Introduction to Sound and Hearing in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado”
Stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allen Poe show the use of sound and hearing and their impact on human beings. In fact, the use of sounds is pivotal and crucial in writing, as one cannot directly show these sounds. They are rather used in corresponding vocabulary items, or through stylistic devices such as repetition which Poe has also used in both these stories. In most cases, such use is found in poems. However, Edgar Allen Poe has brought these sounds into his short stories and succeeded in creating fear and horror in his works. He exploits hearing sense to cast a spell on his readers by creating sounds that give a touch of reality to the story as well as the plot. The sounds and hearing sense have many things in common. A man is likely to hear the sounds, which he can himself create. It is also a fact that sometimes one sense is more powerful than the other. The same is the case with the teller of the story in, “The Tell-Tale Heart” (Poe, p. 761). However, the role of these senses is very important in developing a black and benighted mysterious environment in the background. The sounds in, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” demonstrate an unnerving atmosphere created by these sounds as well as make the atmosphere mysteriously horrible, conveying complicated psychological issues and resultant crime.
Religion and “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado”
Before writing stories, Edgar Allen Poe had already preoccupied himself with the notion that religion could no more develop terror in the hearts of the public. The people also wished to see something concrete, which could be felt like something in real life – which means an unnerving and fearful atmosphere around them. Professor Calanchi (2015), a researcher from Italy writes in his research work entitled “ Searching For Sounds in U.S. Literature: A Multisensorial, Multidisciplinary Project” that the daily speeches and sermons of the clergy were no more effective in creating terror. He says that Poe’s characters have Christian backgrounds, but at the same time, they seem to have some psychological disorders. They seem ready to kill their friends and fellows, but they also talk about God. It is evident when Montresor replies to Fortunato, as he mentions, “For the love of God” and he also responds to him in the same vein (p. 768). Calanchi goes on to explain that Edgar Allen Poe intends to make the readers go into a sort of shock to create a fearful atmosphere. It is because according to Calanchi, religion has lost its significance in this background and that sounds are only used to create some sort of “uncanny atmosphere” (p. 5). Given the existing “uncanny atmosphere”, the horror overcomes the audiences and the readers alike (p. 5). Though these sounds do not seem to have any allegorical significance, he could not find out and mention the psychological underpinnings, as these sounds create rather an eerie atmosphere in which the readers are lost, feeling horror and terror of the crime committed thereof and it is the same in both stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado”.
Role of Sounds in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado”
While talking about the mysteriousness of any event or story, the role of sounds cannot be undermined. It is obvious these days that the majority of terror and horror films are shaped by creating an amalgamation of terror sounds. These sounds fill the audience with terror as in the movie, The Exorcist, given in the afterthought. It also is evident in Edgar Allen’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” where the sense of hearing of the narrator, in the case of first story, becomes acute that he feels as if he is hearing various sounds and voices. The narrator of the story admits that the ailment he had, has “sharpened my senses” (Poe, p. 762). It indicates his psychological disease, which has developed hallucinations, related to the sounds and these sounds create a type of mysterious situation in his mind. John E. Reilly (1969) in his paper “The Lesser Death-Watch and ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’“ declares that the source of the sound that the narrator hears is mysterious as it is not clear. In his opinion, the sound of tick-tick has eliminated the spiritual power found in his personality, creating a sort of mystery. The fact is that both the killer and the killed have the same mental conditions. He opines that such type of hearing points to “a function of the narrator’s frame of mind …[giving] rise to hyperacusis” and the ability of the brain (Reilly, 1969). Despite this, there are dark and cryptic niches in the minds, which adopt more complex shapes that the audiences are wonderstruck when they leave and this is the direction where mystery takes them to. This is what Reilly calls “ the innocuous sound of an insect becomes a measure of time” and than becomes a “homicidal frenzy”, a psychological condition, as pointed out (Reilly, 1969).
Negativity in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado”
Basically, a man has a natural tendency for goodness but at the same time, he is likely to indulge in negative sentiments such as exacting revenge, or committing a crime as a result. It is the revenge that Montresor in “The Cask of Amontillado” imposes upon Fortunato to equal the score of vilifications. The narrator in “Tell-Tale Heart” avenges and retaliates against the elderly person as he has allegedly inflicted torture on him with the tick-tick sound coming from his heart although it is not his fault. This sound plays an important role in the committing of murder as well as the confession of the same resultant crime. Dawn B. Sova (2007), in his book, Critical Companion to Edgar Allan Poe: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, highlights this fact by saying, “The narrator is …distressed by hearing the overwhelming sound of a heartbeat”, adding that following the murder, the narrator hears this ticking sound that “leads him to confess the crime” resulted from the same sound (174). It is because of this reason that Poe has used several devices including repetition, showing different sounds used to create the impression of a psychological disorder and the eventual crimes perpetrated after that.
Conclusion
To sum up, it can be said that sounds have a great role to play in Poe’s short stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado”. These sounds have created and intensified the element of fear and horror in situations that apparently look simple. The murder of an elderly person by an anonymous killer is an everyday incident. In this case, Poe has also made it impressive and special with his technique of narration, description, and by the use of sounds especially the sounds of the beating of the elderly man’s heart. The revenge taken by Montresor appears to be a normal criminal incident committed by a criminal. However, the sounds heard by him and uttered by Fortunato towards the end of the story and the manner of his description make the crime horrible not only for the readers but also for the writers. Therefore, the statement that Poe exploited his poetic sense of sounds in his short stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” for powerful effect cannot be declared wrong.
Afterthought: It is the Heading Turning Scene from the movie, The Exorcist. The sounds create a specific role in making it more terrifying, specifically the shrieks of Linda Blair and Regon, and then the creaking sounds of the sliding sofa, drawers, and the bed. The sound of the Demon also makes it terrifying and then when the scene ends, the shrieks seem echoing in the mind of the audience. Had there been no sounds, this scene would not have been as shocking and terrifying as shrieks and creaking sounds have made it (Friedkin & Batty, 1973).
References
- Blatty, W. P. & Friedkin, W. (1973). The Exorcist. United States: Warner Bros.
- Calanchi, A. (2015). Searching For Sounds in U.S. Literature: A Multisensorial, Multidisciplinary Project. European Scientific Journal 3: 1-12.
- Poe, E. A. (2015). The Cask of Amontillado. In C. Anne (Ed.), The Story and Its Writer (6th ed., pp. 761-767). Boston: Bed Ford/ St. Martin.
- ———–. (2015). Tell-Tale Heart. In C. Anne (Ed.), The Story and Its Writer (6th ed., pp. 768-775). Boston: Bed Ford/ St. Martin.
- Reilly, J. E. (2011). The Lesser Death-Watch and ‘The Tell-Tale Heart”. Retrieved from Edgar Allen Poe Society website on January 14, 2016.
- Sova, D. B. (2007). Critical Companion to Edgar Allan Poe: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York. Infobase Publishing. 174.
Relevant Questions
- In “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado,” how do the authors use sounds and descriptions related to hearing to create a sense of suspense and unease in their respective stories?
- What role does the auditory sense play in the development of the main characters’ paranoia and obsession in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado”?
- How does the use of sound and hearing in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” contribute to the overall atmosphere and mood of these two Edgar Allan Poe stories?