Poe

          I distinctly remember the first time I read The Tell-Tale Heart. My 8 year-old self was sitting in the front seat of my elder sister’s beat-up ’92 Bonneville waiting for her to drive me to McDonald’s. I cracked open the short story anthology and happened to land on the Edgar Allen Poe tale, which I’d just heard some of my 4th grade friends (the big kids) talking about the other day at recess. I was instantly hooked to the murder plot and the seemingly sane nature of the would-be murderer. As the story went on my heart raced faster and faster until the conclusion when he gives in to the beating heart and confesses his crime. I read it two more times that night. While I’m not quite as riveted now, reading this story at five in the morning just before work, I can say that I still enjoy it quite a bit. I’m easily attracted to psychological thrillers and suspenseful stories, and the final paragraph is quite suspenseful. When it’s clear that the protagonist is going through some internal struggle, going from calm to frantic, I can’t help but grin. Not that I think murder or madness is funny, but it’s just a well-written paragraph and a good conclusion to the story.
         
          I also appreciate The Cask of Amontillado, mostly for the descriptions of the catacombs that become a tomb for the unsuspecting victim. I don’t like this story as much as Tell-Tale Heart, but it’s definitely not a bad read. Poe seems to get my darker sense of humor, which I like. Even though ultimately this story features a man being buried alive, I find it rather funny in a way that I cannot explain; and I’d like to think that Poe had fun writing it. Fortunato is far from fortunate by the end of the story. The revenge aspect of the story is something I like as well. Good revenge stories that end with the protagonist getting what he or she wanted are often ones that I enjoy. On a somewhat related note, Kill Bill is one of my favorite films.

          I really enjoyed both stories and can't wait for today's presentation.

Young Goodman Brown

Young Goodman Brown is one of my favorite short stories and my favorite work by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I’m a big fan of most things concerning the supernatural, snakes, witches, and surreal events. The first time I read this story was in my freshman English class in high school. Honestly, I just skimmed it before a quiz; but the following summer I visited it again and realized how good it is.

            The descriptions of the forest and the depictions of it as a wild unholy beast are rather great. It’s almost like I’m in Brown’s shoes walking through the dark woods, not knowing what evil could be lurking around the corner. One of my favorite passages concerning Nature is when Brown finally comes across the assembly of witches as they are singing. Of this scene the narrator says, “Verse after verse was sung, and still the chorus of the desert swelled between, like the deepest tone of a mighty organ. And, with the final peal of that dreadful anthem, there came a sound, as if the roaring wind, the rushing streams, the howling beasts, and every other voice of the unconverted wilderness, were mingling and according with the voice of guilty man, in homage to the prince of all” (612). There’s just a sense of dread and magic in this scene that I feel in my chest. It’s hard to explain, but I feel it- it’s rousing.

                        The passage that moves me the most though is the speech of Old Goodman Brown as he describes to Faith and Young Brown the hypocrisy that they have been living amongst in ignorance. He speaks of women poisoning their husbands and young men killing their fathers for money and of infant funerals and adultery. It’s short, detailed, and damning information that presses me to check my own moral compass; and I am happy to not practice any of the aforementioned. The end of this speech is also intriguing. Old Brown talks about the “mystery of sin” and “the fountain of all wicked arts”, implying that Young Brown and his Faith have gotten into something that is inescapable. Giving yourself to sin just leads to more sin, in the case of Young Goodman Brown, and that’s probably what I like most about the story. It’s simple and has a moral to it: don’t give into temptation if you aren’t ready to handle the consequence.