Developing New Perspectives by Comparing and Contrasting: Tell Tale Heart Versus The Landlady
“ Just a Journey leads to a new vista, a short story leads to new understanding” In your own opinion how well do “ “ and “ The Landlady “ justify the above quotation Reading a story, we can learn the cruel reality of the real world. Since this is a fallen world, it is not realistic to live inside our own shell. It is important for us to be aware of the fact and take precautions even though some stories are fictions and seem to be exaggerated. However, from the fact that writers can create those stories suggests the possibilities of those crimes to be committed. Just a Journey leads to a new vista, a short story leads to new understanding” Through “ The “ and “ The Land lady ,“ we as readers have the privileges to explore the minds of these two great writers and have new understandings in the fields we were not familiar with. The authors of both stories had done a great job terrifying readers by the tension and suspense they built. The genre of these two stories is horror and mystery which contains the element of murder. “The Tell-Tale Heart” was written in first person narrative which makes the story more vivid and readers are more involved in the process.
Poe used the form of confession to explain details so that readers would feel as if they were at the crime scene. The narrator claimed that he was just nervous but not mad. He told the story in a way which he thought could defend his sanity yet he confessed to killing the old man. The advantage of telling a story from the first person point of view is that readers can know author’s thoughts and feelings explicitly. However, this also means reader are left with limited imagination for the story. In the aspect of writing style, the author likes to use short sentences, such as “They heard! they suspected! ” to make the story fast paced and build suspense. The short sentences also make the main character seem irrational. The Land Lady was written from a third person view which is different from Poe’s. The story started with Weaver trying to find a place to stay overnight. Attracted by an incredibly cheap price, he walked into a “Bed and Breakfast. ” To me, this is such an ironic coincidence that the ending might be Weaver becoming the landlady’s breakfast in a place which is called “ Bed and Breakfast. Both Poe and Dahl used darkness to create suspense for murder, however, the darkness in The Landlady is in a cosy, warm place. Dahl set up the mood using similes. “But the air was deadly cold and the wind was like a flat blade of ice on his cheeks”. Those bolded words suggest a murder. As for narrative form, readers learn Billy Weaver through his thoughts and questions. Moreover, his questions and observations are also the clues for speculating what would happen next and the possible murder. As readers, we are given information Weaver does not know in the story to foresee the upcoming danger.
The Landlady was written in plain words and longer sentences rather than complicated words and shorter sentences. In the beginning, the plot seems to be as normal as ordinary stories. As the story develops, readers are brought into the atmosphere of darkness and horror. Since this story was told from third person point of view, readers are left with more room to imagine their own ending. In conclusion,” Tell Tale Heart “ and “ The Landlady “ justify the quotation “ Just a Journey leads to a new vista, a short story leads to new understanding. It is human nature for us to plan tomorrows as if we were in charge of our own lives. However, from these two stories, the beginnings of the stories are very different from the endings. The narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” claimed he was sane but it turned out that he revealed the murder he committed by losing control. In the “Landlady,” the plot led us to an unexpected potential murder which no hints were given in the beginning. Life is full of surprises. We should always be open-minded for changes.
