Vandetta and Tell -Tale Heart Essay Example for Free

Vandetta and Tell -Tale Heart Essay This study involves two stories- ‘A Vandetta’ and ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’, in which the characters believe that they should get rid of the causes of trouble to them in order to have peace. This study compares similarities and differences between the two essays. 2. 0 Summary of ‘a Vandetta’ Paolo Saverini’s widow lived with her son in a little house on the outskirts of Bonifaco town. The widow’s house rested on the edge of a cliff and it had three windows that gave way to the harassing wind from the sea. Saverini’s wife and her son Antoine had a pet dog which was known Semillante. Semillante was large and thin, with shaggy hair that resembled that of the sheep. While alive, Saverini used Semillante for hunting. Antoine Saverini was stabbed to death by Nicolas Ravolati following an argument between them. Nicolas then decided to run away from the vicinity to Sardinia after committing the murder. The body of Antoine was carried home by road passers-by. Antoine’s death grieved her mother so much; she was left with no one to stay with except the howling dog. Semillante also sobbed for her master, she remained standing at the foot of the bed staring at Antonio’s body that was full of clots of blood. He was buried the following day and that marked the end of talk about him in Bonifaco; the mother however, promised revenge against his son. Antonio had neither brother nor sister; no man was left to carry on the ‘vendetta’, apart from his old mother who sat all day long pondering over the revenge. Since she had sworn over the dead body that he was going to avenge his son, he had to do it anyway. She thought of an idea of making Semillante be a ferocious savage. The next day she went to church to pray so that God could give her the necessary strength to avenge her son. Mother Saverini made a human figure out of straw and used it as a model to train her dog on how to pounce and kill humans. When the right time came, Mother Saverini took her dog with her to Sardini where she asked to be showed Nicolas Ravolati’s house. On being directed to bite Nicolas, the dog seized him on his throat and tore it out into ribbons. The old woman went home that evening and she slept well. 3. 0 Summary of ‘Tell-Tale Heart’ The persona, who is the narrator in the story, has an idea that haunts him day and night. There is an old man in the neighborhood who he thinks he dislikes because of his vulture-like pale blue eye, with a film over it, which scares him. He therefore made up his mind to do away with the man so that he can stop seeing the ‘bad’ eye forever. Not because he disliked the man, in fact, he had no desire for his wealth and the man had never wronged him either. In his chase to get the eye from the old man, the persona crept into the old man’s house at midnight with a dark lantern so that no light shone out. He did this for seven long nights, but he found the old man’s eye closed. This made his work harder for he was just after the old man’s evil eye. However during the day he kept good relation with the old man, inquiring he had passed on the night. Therefore, it was hard for the old man to suspect that the persona was after his life. On the eighth day, the persona in the story crept into the old man’s house and the old man made some movement in bed, however this did not stop the persona from advancing towards his subject. As he attempted to open the door, the old yelled out: â€Å"who’s there? † he kept still without moving. After waiting for a long while, he got into the old man’s house but refrained and kept still, breathing scarcely. The old man’s heart was beating loud, so his enemy used this as a strategy to kill him. He reasoned that since the heart beat was so loud, the sound would be heard by neighbors; so that it could be said he died of old age. He thus threw his lantern and rushed to the old man and dragged him to the floor and pulled the heavy bed over him. He removed the bed and examined the corpse-the old man was dead, his eye would not trouble him anymore. He cut off the arms, head and the legs of the corpse, and he deposited all between the scantlings. Then he replaced the planks that no one could detect. But as he was rejoicing over his victory police officers came, for the neighbors had alerted them. The persona could not conceal the murder he had committed; it haunted him. 4. 0 Qualities of ‘a Vendetta’ The title ‘a Vendetta’ runs throughout the whole story. After the death of Saverini and his son Antonio, there remains only one Vendetta- mother Saverini. She fights to the end and ensures she revenges for his late son, Antonio. There is proper placement of characters, plot, conflict and climax: In the story characters are placed such that at the end of the story, there is one character remaining who is a victor Saverini’s widow; though at the beginning of the story all her family members die and leave her alone as a vendetta. The language is clear. It gives the reader ample time to analyze the story due to the flow of ideas, hence, creating an impact in the story. 5. 0 Qualities of ‘Tell-Tale Heart’ Concept development: The author first introduces the idea and outlines it before giving the whole narration. In paragraph two of the story the author gives an overview of what the speaker in the story is about to do and the reasons behind the actions. Then he explains how he goes into doing each and every single activity due to the reasons given. Hence one is able to connect the sequence of activities from the beginning to the end of the story. The plot/story line: is sustained right from the beginning of the story. One is carried through the whole story and wonders why the persona in the story had to commit murder as a solution to what seems minor and thereafter get haunted; or might even have gone to jail. Dialogue: The dialogue in the story is like a real conversation. Narrating the story through the persona adds more value by drawing more attention to who is speaking in the story. Similarities between the two stories: The two tittles, ‘a vendetta’ and ‘the tell-tale heart’ are relevant to the stories and they run through the two stories. The two stories have the same basic formatting /layout style. The key characters in the two stories are after revenge: In the Vendetta the widow seeks to revenge for his son who was murdered and she successfully accomplishes it. In the Tell-Tale Heart, the speaker in the story wants to kill an old man since one of his eyes resembles that of a vulture, and he didn’t like the way he looked at him; he murders the old man. In both stories there is murder. Conclusion The characters in the Tell-Tale heart are not given names; hence it’s hard to classify the story. Naming of characters in the Vendetta story makes it more defined and easy to understand. In the Tell-Tale heart story, there is introduction to the concept in story whereas in the Vendetta, introduction to the story is based on the setting of the story. Reference: Classic short stories, (2007): Retrieved on 3rd February 2009 from: http://www. classicshorts. com/index. shtml.