Protagonist in Tell Tale Heart
Referring to the Tell Tale Heart and one other text you have read, discuss how the writers present their protagonist. Comment on which one you prefer and why.
What are the protagonists like? How do the techniques the writers use show this? Which protagonist do you prefer and why?
The protagonist in the Tell Tale Heart is the killer of the man with the evil eye - apparent as he is the narrative voice. He is sly and cunning to ensure the murder remains undetected. The protagonist in the other text, The Curious Incident of The Dog in Night Time is also the narrative voice - that of a fifteen year old boy with a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. In this novel, he investigates the killing of his neighbour’s dog, found with a garden fork forced through its body.
The author of Tell Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe, uses a variety of linguistic devices to make the reader empathise with the killer, for example the use of repetition to describe the sound of the heartbeat getting ‘louder and louder, quicker and quicker’. This makes the reader vividly imagine the sound of the heartbeat speeding up, representing the imagined beating of the corpse’s heart and the reality that it is in fact his own heartbeat, quickening at the fear of the police discovering the body directly beneath him. The presentation of the speaker as paranoid and panic-stricken allows the reader to easily relate to and feel sorry for the character.
The writer also uses metaphors to add description to the eye the killer despises so much. It is referred to as a ‘vulture eye’ because it creates detailed imagery exact to how the protagonist perceives it. Besides by using the word ‘vulture’ it gives the eye predator-like features, giving yet more detail and showing that the killer feels as though he is being preyed on by the eye. This again, adds to the idea that the man murdered out of fear and proves it was not a malicious and cold-blooded act – making it easier for the reader to empathise with
What are the protagonists like? How do the techniques the writers use show this? Which protagonist do you prefer and why?
The protagonist in the Tell Tale Heart is the killer of the man with the evil eye - apparent as he is the narrative voice. He is sly and cunning to ensure the murder remains undetected. The protagonist in the other text, The Curious Incident of The Dog in Night Time is also the narrative voice - that of a fifteen year old boy with a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. In this novel, he investigates the killing of his neighbour’s dog, found with a garden fork forced through its body.
The author of Tell Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe, uses a variety of linguistic devices to make the reader empathise with the killer, for example the use of repetition to describe the sound of the heartbeat getting ‘louder and louder, quicker and quicker’. This makes the reader vividly imagine the sound of the heartbeat speeding up, representing the imagined beating of the corpse’s heart and the reality that it is in fact his own heartbeat, quickening at the fear of the police discovering the body directly beneath him. The presentation of the speaker as paranoid and panic-stricken allows the reader to easily relate to and feel sorry for the character.
The writer also uses metaphors to add description to the eye the killer despises so much. It is referred to as a ‘vulture eye’ because it creates detailed imagery exact to how the protagonist perceives it. Besides by using the word ‘vulture’ it gives the eye predator-like features, giving yet more detail and showing that the killer feels as though he is being preyed on by the eye. This again, adds to the idea that the man murdered out of fear and proves it was not a malicious and cold-blooded act – making it easier for the reader to empathise with