"The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Gilman, is a first person narrative following a woman's descent into madness. Based off the title alone, I assumed the story would heavily involve the wallpaper, but I did not expect the story to be about how the wallpaper causes a woman to be crazy. In that regard, there are various similarities between the themes, ideas, and characters of this story with Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart".
I thought "The Yellow Wallpaper" was a good read. The story provides enough character details to show how their actions affect the main character (the woman). Also, the descriptions and details that are used by the author portray how the woman's descent into paranoia happens progressively over time. The use of imagery is amazing, especially when the story goes into detail about how the patterns on the wall change into different shapes in the eyes of the woman. I definitely recommend this story to others.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
The Walking Avalanche (A sound of thunder)
"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury is a short story that explores various interesting forms of using description. The title alone made me think of a stormy weather setting. However, the meaning of the title is no where close to the meaning used by the author.
The story uses a lot of descriptive details to paint a vivid scene for the readers. One of my favorite segments in the story is when the T-rex shows its face for the first time and battles against the hunters. The T-rex is described in intricate detail. Bradbury describes the monster's strength and force as unstoppable. The presence of the T-rex is so overwhelming and unbelievable that it kind of makes the hunters not help but feel respect for such a creature. The T-Rex is even presented in a sort of majestic way, with comparisons made to a "Tyrant Lizard", "A mountain avalanche", "a stone idol", "evil god". It felt as if I were staring up looking at a T-rex with the amount of imagery that Bradbury presents.
The only fault I find in the story is that they should have explained why some of the changes that occur when the past is changed occur. For example, why is the written language different and less intelligent sounding in the new present? It would have been interesting if the author had expanded on that.
The story uses a lot of descriptive details to paint a vivid scene for the readers. One of my favorite segments in the story is when the T-rex shows its face for the first time and battles against the hunters. The T-rex is described in intricate detail. Bradbury describes the monster's strength and force as unstoppable. The presence of the T-rex is so overwhelming and unbelievable that it kind of makes the hunters not help but feel respect for such a creature. The T-Rex is even presented in a sort of majestic way, with comparisons made to a "Tyrant Lizard", "A mountain avalanche", "a stone idol", "evil god". It felt as if I were staring up looking at a T-rex with the amount of imagery that Bradbury presents.
The only fault I find in the story is that they should have explained why some of the changes that occur when the past is changed occur. For example, why is the written language different and less intelligent sounding in the new present? It would have been interesting if the author had expanded on that.
Poe's "A Tell-Tale Heart"
Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story that concisely details the deterioration of a man's mental stability. The narrator begins the tale by stating that regardless of what his actions and his thoughts might appear to tell, he is in fact not crazy. His cold meticulous planning is similar behavior to that of a psychopath, but he makes sure to reiterate to the audience that his murder of the old man makes sense. Not much information is given regarding the old man, we just know that he appears to be a housemate/acquaintance of the narrator and that he sleeps alone. The old man himself is not responsible for aggravating the mad man, instead, it is simply the color and gaze of his eyes that haunt the mad man endlessly.
The narrator hunts his pray for a week. He acts normal during the day, but when the night time casts its shade over the town, the narrator enters the old man's home to observe him while he sleeps. He seems to feed off having the upper hand when he stares at the old man sleep, being at his most vulnerable. However, its this upperhand that stops him from harming the old man. It is not until the 8th night, when the narrator does the same routine, that the old man wakes up in complete terror. He feels the presence of someone else. He now shares the paranoia that the narrator has held since the beginning of the story. Seeing this old man helpless in fear is what finally entices the narrator to attack and get rid of the eye. The conclusion has the narrator succumbing to his own arrogance and it shows how he overestimated his ability to blatantly lie and be comfortable with doing such a horrible deed. Paranoia eats at him until he cracks and tells the police what he did. Poe tries to personify the notions of fear and paranoia with this short story and it proves to be disturbing.
The narrator hunts his pray for a week. He acts normal during the day, but when the night time casts its shade over the town, the narrator enters the old man's home to observe him while he sleeps. He seems to feed off having the upper hand when he stares at the old man sleep, being at his most vulnerable. However, its this upperhand that stops him from harming the old man. It is not until the 8th night, when the narrator does the same routine, that the old man wakes up in complete terror. He feels the presence of someone else. He now shares the paranoia that the narrator has held since the beginning of the story. Seeing this old man helpless in fear is what finally entices the narrator to attack and get rid of the eye. The conclusion has the narrator succumbing to his own arrogance and it shows how he overestimated his ability to blatantly lie and be comfortable with doing such a horrible deed. Paranoia eats at him until he cracks and tells the police what he did. Poe tries to personify the notions of fear and paranoia with this short story and it proves to be disturbing.
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