Compare and Contrast the Tell Tale Heart and The cask of Amontillado by E A Poe

He utilizes animals, the natural world, and sometimes weather with the aim of creating chilling literature. The Tell-Tale Heart and the Cask of Amontillado and are some of the dark and mysterious tales that were written by Edgar Allan Poe during the 18th century. The author is considered a great writer since he manages to set the right tone for his literal works. This particular essay aims to compare and contrast several similarities and differences that are presented by the author when writing the two short stories. The author displays the narrators of both the Tell-Tale Heart and the Cask of Amontillado tales as wicked, fixated characters, who are overwhelmed by the desire to devour the life of their unfortunate victims despite the fact that they deliberate on utilizing distinctive strategies.

The narrator in the Tell-Tale Heart also kept on checking the condition of the old man on a daily basis besides designing a fool-proof plan to dispose of his body. These plans that were deliberated on by the narrators serves to premeditate the murders of their victims. Both narrators performed their heinous activities in gothic settings. The narrator in the Tell-Tale Heart story committed his murder at night when the old man was asleep, whereas Montressor committed his murder in a dark room and buried his victim underground. After the murder, both narrators resorted into burying their victims in dark and underground locations that could not be easily reached by the police. The victim of the Cask of Amontillado was led into his ultimate death by the narrator when he was under the influence of alcohol by being convinced to come into the basement that was made of a brick wall.

It is from this location that he was imprisoned by being chained to the wall until his death. The long, painful and slow death that was experienced by Fortunato made him know his killer. The old man in the Tell-Tale Heart narrative experienced a quick and painless death after being suffocated under a bed. He, therefore, did not know his killer, unlike Fortunato. This translates to their difference in implementing their strategies to commit their respective murders. The other difference between the two stories is that Montresso got away with murder and he continues to live out his days without no one knowing that he actually committed murder. On the other hand the narrator in the Tell-tale Heart gets caught by the police because of his guilt conscience that manifests itself through the hard beating of the heart.