Your Own Telltale heart
Short Stories and Poems by Edgar Allen Poe
What Edgar Allen Poe Knows About Your Heart
How often do you listen to your heart? I mean, really, really listen. For me, the answer is easy- not often. In fact, when dealing with any situation in which I need to make a decision, I always listen to my brain, my gut a close second. But my heart? The poor thing gets overruled almost every time. And I’ve been completely fine, in fact, you may even say I’ve been successful. I don’t really have that many regrets. I’m proud of the person I am, of the places I’ve lived, of the things I’ve done. I’ve built a career from nothing, plus a few side hustles too. And my heart has had almost nothing to do with it.
My heart made one decision: to move to Chicago. That was one of the best choices I’ve ever made, and I really did fall in love with the Windy City. So why have I largely ignored my heart in all the years since then?
“Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant.” ”
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We all know that feeling. An unexpected sound sends a jolt through your body. You stiffen, waiting for another sound, preparing for the ultimate decision of flight or fight. The world falls away and the rapid beating of your heart reverberates throughout your body, so strong in its pulsing that you’re sure the rest of the world can hear it too. Sounds like horror movie scenario, but we’ve all been there. We’ve all heard that bizarre thump that makes you feel as if you’re not alone. Hopefully, you’ve then realized it was the wind hitting a branch against your window or your books falling over in the bookcase (yes, that one’s happened to me a few times). But even after the realization that your safe hits you, your heart is still beating, pulsating with adrenaline.
I could have gone for another opening, maybe one about crushing an intense workout or the sensations of kissing someone you like for the first time. But it’s October, and the thriller scenario seemed more appropriate, and it’s definitely more appropriate when discussing the works of Edgar Allen Poe. I normally sneak in the synopsis between the rest of my writing, but because I’m referencing several of Poe’s writings, I’m going to give you a small summary of each one now.
The Pit and the Pendulum
A felon is convicted and sentenced to death by mysterious and extreme methods. While he awaits his fate in prison, he discovers an open pit by which he could have easily and unknowingly fallen to his death. However, once the pit is discovered, he’s tied down, and becomes aware of the pendulum: a sharp blade swinging back and forth, slowly getting closer and closer to slicing through his flesh. This story may not have the most creative title, but the suspenseful plot, the nauseating details, and the spine-chilling elements that are usually attributed to Poe, are all there in full force.
““Very suddenly there came back to my soul motion and sound- the tumultuous motion of the heart, and, in my ears, the sound of its beating.” ”
The Fall of the House of Usher
The narrator of this story is called to The House of Usher, a decaying and sinister looking house, to look after his ailing friend, Roderick. At the time, Roderick’s sister Madeline is also ill. Despite the care and attention of the doctor, nothing can save Madeline, and she dies leaving Roderick devastated and more out of his mind than ever. The narrator and Roderick bury Madeline in the family crypt. A few days later, the two men begin to notice eerie noises and begin to suspect Madeline was not dead when they buried her. Their fears turn out to be true, Madeline escapes from the grave and attacks Roderick who immediately dies just before Madeline’s body succumbs to death as well. The narrator flees from the house as it collapses, burying the family that gave it its name.
The Tell-Tale Heart
The narrator logically describes his desire and plan to kill an old man that is characterized as having an evil eye. When the narrator finally kills the old man, the narrator cuts up the old man’s body into small pieces and buries them under the floorboards (true Lane Kim style). But the sound of a beating heart, the old man’s beating heart, worries the narrator. The police show up, and though he tries to keep his cool, the narrator is driven insane by the sound of the beating heart and admits to his crime.
The Raven
A man mourning over the loss of his beloved Lenore looks for solace in his books. But a tapping disturbs him, and it’s no person rapping at his door: it’s a raven, one that only says the words “Nevermore”. And despite his entreating, and passionate beseeching, still the bird just sits and says “Nevermore”.
“Not hear it? -yes, I hear it, and have heard it. Long-long-long-many minutes, many hours, many days, have I heard it-yet I dared not-oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am!-I dared not-I dared not speak!’” ”
There are horrors within Poe’s pages, ones that seem so abhorrent because they’re laced with threads of reality. But through all the terrors and tortures and tribulations, there’s one thing that proves to hold power over all, one thing that could change the grand designs of fate: the heart. A beating heart. A vulnerable heart. An almighty heart. For without it, we cannot live. And so, we protect it. Encased in an armor of skin and bones it sits, but we add invisible barriers and barricades for earthly weapons are not the only things that wound.
I am guilty of such overprotection, I know, yet each injury seems like justification for such cardiovascular fortification. But in addition to my protection, I’ve also been ignoring it, maybe even neglecting it, relying on pro-con lists and research to inform my decisions. Those are important, and any Gilmore fan would know to never mock the pro and con lists, but those facts are just part of the equation. Our hearts do more than pump blood throughout our bodies to physically keep us alive; they keep us emotionally alive, and our emotions can be just as important as the facts.
“’Take thy beak from out my heart,
And take thy form from off my door!’
Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’”
”
If the narrator from the “Tell-Tale Heart” had listened to his own heart, maybe he wouldn’t have killed the old man, and wouldn’t have been tortured by his own mind and taken away by the police. Maybe if the narrator from “The Pit and the Pendulum” has allowed his heart to distract him from committing his crime, he would not be looking his death in the face. If poor Roderick from the House of Usher had listened to his heart, he could have avoided burying his sister alive and inadvertently causing his own heart to stop beating.
And what about “The Raven’s” narrator? He might be the only one who gets it right. True, he’s overcome with grief, as the repetitive bird keeps reminding him, but maybe we all need a raven, reminding us to think of our hearts. Or at the very least, I do.
As painful as it might be, as joyful as it might be, a good decision is made with the head and the heart.
As for my future, full of reading and writing
Fraught with choices and deciding
I’ll heed the raven and its lore
And ignore my heart nevermore.
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Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Tell-Tale Heart”.Classic Horror Tales. 2017. San Diego: Canterbury Classics, 2017. 1-5.
Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Pit and the Pendulum”.Classic Horror Tales. 2017. San Diego: Canterbury Classics, 2017. 159-171
Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Fall of the House of Usher”.Classic Horror Tales. 2017. San Diego: Canterbury Classics, 2017. 420-435.
“The Raven” from Obvious State’s Nevermore
