Use Of Suspense In The Landlady And A Tell-Tale Heart

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Although many authors develop their plots by using perception, Poe and Dahl use suspense to hook and interest the readers to keep reading. Suspense is a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen. In Dahl's story he had Billy walk into a bed and breakfast and he will later find out that the Landlady will kill him like she did with Christopher Mulholland and Gregory W. Temple. In Poe’s story he had the old man’s heart beat and the large unusual eye made the narrator kill the old man. Therefore, suspense is depicted in both Dahl's short story, "The Landlady" and Poe’s short story, "A Tell-Tale Heart" through the use of imagery and foreshadowing. The first way Dahl and Poe crafts suspense ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬is by using imagery. Dahl crafts, “I stuff all my little pets myself when they pass away.” By having the reader envision the landlady “stuffing” her pets, the reader can infer that Billy will get stuffed. Poe also provides, “It grew quicker and quicker and louder and louder every instant.” This example forces the reader to almost hear the rapid heartbeat. This sums up that imagery was used to develop suspense.…show more content…
Dahl quotes, “Seventeen! She cried. Oh it’s the perfect age! Mr. Mulholland was also seventeen.” This implies the foreshadowing of Billy’s death because Mr. Mulholland being seventeen and he was killed. Poe also establishes foreshadowing by the quote, “No doubt I now grew very pale,--but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice.” The narrator is going to confess that he killed and hid the old man. Foreshadowing creates suspense by keeping the reader looking out for the actual event. This sums up that foreshadowing was used to show suspense. Foreshadowing and imagery are the most dominant way in “The Landlady” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” to develop

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