The Tell-Tale Heart

Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart was one of the few short stories that I have actually read before this class. Poe’s writing is fun to read and his dark plots always seem to keep me intrigued. Considering how talented Poe is at writing tales of terror, I figured he would have an interest in this specific genre. However, after reading some of his biography I found that his main motivation for writing these stories was because they made the most money. This was a bit disheartening to me because I enjoy reading works that the writer is passionate about. Nevertheless, I find it remarkable that Poe is able to write about things that he is not particularly interested in and is still produce some of the most popular works today.    

            Poe does a great job describing why he wants to kill the old man. He doesn’t have a good reason for his actions but he goes into this vivid detail about the old man’s eye. The eye being Poe’s justification for the killing makes the story all the creepier. He describes the eye as being “the eye of a vulture--a pale blue eye, with film over it.” This certainly painted a picture for me and the depiction of the old man almost seemed as terrorizing as Poe’s character.

            Poe does a great job at building suspense throughout this story by putting the reader in the story itself. Poe talks about how he thrust his head into the old man’s room and says, “Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in!” This kind of language makes me feel like I am standing outside the doorway watching him lurk into the room. A good portion of the story seemed to be set on building suspense in the reader. Poe does this by describing every detail of his moves into the room. He comments on how he opens the lantern that only “a single dim ray, like the thread of the spider shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye.” I felt like I could see Poe doing this and the fact that he is so cautious continued to build suspense in me. Poe then quickly spikes the suspense by using dialogue that sounds nervous and aroused. Right before he kills the man he comments on how the heart kept beating louder and louder that it should burst out of his chest. This description does a good job at making the reader feel the emotions of the character. I felt like I was living in the same scene as Poe.  

            After Poe kills the old man the reader goes under the impression that Poe is now satisfied with his deed. He does this by describing how cunningly he disposes of the body which adds a large element of terror to the story. Poe continues to paint a picture when he describes how he dismembered the body and hid it under the floor boards. This description of the murder shows how insane Poe’s character actually is. This is ironic though because throughout the whole story, Poe goes into vivid detail to defend his character’s sanity. I liked this contrast between Poe’s actions and beliefs because it made for a better horror story.

            Toward the end of the story Poe describes how powerful the human conscience is. Poe’s character cannot hide the body from the police any longer and digs up the floor boards when he is suspected of nothing. I feel like this is a natural human tendency when we do something we are not supposed to do. Whenever I do something that I’m not proud of I definitely feel feelings of guilt and regret. I can’t imagine how some people live with the guilt of committing a major crime like murder. The beating heart that Poe imagines reinforces how strong the human mind is. This story reminded me of how our emotions and actions are directly affected by the thoughts we think. I feel that it is important to choose what we think about wisely so that we don’t have hearts beating in our heads as well. 

Goodman Brown

This is the first work I have read by Nathanial Hawthorne and Young Goodman Brown struck me as being particularly dark. I was interested on why Hawthorne chose to write about religion in a dark context. So I looked some information on his history and I found that he had a great-great grandfather that was a judge in the Salem Witch trials and he supposedly wrote this story out of guilt that he had from his grandfather’s participation in witch hunts. This information helped me further understand where Hawthorne was coming from and why he takes the side he does.

            Hawthorne’s writing was full of symbolism and starts when he departs from his wife Faith. Faith needed faith that her husband would return to her after running this mysterious errand. Faith also symbolized the faith that Goodman Brown had in God and all the great things God had provided for him. Goodman Brown’s journey into the woods seemed to me like he was walking away from purity and the faith he had in God. The errand that Goodman Brown runs kept me intrigued as to what Goodman was actually doing in the woods and Hawthorne does a great job of keeping this meaning obscure. When Goodman Brown enters the woods that seemed to symbolize deceit and danger, he encounters the stranger he is supposed to meet for his errand. This stranger is an expert in deceiving Goodman to continue farther into the woods away from his wife faith. I felt like Goodman was as good as any Christian by the way he spoke to his wife telling her to “say thy prayers…, and go to bed at dusk and no harm will come to thee.” Goodman was obviously very devote to his religion and was focused on doing the right thing. When the stranger slowly lures Goodman into the woods, I feel like this symbolized that any good man can fall to the devil. The serpent on the stranger’s staff symbolized a demon and I feel like Goodman was fully condemned by the devil once he picks up his staff and moves further into the woods.

            As Goodman continues this “dream” he finds himself in a world of wickedness. He cries out to Faith to, “Look up to Heaven and resist the Wicked One!” He comments that he doesn’t know if Faith obey his command or not and Goodman seems to come back to reality. After this part in the story is where I saw the most change in Goodman. He sees Faith’s pink ribbon that was symbolic of innocence and purity. She runs toward Goodman and is so excited that she nearly kisses him in public. When she reaches Goodman Brown all he does is “look sternly and sadly into her face, and passed without a greeting.” Goodman Brown has definitely lost his faith in God and humanity and he can no longer listen to the hymens in church without being overcome with sin. The story ends by saying that when Goodman Brown died, there was no hopeful verse carved on his tombstone, and his dying hour was gloom.

            This story was definitely a depressing take on religion and humanity. I would hope that no matter what events happen in my life that there is always hope for the future. No one is perfect and we are all susceptible to falling into trouble. I feel like persistence should be more evident in Goodman Brown and he should use his experience in the woods to strengthen his relationship with God rather than have it crumble.

Goodman Brown

This is the first work I have read by Nathanial Hawthorne and Young Goodman Brown struck me as being particularly dark. I was interested on why Hawthorne chose to write about religion in a dark context. So I looked some information on his history and I found that he had a great-great grandfather that was a judge in the Salem Witch trials and he supposedly wrote this story out of guilt that he had from his grandfather’s participation in witch hunts. This information helped me further understand where Hawthorne was coming from and why he takes the side he does.

            Hawthorne’s writing was full of symbolism and starts when he departs from his wife Faith. Faith needed faith that her husband would return to her after running this mysterious errand. Faith also symbolized the faith that Goodman Brown had in God and all the great things God had provided for him. Goodman Brown’s journey into the woods seemed to me like he was walking away from purity and the faith he had in God. The errand that Goodman Brown runs kept me intrigued as to what Goodman was actually doing in the woods and Hawthorne does a great job of keeping this meaning obscure. When Goodman Brown enters the woods that seemed to symbolize deceit and danger, he encounters the stranger he is supposed to meet for his errand. This stranger is an expert in deceiving Goodman to continue farther into the woods away from his wife faith. I felt like Goodman was as good as any Christian by the way he spoke to his wife telling her to “say thy prayers…, and go to bed at dusk and no harm will come to thee.” Goodman was obviously very devote to his religion and was focused on doing the right thing. When the stranger slowly lures Goodman into the woods, I feel like this symbolized that any good man can fall to the devil. The serpent on the stranger’s staff symbolized a demon and I feel like Goodman was fully condemned by the devil once he picks up his staff and moves further into the woods.

            As Goodman continues this “dream” he finds himself in a world of wickedness. He cries out to Faith to, “Look up to Heaven and resist the Wicked One!” He comments that he doesn’t know if Faith obey his command or not and Goodman seems to come back to reality. After this part in the story is where I saw the most change in Goodman. He sees Faith’s pink ribbon that was symbolic of innocence and purity. She runs toward Goodman and is so excited that she nearly kisses him in public. When she reaches Goodman Brown all he does is “look sternly and sadly into her face, and passed without a greeting.” Goodman Brown has definitely lost his faith in God and humanity and he can no longer listen to the hymens in church without being overcome with sin. The story ends by saying that when Goodman Brown died, there was no hopeful verse carved on his tombstone, and his dying hour was gloom.

            This story was definitely a depressing take on religion and humanity. I would hope that no matter what events happen in my life that there is always hope for the future. No one is perfect and we are all susceptible to falling into trouble. I feel like persistence should be more evident in Goodman Brown and he should use his experience in the woods to strengthen his relationship with God rather than have it crumble.

Thoreau's Walden

Thoreau’s Walden “Where I lived, and what I lived for” seemed significant in both a physical and philosophical realm. Walden reflects on the places he looked at before living in Walden. He talks about how he came close to settling in the Hollowell Place until the owner decided she didn’t want to sell the house. This seemed like a fairly big loss to Thoreau because he had plans to farm a large tract of the land. This must have taken much time and planning and I think it is interesting how Thoreau reacted to this situation. Thoreau quotes that it was best for him to “live free and uncommitted” and simply took off to live in the woods elsewhere. Thoreau definitely did not dwell on his loss and simply continued to live his life.

            Thoreau settles off into the woods and comments his great achievement of settling in Walden. When he first moves in on July fourth, he is happy to have a place to meet his physical needs, but his abode is much more meaning full in philosophical sense. He comments on he feels like a god on Olympus. It seemed strange to me that Thoreau was so excited to have this new place because it was run down and didn’t even have a chimney. However, I like this trait of Thoreau because he was always looking toward the positive in every situation. He claims that anywhere is place fit for a god if only one has the right outlook on the situation. Thoreau’s optimism seems to serve him well in rough circumstances when he comments on the frequent breeze in his house. It seems that most people would either complain about the draft or find some way to fix it. However Thoreau simply looks at the situation differently and claims that he has the benefit of fresh air on summer nights. Thoreau’s optimism is complemented by simplicity and this simplicity seems to bring him happiness.

            Thoreau’s simplicity transcends into a philosophical thought when he talks about time. He claims that he is free from time and matter and that time is a river in which he goes fishing. Thoreau continues to take on this god like persona by mentally choosing to take part in time or be absent of it. This statement of Thoreau was interesting to me because I am quite the opposite of this mind set. I like things to be structured and planned. I feel like I have to use all the time of my day so that no time is wasted. Sometimes this can be a strength or a weakness depending on the circumstance. I feel like having balance is a key to achieving the most out of life. I think this is why I liked Thoreau’s commit on time so much because the idea takes a different path on how I now perceive time. Sometimes it is crucial to use all the time we have to get things done. However, after reading Thoreau’s comment on time I feel like it is also important to bring your line out of the water of time sometimes for a mental break.

                Thoreau also has a large passion for reading that I thought was significant. Much of his ideas are supported by Hindu thinkers or great books. I admire people who really take time to learn from great works and implement them in their own lives. However, I feel like reading was one of the only things Thoreau had to do in the woods alone. Much like Ben Franklin, reading was primarily one of his hobbies because it was one of the only forms of communication in a print based world. Today things are much different and we don’t see many people with their heads buried in a book. Society has definitely developed to where people spend their leisure time doing other things like watching tv, playing video games, or surfing the web. I feel like this is one of the reasons that people have to force themselves to read today. I really liked Thoreau’s analogy of reading as an act of work such as farming or athletics. Just like these people have to get their farm ready for harvest or their bodies ready for competition, we have to train our minds to read. I like this idea of breaking a mental sweat and reaching for things that are uncomfortable or challenging.

Thoreau's Walden

Thoreau’s Walden “Where I lived, and what I lived for” seemed significant in both a physical and philosophical realm. Walden reflects on the places he looked at before living in Walden. He talks about how he came close to settling in the Hollowell Place until the owner decided she didn’t want to sell the house. This seemed like a fairly big loss to Thoreau because he had plans to farm a large tract of the land. This must have taken much time and planning and I think it is interesting how Thoreau reacted to this situation. Thoreau quotes that it was best for him to “live free and uncommitted” and simply took off to live in the woods elsewhere. Thoreau definitely did not dwell on his loss and simply continued to live his life.

            Thoreau settles off into the woods and comments his great achievement of settling in Walden. When he first moves in on July fourth, he is happy to have a place to meet his physical needs, but his abode is much more meaning full in philosophical sense. He comments on he feels like a god on Olympus. It seemed strange to me that Thoreau was so excited to have this new place because it was run down and didn’t even have a chimney. However, I like this trait of Thoreau because he was always looking toward the positive in every situation. He claims that anywhere is place fit for a god if only one has the right outlook on the situation. Thoreau’s optimism seems to serve him well in rough circumstances when he comments on the frequent breeze in his house. It seems that most people would either complain about the draft or find some way to fix it. However Thoreau simply looks at the situation differently and claims that he has the benefit of fresh air on summer nights. Thoreau’s optimism is complemented by simplicity and this simplicity seems to bring him happiness.

            Thoreau’s simplicity transcends into a philosophical thought when he talks about time. He claims that he is free from time and matter and that time is a river in which he goes fishing. Thoreau continues to take on this god like persona by mentally choosing to take part in time or be absent of it. This statement of Thoreau was interesting to me because I am quite the opposite of this mind set. I like things to be structured and planned. I feel like I have to use all the time of my day so that no time is wasted. Sometimes this can be a strength or a weakness depending on the circumstance. I feel like having balance is a key to achieving the most out of life. I think this is why I liked Thoreau’s commit on time so much because the idea takes a different path on how I now perceive time. Sometimes it is crucial to use all the time we have to get things done. However, after reading Thoreau’s comment on time I feel like it is also important to bring your line out of the water of time sometimes for a mental break.

                Thoreau also has a large passion for reading that I thought was significant. Much of his ideas are supported by Hindu thinkers or great books. I admire people who really take time to learn from great works and implement them in their own lives. However, I feel like reading was one of the only things Thoreau had to do in the woods alone. Much like Ben Franklin, reading was primarily one of his hobbies because it was one of the only forms of communication in a print based world. Today things are much different and we don’t see many people with their heads buried in a book. Society has definitely developed to where people spend their leisure time doing other things like watching tv, playing video games, or surfing the web. I feel like this is one of the reasons that people have to force themselves to read today. I really liked Thoreau’s analogy of reading as an act of work such as farming or athletics. Just like these people have to get their farm ready for harvest or their bodies ready for competition, we have to train our minds to read. I like this idea of breaking a mental sweat and reaching for things that are uncomfortable or challenging.