Doodle on his own. The third story A Day’s Wait, the setting is the house where little Schatz is ill. He never moves throughout the story so he becomes the settings purpose, him in his bed in his small house with his Dad. Moving on, another common element is conflict. A conflict does not always have to deal with the main character, but it often does. In The Tell-Tale Heart, the conflict soon becomes how this man is going to set up his plan to kill the homeless man. He watches and watches his movements, to try and predict an outcome. However he can not pull it off, and must switch plans in the middle, “I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out.”(Edgar Allan Poe). So the homeless man doesn’t know what he is up to. In the Scarlet Ibis the main Conflict is Doodle. Doodle becomes a hard person to teach. He has a hard time doing everything normal to everyone else. He can’t walk, and can’t run. He can’t do the normal things that all of his potential friends could. The last story A Day’s Wait, has most likely the biggest conflict. This story has a conflict that is between the dads willingness to help his son. It matters for Schatz’s health that he is there, however becoming confused on what to do leads to him not wanting to help at certain moments.
127 our experts are availableright now
The last element that is used with all of these stories is characters. Every story has a character, everyone in the story is different, but the way they act and their description are the only visual a reader has. For example in The Fall of The House of Usher it describes the main character as a dull person. He is living in a dull house, with his dull friend. He doesn’t like the vibe the dead trees give out “I looked at the scene before me — at the house itself — at the ground around it — at the cold stone walls of the building — at its empty eye-like windows — and at a few dead trees — I looked at this scene, I say, with a complete sadness of soul which was no healthy, earthly feeling.” (Edgar Allan Poe) and how the old house looks reflecting on this small pond where it seems the whole world is in his eyes. He doesn’t like the scene and it makes him uncomfortable. In the Scarlet Ibis, it shows the two main characters Doodle, and his brother. Doodle has no desire in the world, he could just fall over and die and he wouldn’t care. He acts like it doesn’t matter to him, but to his brother it is different. His impatient brother cares that Doodle receives what he deserves, a childhood. He is willing to put in the work, and he is loyal to Doodle until he dies. In A Day’s Wait Schatz, who is in bed all day has no desire to get better. He doesn’t want to hear his father’s story. He is a sick little boy who is unwilling to listen. His father on the other hand is inpatient, and very un atantaive. He seems to be checked out at the most important moments, not willing to help his sons case.
Looking back, Poe’s stories are very different from other stories in the past. It shows how dark his stories were, and how much time he had on his hands. He talked a lot about stories the rarely happen, but in his mind, they were the best things to happen to him.
References
- “The Cask of Amontillado.” The Cask of Amontillado – Poe’s Works | Edgar Allan Poe Museum, www.poemuseum.org/the-cask-of-amontillado.
- “The Tell-Tale Heart.” The Tell-Tale Heart – Poe’s Works | Edgar Allan Poe Museum, www.poemuseum.org/the-tell-tale-heart.
- Giordano, Robert. “The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe.” Poestories, poestories.com/read/houseofusher.
