quickandeasyreading

[quickandeasyreading]

The Power of Words

"The Power of Words” by Edgar Allan Poe is a captivating tale that explores the impact and consequences of the words we use. Words can have the ability to help, to heal and , to aid. However words can also be a harmful weapon to discourage and to humiliate those around us. “The Power of Words” illuminates you about all the effects simple and seemingly unimportant words can have on us and the people around you.  

This short story has simpler vocabulary compared to the rest, but the topic itself is quite hard to grasp. Everything is depicted in a very philosophical way and it’s very easy to lose track of the main moral and idea of the story.

Edgar Allan Poe’s stories tend to be sarcastic however this short story skewed to the more serious and thoughtful side of the authors, literary pieces.Although it has a more dignified tone it still managed to keep Edgar Allen poe’s original sarcastic, literary style.

The story revolves around the belief of creation. The position that God created the world we live in. Through out the story of Oinos and Agathos ,Edgar Allan Poe depicted peoples desire and how humans tend to want knowledge of the unknown. More specifically the story referenced the biblical mention of God creating the universe through statements such as "let there be light". More precisely it was the vibration of his voice that would lead to the creation of the universe as we know it. The  two characters Onios and Agathos briefly summarised , talk to each other about how they see the predicament and how they think the world came to be. They share words and ideas as wel as conflicts. 

In a roundabout way the author is trying to convey the idea of how words are powerful, whether you write or speak them. Words have an impact on you and others around you . They express feelings and share knowledge. They have the ability to change someone’s mood completely and ignite a spark in them as well as extinguish it. 

Overall I think Edgar Allan Poe is an author that hides meaningful morals, in obscure stories. “The Power of Words” might have been somewhat obscure, but it didn’t rely on the unpredictable plot, twists, and overall plot or the story. This story relied on the wide idea which had no written end. It allows the reader to make their own conclusions and assumptions rather than have it written out for them. 

[quickandeasyreading]

The Business Man

Finally, I have stumbled upon a less gruesome short story compared to the last two. “The Business Man” is a tale written yet again by Edgar Allan Poe. This is a story which makes fun of the so called “business men” or people who think they’re “all that”.  The story revolves around Peter Profit, otherwise known as the narrator. He talks about his resentment towards people born into success and his own path to triumph.

Profit sees himself as an upstanding business man who always manages to boast about his accomplishments, in which he built himself up from the ground. He curses the so called geniuses in the business as he had to struggle and start from scratch to end up where he is today. Profit truly disdains these types of intellectual people and claims that they never go by the rules.

The text is written in a diary form and the writer talks about his past and present resentment as well as his tough childhood. I find the sentences to be somewhat slow and not very exiting. There is no major climax in the story however the narrators disdain made the story more interesting and somewhat relatable .

During the time I read the book I noticed that I the viewer and the writer are somewhat alike. While reading the book I thought about how I have also felt resentment and jealousy for people who don’t have to work for success. This made me invested in the story however I feel that the tale lacked an interesting plot. I do feel as if the meaning was captivating and it made me think about my life.

Now as the reader we can only guess the real reason why profit has this resentment. It could be because of jealousy or moral. All we know is everyone has someone they dislike, however, profit audibly complains about these businesses men amongst people. Might have an ulterior motive to bring down his competitors mentally as his parents did twords him years ago? We know profit didn’t have the easiest childhood as his parents often look down on him. Maybe the environment he grew up in changed him as a person and he unconsciously is acting negatively towards people he distains as well as his competitors. 

Over all the story missed a very interesting plot however the story was still packed with interesting aspects such as profits childhood and how he ended up a business man. You could someone relate to the main character as he struggles to find peace with himself. This short story wasn’t quite to my liking but it was a nice change of pace from the tales I had read prior to this one. It was really refreshing and relatable but it wasn’t for me. 

[quickandeasyreading]

The Black Cat

“The black cat” written by Edgar Allan Poe is a book that contains many gruesome acts towards the innocent. It talks about the obscurity that is in every person. This obscurity is shown when the main character breaks and starts loosing his mind and his thoughts spiral into madness. During the tale he commits atrocious acts against this supposed black cat as the title mentioned as well as his wife. These vulgar acts are what lead him to insanity and what break him towards the end of the short story. This short tale really highlights the brutality and brutish acts people will commit if put into a tight spot.

   The narrator or otherwise known as the unnamed main character lives with his beloved cat Pluto who he clearly loves and cherishes. The narrator however had struggled with addiction and alcoholism.  Because of this he often took out his anger on his cat as well as his wife. One day similar to others the narrator is intoxicated. The cat nicks him but instead of calmly responding the narrator clearly over reacts and ends up gouging Pluto’s eye out. I doubt this is an appropriate reaction however the narrator isn’t aware of what he had done under the influence of alcohol. After the incident the narrator slowly starts to go insane. He begins to have intrusive thoughts and his wife tries to confront him and stop him but he gives in to his thoughts. In the end he gives in and he ends up killing his wife as well.

This is an unrealistic situation, however reading how the narrator abruptly killed his beloved wife and cat is haunting. The narrator made sure to show us how close he was with both before off-ing them. It truly makes me think what would I do if I was put into a tight spot. I mean that’s why he killed his wife. She was threatening to call police and obviously he didn’t react accordingly but perhaps he was thinking for himself as humans do. I think I would make a similar choice to him. Not to kill but to fend for myself instead of others. This doesn’t make me sympathetic but rather scared of how a dangerous environment could change me as well as society.

Overall this short story enlightens you about the dangers of intoxication as well as the effects. The story might of over exaggerated the effects however the story had an interesting approach to everything. The tale really embraces the obscurity (unknown) that is in every person and it uses exaggerated vocabulary to enhance your experience throughout the story. It also shows you how humans fend for themselves. Either if it’s for safety or because they’re annoyed. If it comes between them or another they would most likely choose themselves. I would recommend this tale to people who are not light hearted and enjoy twisted and gruesome stories filled with absurd out comes. However I whole heartedly recommend not to take inspiration from this story and rather learn from it.

[quickandeasyreading]

Thou Art the Man

”Thou Art the Man” by Edgar Allan Poe is a twisted tale full of manipulation and wrongful allegations. In the town of Rattleborough a wealthy man named mr. Shuttleworthy had gone missing, rumours arose and the ones close to him queried. “Was he killed, by whom, should we worry?” The story is told by a seemingly uninvolved narrator. It uses elaborate vocabulary and a sardonic tone. The sentences are very descriptive, which immerses you in the story as if you are there durning the tragic accident surrounding mr. Shuttleworthy. While investigation are ongoing is is thought that Shuttleworthy’s nephew and his heir are the ones behind his disappearance and in the end they are falsely accused. They are put behind bars however unknowingly the true culprit still walks free. Although the culprit is still loose Mr. Shutleworthy’s dear friend Mr. Goodfellow had no knowledge of it. Hence he did not question when a wine industry had sent him a bottle of wine which mr Shuttlewothy wished to gift him before his disappearance. Mr Goodfellow wished to commemorate his dear friend by was arranging a party where he’d be opening the case of wine gifted by mr. Shuttleworthy. Here the story takes a curiously gruesome turn of events when instead of a bottle of whine the corpse of Mr. Shuttleworthy is found in the case. The crowd was baffled however everyone face became even more astonished when Mr. Shuttleworthy’s body seemingly exclaimed “ Thou art the man!” before lying still once again. While reading through the story you can feel the tense atmosphere while picturing the scene. What happened next is that Mr. Goodfellow turns bad as he confesses to the murder. Finally when you think that the mystery is solved the narrator proves you wrong. We find out that the “innocent” narrator that has been telling the tale was the true culprit behind it all. He had achieved framing Mr. Goodfellow with his elaborate plan. From sending him the wine to using his ventriloquistic skills to make is seem as is Mr. Shuttlewothy had raised from the dead, it was all planed by the narrator of the tale.