Response to Poe Post

The first thing I noticed about this paragraph was that "I knew" is repeated many times. These two words make the story creepier, because they show how the character "knew" exactly what the old man was going through, and yet he feels no reason to stop his approach to kill. I can't help but wonder, too, if he's taking a shot at the certaintly with which people relied on reason; the narrator acts like all of this is so reasonable, and of course, he's wacko. All of the details seem to either make you shiver or confirm your belief that the main person is crazy. Things like saying the character "pitied him [the man] although I chuckled at heart" is in affect saying that he feels bad... but he really doesn't. When the murderer gets into the man's head, knowing exactly what he's thinking, that when he hears a sound, it must be a cricket or a mouse, the reader cannot help but think, "this guy is insane" because he has a connection to his victim, and yet he feels no remorse. That connection to the victim is so suggestive. Is he family? Servant? Friend? Or just someone who identifies very ? One of the creepiest things he uses is personifying himself as death. After repeating that the man's suppositions had found "all in vain" Death is approaching him and stalking him in his shadow... until he envelopes his victim. Throughout this piece, a repeated image of the main character being a predator, saying he is "stalking" his victim and he "did not move a muscle." Good observation. Overall, the weirdest thing, subconsciously, about this is that there is no protagonist or antagonist. You don't want the 'protagonist' to do what he wants, and the 'antagonist' hasn't ever wronged his murderer. This is unsettling, because in 99% of all stories, there is a defined protagonist and antagonist, whether or not the antagonist is actually the "bad guy." What an interesting point. The "so what" here? This fits with your sense that the narrator identifies so strongly with his victim. Poe suggests they're more alike than different--what does that mean for all of us? Overall, all of these details contribute to the horrible creepiness of the piece.