Insanity is among some of the world’s most common conditions and illnesses. Throughout the ages insanity has been portrayed in a variety of different ways, some of the best known being The Tell-Tale Heart and I Felt a Funeral in my Brain. When both The Tell-Tale Heart and I Felt a Funeral in my Brain are compared, Edgar Allen Poe does a better job of portraying insanity than Emily Dickinson as his writing was a lot more immersive and developed. Edgar Allen Poe’s writing was superior to Emily Dickinson’s as its structure is tailored to compliment the development of insanity. For example, throughout The Tell-Tale Heart sounds such as, “Louder! Louder! LOUDER!” are utilized in order to help the reader understand the narrator’s progression…show more content… At the beginning of the text, the narrator was supposedly sane and calm restricting his use of repetition to a, “slowly – very, very slowly” here and there (Poe pg. 1). When the story started, the narrator was very calm and deliberate with his wording, only sometimes repeating himself. This, of course, implied that at the very start of the text the narrator was not crazy, unlike the end. This obviously helps establishes a progression of insanity at the very beginning of the text, something that Dickinson’s poem didn’t really do, making Poe’s short story superior. However, at the end of the text the narrator began using repetition more and more turning a, “slowly – very, very slowly” into a, “Louder! Louder! Louder! LOUDER!” (Poe pg. 1, 4). This increased use of repetition helped illustrate how the narrator was becoming increasingly unstable and paranoid with himself. It also illustrated that there was a progression of insanity in the story, which is something Dickinson’s poem didn’t do all too well, making Poe’s writing better than Dickinson’s. In summary, Poe’s increasing use of repetition allowed him to effectively depict the progression of insanity in the story. Yet, even though Poe’s writing is better than Dickinson’s other do believe that Dickinson’s poem was miles better than Poe’s story. Overall, Edgar Allen Poe showcased insanity more effectively than Emily Dickinson.
