Poe

Reading  "The Tell Tale Heart" again has deepened my appreciation for Poe. Before, I didn't understand his technique or his mastery of suspense.  I just thought it was a odd story.  Now I see that how he is able to get into the mind of a killer and explain how they think.  He takes a reasonable argument and makes it unreasonable and insane.  For example, in the "Tell Tale Heart" the narrator asks why anyone would call him mad.  He claims he is sane because can wait patiently to kill the old man and also cover the body in a way that nobody else would be able to notice.  Because he is able to think clearly, on the surface, he is sane.  What makes him absolutely insane is his deed and that very same rationing.  He kills the old man yet rationalizes he is still sane. This narrator has this obsession with the old man's eye.  He claims it's evil, so that is why the man must die.  The interesting thing is that the eye does nothing; it's just a bit creepy.  What the man perceives is his reality.  In his mind, the eye is the source evil and not himself.
When reading this story, the man's nervousness is apparent, especially in the first paragraph.  It gives this feeling that his heart is racing and pumping fast.  Poe has a way with using the Gothic style of writing.  As a writer, I admire how he is able to create the dark, morbid atmosphere.  I believe it's the kind of thrill people get when they watch a psychological, suspense thriller today.  It's as though the reader's senses are honed and refined in the darkness.
As for the "The Cask of Amontillado," I found it more sad than disturbing.  I really pitied how Fortunato was betrayed because of Montresor couldn't get past his own inadequacies.  Montresor lead Fortunato, while he was drunk, into a tomb and built a wall to block the entrance.  He felt it was wrong but ignored his feelings.  He makes himself believe that it is nothing.
One of the things I found interesting about this piece was the title.  I searched the definition of cask because I thought it was closely related to 'casket.'  It turns out that a cask is meant for holding alcohol.  Fortunato is a wine expert, who gets drunk at the carnival. Montresor has used this weakness of his to kill him.  I'm not too sure of the connection, but I found the link to the title interesting.  Overall, this story wasn't as suspenseful, but I do think it says something about human nature.  Montresor says his friend insulted him and that is the reason he has to die.  The motives for killing in these two stories don't make sense to us.  In the mind of an insane person, however, they are somehow rationalized.  I think the reader can see how things make sense even if we know they aren't right.  Poe has allowed a unique insight even though these stories are fiction.