Creating Suspense in Edgar Allen Poes The Tell-Tale Heart Essay

Creating Suspense in Edgar Allen Poes The Tell-Tale HeartIn the Gothic genre there are numerous techniques the former can useto add interest and suspense to a composition, such as the choice of words,the time of day and pathetic fallacy, to name but a few. In the TellTale- Heart Poe uses psychosis, detail, and appeal to the reader tokeep us on the edge of our seats. These are just some examples of whatmakes the novel so thrilling.The story is written in the first person in the style of a confession,an example of this would be when the vote counter says, I foamed- Iraved- I swore. During the story the narrator is telling us of theterrible deed he has done, in the style of a confession. The readerfeels that they are being allowed to find out something, but all theyare being told, they feel that the story is exclusive to them. Thiscreates a lot of tension throughout the play because the reader isfeeling things that the narrator feels and is trying to fathom outwhat his next move will be.The very first word in the story creates a lot of the atmospherebecause it is in capital garner and has an exclamation mark after it.This instantaneously awakens the reader and captures their interest.The word itself, true, is also important because the narrator isreplying to a question that the reader has supposedly asked before thestory has even begun. This simple technique makes the reader want toread on, if only to find out what the question was.One of the first things the narrator says is but wherefore will you say Im delirious? It is an accusation that the reader is condemning him as mad. Ofcourse Poe then goes on to prove that the narrator is mad through hisfeigned innocence the more the narrato... ...ell- Tale Heart as well.The narrator believes that he can hear anything, and takes pride inthis, almost as though it was a gift. However this gift proves to bea major downfall, when the narrator starts hearing the old mans heartbeating. It drives the narrator even mor e demoniacal to the point where heconfesses the murder to the police.In conclusion it appears that Poe uses many gothic styles throughoutthe story to increase tension. He uses punctuation, repetition,psychosis and imagery. This makes a very effect gothic story, andkeeps the reader tense throughout. This is effective because as thepace of the story tilts the reader feels differently towardscharacters. In fact not only does the pace of the story change but sodoes the actual nature of the narrator. He becomes unpredictable andirrational, creating a greater tension for the reader.