Why Does Edgar Allan Poe's Use Of Suspense

How is suspense illustrated? Does the author create suspense by illustrating a picture in the reader’s mind? Does the author create suspense by choosing specific word choices? In the story, “The Landlady,” an individual named Billy Weaver requested to stay at the Landlady’s house or Bed and Breakfast since he didn’t have a place to stay and was also looking for something cheap as well. As he explores the place himself, he encounters that the Landlady is acting a little peculiar. She then started explaining how she only had two guests that stayed there. So after a series of events, Billy Weaver notices the Bed and Breakfast was not a place that he expected. From Edgar Allan Poe's short story, “A Tell Tale Heart,” it was about the narrator addressing …show more content…
To illustrate suspense, Dahl’s short story says, “‘Seventeen!’ she cried. ‘Oh, it’s the perfect age! Mr Mulholland was also seventeen.” This example highlights suspense by using past tense. Dahl’s use of diction displays suspense in the short stories. Another quote that creates suspense is, “‘His skin was just like a baby’s.’” Dahl again uses diction or past tense to reveal suspense in “The Landlady.” Furthermore, Poe’s short story, “A Tell- Tale Heart,” also expresses suspense by using diction. In Poe’s short story it says, “I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening;--just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.” This illustrates suspense by using diction because Poe says how the narrator did not move a muscle for a whole hour, therefore showing that the author wants to make the reader relate. Alternatively another quote that emphasizes suspense by the use of diction is, “I gasped for breath--and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly--more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observation of the men--but the noise steadily increased.” By using this particular quote, the author Edgar Allan Poe is …show more content…
To create suspense, Dahl’s short story reads, “So a few minutes later, after unpacking his suitcase and washing his hands, he trotted downstairs to the ground floor and entered the living-room. His landlady wasn’t there, but the fire was glowing in the hearth, and the little dachshund was still sleeping in front of it.” This example highlights suspense by using imagery because the author is trying to picture an image in the reader’s mind, and also showing how the “dachshund was sleeping,” yet later showing how Billy Weaver realizes how the dachshund was actually dead. Another quote that portrays suspense by the use of imagery is, “And suddenly, he realised that this animal had all the time been just as silent and motionless as the parrot. He put out a hand and touched it gently on the top of its back. The back was hard and cold, and when he pushed the hair to one side with his fingers, he could see the skin underneath, greyish-black and dry and perfectly preserved.” By using this particular quote, the author is providing the reader with suspense because this shows that Billy Weaver is touching the dead animals and also providing the picture in the reader’s mind.On the other hand, Poe’s short story, “A Tell- Tale Heart,” says, “But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The