Summary:
Comparison and Contrast from two of Edgar Allen Poe's Killers from The Cask of Amintiago and The Tell-Tale Heart reveal similarities in Poe's characters. These similarities transcend stories andprovide a common thread within his writings.
Poe's Killers
In many of Poe's writings he has characters with similar traits and characteristics. Two that seem apparent are Montresor in "The Cast of Amontillado" and the killer in "Tell-Tale Heart." These two characters have many similarities and differences, some are easy to pick out while some are not.
In the story "The Cast of Amontillado" Montresor was insulted by Fortunato, and this is what drove Montresor to eventually bury Fortunato in a wall of his cellar. Now in "The Tell-Tale Heart" the killer was a servant of an old man who he killed and buried under the floor. Now the reasoning behind these two deaths are some what similar. The killer in "Tell-Tale Heart" could not stand to look on the old man because of his evil eye. The eye really was a reflection of him self, so one could argue that he drove himself to kill the old man. Now in "The Cast of Amontillado" Montresor was insulted by Fortunato who is a very similar to Montresor in many ways, so one could also argue that Montresor killed part of himself.
These two also have a similar feelings on what they did after the fact. In both instances the character felt some sort of remorse. Montresor hesitated to put up the final tier of bricks. " For a brief moment I hesitated- I trembled. Unsheathing my rapier, I began to grope with it about the recess; but the thought of an instant reassured me," (Poe,
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1192). This shows that Montresor had some second thought about burring Fortunato alive. Likewise in the "Tell-Tale Heart" the killer feels so much remorse he eventually admits to killing the old man. He hears the heart of the old man, and it is too much for him to bare. "Villains! Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! Tear up the planks! Here! Here! It is the beating of his hideous heart!"( Poe,1209). Even when feeling remorse for what they did the both believe that that was the only way to solve the problem, even though in "The Cask of Amontillado" Poe never reviels what exactly happened to Montresor.
Now these two have some similarities but they also have differences.
For instance Montresor was very methodical and calculated on what he was going to do to Fortunato. He lures him with a wine that he could not resist and eventually get him drunk and bricks him inside the wall. He knew he was a proud man and kept throwing the name Luchesi around to make him want to prove his wine tasting ability. His efforts were obviously planed. Now on the other hand the killer in the " The Tell-Tale Heart" killed the old man purely out of hatred of the eye. He did not plan too much on how he was going to kill the old man. He went in to his room for eight days then eventually decided he could no longer take the image in his eye and felt he had to kill him. This was more of a crime of passion rather then a calculated plan like Montresor's. As stated by Joseph J Moldenhauer on Poe's psychological and moral visions, there seems to be two distinct phases in his killers. There is a self assured type who is more like Montresor and a manic type who is like the killer in "Tell-Tale Heart," (Moldenhauer, 284)
These two characters also can be seen totally different in a social aspect. One
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would believe that the character in "Tell Tale Heart" is a servant, seen as a lower class citizen. He lives with the old man that he cares for and doesn't seem to have the ability to interact with people well. No Montresor is quite the opposite, as stated by, John Stott
Graham, " We can, therefore, see Montresor not only as godlike as he manipulates his servants with divine indirectness ; but also see him as godlike in his indifference to suffering, both as he executes his vengeance and as he mocks those that fall into his power." (Graham, 85)
There were many similarities in these two Poe characters, but also many differences. It is clear to the reader that the more cleaver and cunning of the two is Montresor. While the killer in "Tell-Tale Heart" is more of a psycho. Poe shows the reader that there is a fine line between being insane and cold blooded killer. While Montresor got away with his crime he was cold blooded and the more evil of the two. The other killer was just insane and snapped. This makes for very interesting comparison between the two, how can there be so much in common with a sane, angry person, and an insane person.
Charters, Ann. " The Story and Its Writers." An Introduction To Short Fiction. 6th Ed. Bendford/ St. Martin's, 2003. 1206-09, 1188-93.
Moldenhauer Joseph J. #"Murder as a Fine Art: Basic Connections between Poe's Aesthetics, Psychology, and Moral Vision" PMLA. JSTOR. Flite Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI. 27, Jan. 2005.
St. John Stott, Graham. " Poe's The Cask of Amontillado." The Explicator 62 (2004): 85.
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