Explanation of Design Process

               The ‘Backwards theory of Evolution’ shows man progressing from apes into the man we see now and then back into the animal. This shows Poe’s thought in the quote as he says that he believes man is the same, if not worse than he was 6000 years ago. The ‘two paths’ show how in the article Poe has two sides of him. In that short story, he is leaning more towards the right, bright side instead f the usual dark gloomy hate that he normally shows. The photo of the ‘Ghost at the End of the Bed’ and ‘The Shadow’ both show how the narrator stalked the old man every so quietly in his attempt to ride the world of the ‘wretched vulture-like eye’ that haunted him. It shows the hate and angry with the darkness of the pictures. The skull relates to the mood and it helps create the dark atmosphere that Poe so cleverly displays. The skeleton melting away shows how Poe’s narrator was slowly dying inside when his conscience was weighing on him after he committed the murder. The mental breakdown of the narrator is shown by the skeleton as the skeleton is bending down thinking, melting away as the pain and regret is torturing him. It shows nearly an exact replica of what the story talked about.

                The reason we made our blog dark and black was to reflect Poe’s similar writing style. We chose the theme “Amazing.Inc” because we both decided that it reflected sort of an antique theme and allowed the viewer to further appreciate how old the stories are and when they took place. We also chose the font “Times New Roman” because it represents a classy, old type-writer style look and it develops the theme set with Poe’s older work. Most of our pictures are sketched and black and white or gray-scale as the darkness of the pictures gives the dark atmosphere which sets the tone as mysterious and scary. The sketched pictures give a scary look and put anxiety into the viewers mind before they even read a word.

Poe's Theory of Evolution

Edgar Allen Poe’s Personal Notes

“I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active—not more happy—not more wise then he was 6000 years ago”

            This is undoubtedly one of my favourite quotes. The way Poe puts his words together is so unique and very enticing, you cannot help but read his works. He hits it dead on where he believes that mankind has not changed in six millennia; they are still barbaric in many ways. Poe most likely developed his feelings of hatred towards man due to the way that his foster father and ‘family’ treated him. He hates on man as he feels that his foster father mistreated and showed no love for him, acting in a barbaric way the way that he felt cavemen behaved six thousand years ago. Although in this quote he never states why he has this hate and feeling of remorse towards the human race, it illustrates his childhood pain, and how he was emotionally neglected, hence Poe showing his hatred towards man. It also symbolizes how a man who was never shown love or care growing up ends up behaving different than the regular person would behave. Poe shows such hate in his words due to his past, and perfectly reveals it in his gothic stories. He does not try to; it just comes out in his writing voice. Only a man, who hates on life, would even think of hating on mankind. For who would detest on their own species? 

The Unusual Bright-Side

‘The Fall of Usher and Tales’

“There seemed a deep sense of life and joy about all; and although no airs blew from out the Heavens, yet everything had motion through the gentle sweepings to and fro of innumerable butterflies that might have been mistaken for tulips with wings.”

            This quote not only shows how Poe has a crazy side, but that he also has a side to him that is somewhat joyful. It shows that his imagination is not just dark and gloomy; but can also be bright and full of life. This quote also sets a cheerful and bright mood to the story and develops Poe’s genre types. The reason I chose this quote is because whenever you think of Poe, you automatically think of an insane man who only writes dark stories with creepy settings. The difference with this quote is that it shows a peaceful, happy angle of Poe’s writing. This quote shows that everything has two sides and this quote showed a peek at Poe’s other side; the very unusual, the very unseen, and the very bright side of Poe.

Hiding it All

Pg 141 ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’

“His eye would trouble me no more. If you still think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arm and the legs. I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited it all between the scantlings.”

            Only a mad man could kill an innocent old man, chop up his limbs and hide them away without the slightest bit of remorse for it. In fact, Poe took great pride in his sick deed. Poe’s dark, gothic writing style allows us readers to fully engage into the story and feel absolute disgust in the narrator for his gruesome deeds. I felt as if I was one of the other neighbours in the story, I was very involved and his words developed the mood so cleverly giving such a dark atmosphere. Poe’s words help transform a crazy man with an idea, into a man who is a true outsider; someone who does not see the world in the same light as the common person. No other writer can describe how the narrator dismembered and hid the body with such clarity and precision. Poe truly is the best at what he does. Edgar Allen Poe’s unique style of writing, so passionate and so dark is the quality that brings his mysterious writing to life. He even is able to produce humour through irony. The narrator is clearly mad, yet he says he is not and he even justifies his crime by saying he was “wise and precautious”. Poe had many demons in him, and they were shown throughout the gruesomeness of the quote. 

The Eye

Pg 138 ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’

“I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture--a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees-- very gradually—I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.”

This is one of Poe’s darkest and most twisted quotes. Poe’s language lets us visualize the demons and hate that the character had. It displays how crazy Edgar Allen Poe is himself as no sane man could write something of this calibre. The narrator stated “I loved the old man”, but then at the same time wanting to kill him for an unattractive eye that was beyond the old man’s control. This arbitrary and unnatural hate showed glimpses of an unstable mind. He dismisses all of his love and good deeds because he is slightly disfigured. There has been debate over the topic that Edgar Allen Poe was himself insane and filled with hate. I would completely agree with this for no other person, other than a man who has thought something similar himself would be capable of writing something so fanatical.

Stalking the Night Away

Pg 139 ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’

“Crying out—‘who’s there?’ I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening—just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.”

            Edgar Allen Poe must have stalked a man himself, as I can picture no other writer using such detail and precision to describe how the narrator was watching the man. He is able to constantly bring the book to life. He displays how patient the narrator is, how determined he is to rid the man of the disgusting ‘vulture-like’ eye. He writes with such passion that it is hard to not be enticed and hooked. The image put into your mind when he writes ‘I did not move’ shows how he created such a determined and demonic character. ‘Night after night’ he has watched this man. Every night for quite some time creating demonic and twisted thoughts for the reader as they now realize that some crazy man, could be capable of watching me too. Poe brings out mans deepest fears and displays them with such detail that the reader is almost too frightened to continue on. 

A Guilty Conscience

‘The Tell-Tale Heart’

"Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God!— no, no! They heard!— They suspected! — They knew! — They were making a mockery of my horror!"

This is one of my favourite quotes. It shows the depth of Poe’s insanity and that of his writing and points to a very unstable and most likely insane personality. Poe was a madman and he was just in denial about the lethal event. Poe uses the allusion and relates it to God because the noise is so unbearable, and all he can do is pray for God's help. "Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God!" this quote shows the narrator having a mental breakdown after murdering the old man. He was hearing the beating noise and it was getting louder and louder. He was amazed that no one else could hear it. Edgar Allen Poe did an unbelievable developing the killer as a mentally unstable character who is not entirely in control of his thoughts. Poe's work helps reveal character and truly bring the protagonist to life.