The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) by Edger Allen Poe was written 171 years ago, yet still it has an effect on the modern reader. Poe writes in first person perspective as a stylistic strategy to allow the audience insight into the inner workings of a deranged psychopath's mind. It's quite ghastly the way in which he depicts his warped sense of pleasure with having been rid of the 'evil eye'. He incessantly proclaims his sanity, almost as if he's trying to convince himself. All in all The Tell-Tale Heart is quite an entertaining read. At only 2145 words its not awfully time consuming but, perfect for some light reading on a dreary winters night.
Poe uses whats called an 'unreliable' narrator. This basically means the storyteller's viewpoint is compromised in some way. In this instance it's quite obvious we're dealing with a lunatic. The unnamed narrator opens by saying that he is nervous but not mad. Throughout the story he keeps making it a point to protest his sanity "Ha! Would a madmen have been so wise...". Every night he lurks into the room of an old man, until he finally decides the time is right for him to commit murder. He has no other motive than a hatred for the old man's glassy eye.
There are a lot of theories over the meaning of the 'evil-eye' but, I like to think of it as a clever play on words. The 'evil-eye' or 'evil I'? It seems like it could be an indirect confession. In fact the entire short story seems to be riddled with symbolism. For instance, take the lantern as an example of this. Every night the narrator shines a single beam of light on the old man's eye. He's disheartened to find the eye always closed. This single beam ensures that when the eye is open, only it is illuminated. The rest of the old man is masked by the dark. Consider why this was important to the narrator. My best guess is it's because he cares for the old man "I loved the old man, he had never wronged me". What motive then does he have for murder? It was the eye. The narrator needed to separate the old man from the eye to gain the courage to destroy it. The lantern provided the means for this. He thought of the eye as 'evil' and what combats evil no better than light? In religion light is often thought of as a source of good and purity. I guess it's irony that he uses the light to aid him with something so ghastly.
The Tell-Tale Heart feels very much like a claustrophobic, nightmarish decent into madness. It's archaic, yet in it's own way it could easily compete with contemporary thrillers. Poe achieves this by sparingly revealing details about the murder bit by bit. Readers are constantly on edge, waiting for the next piece of information. This way the suspense builds up until all is revealed right at the end.
The finale is brilliant. Until then the narrator had been quite confident with the disposal of the body. However he begins to get nervous and agitated. It is then that a familiar noise creeps into his ear. It gets louder and louder till he can no longer bear it. He assumes it's from the corpse "the beating of his hideous heart!" he shrieks. I think Poe intended it to be the beating of the narrator's heart gradually increasing in volume and speed as he begins to doubt his security.
Monday 22 September 2014
Thursday 4 September 2014
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an astounding illustration of a relationship's disintegration and reintegration. In my opinion what really sets this film apart is the underlying concept running through it. Is it ethical to erase someone's memories?
Clementine Kruczynski is bedraggled and burned-out from the turmoils of her relationship with Joel Barish. Being the impulsive free-spirit she is; Clementine makes a hasty decision to have her love Joel permanently erased from her mind. Joel hurt and angered by Clementine's decision has the same procedure almost in spite. However as the process is underway Joel soon realizes he's made a mistake and actively attempts to hold on to their memories.
As we wander through Joel's mind director Michel Gondry supplies all the whimsy and magic to envelope us into the surrealist world of the human brain. Imagine the horror of having no control over your subconscious. Your memories being toyed with, or worse obliterated. All the beautiful moments, all that bittersweet love and loss everything gone; slipping away like sand between your fingers. As Joel tries to hold it all together he realizes his fatal mistake. All of their anger and resentment was nothing in comparison to the good memories. It's well worth holding onto that pain to be able to cherish the happier moments. The thing about this film is it finishes on quite an open ended note. By the end Clem and Joel make the decision to give their relationship another go even though they've been given some pretty irrefutable proof that it's unlikely to go well. Yet we never do get to find out the outcome. Maybe this time around they can make things work; or will they fall back into the same patterns? There's undoubtedly a tinge of uncertainty in both of their minds. My way of looking at it is it's pointless making the same mistake twice. Our experiences are very important because we're largely the sum of them. Clem and Joel don't have a recollection of how low they became when they were together. All they have to go off is this one magical date. Although they know that they've been down this path before, they don't remember that their relationship was a whirlwind. It was destructive for both of them. Mistakes can be good for us because we can learn from them. They remind us which paths to take in the future because we know from past experiences which ones lead to dead ends or worse, cliffs. That's why its important that we acknowledge and deal with our mistakes. After all they're really only mistakes if we learn nothing from them. Joel and Clem don't properly deal with their mistakes. They choose to take the easy way out, which is why I think they're doomed for a repeat. The audience never really gets to find out whether things work out. I guess your opinion would depend on the message you take from the film.
What I personally enjoyed about this movie were the characters. To a certain extent life is full of two kinds of people. On one hand you've got the Clementines, out-going, unpredictable and impulsive then you've also got the Joels, reserved, introverted and orthodox. You may not be able to identify with one of them entirely but chances are you'll at least be able to relate to parts of each's personality.
Although a lot of the lessons in this film are quite complex, there's something for everyone to take from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It teaches us that its important to confront the past but also its equally important to be able to live in the present. Your past is unique and beautiful, but the present is here and now. Too many people can't let go, whether it be an old love or anything really. Holding on to the past like that is unhealthy. It stops people from living in the now. Take advantage of the present because before you know it, it'll be just another memory.
Clementine: This is it, Joel. It's going to be gone soon.
Joel: I know.
Clementine: What do we do?
Joel: Enjoy it.
Clementine Kruczynski is bedraggled and burned-out from the turmoils of her relationship with Joel Barish. Being the impulsive free-spirit she is; Clementine makes a hasty decision to have her love Joel permanently erased from her mind. Joel hurt and angered by Clementine's decision has the same procedure almost in spite. However as the process is underway Joel soon realizes he's made a mistake and actively attempts to hold on to their memories.
As we wander through Joel's mind director Michel Gondry supplies all the whimsy and magic to envelope us into the surrealist world of the human brain. Imagine the horror of having no control over your subconscious. Your memories being toyed with, or worse obliterated. All the beautiful moments, all that bittersweet love and loss everything gone; slipping away like sand between your fingers. As Joel tries to hold it all together he realizes his fatal mistake. All of their anger and resentment was nothing in comparison to the good memories. It's well worth holding onto that pain to be able to cherish the happier moments. The thing about this film is it finishes on quite an open ended note. By the end Clem and Joel make the decision to give their relationship another go even though they've been given some pretty irrefutable proof that it's unlikely to go well. Yet we never do get to find out the outcome. Maybe this time around they can make things work; or will they fall back into the same patterns? There's undoubtedly a tinge of uncertainty in both of their minds. My way of looking at it is it's pointless making the same mistake twice. Our experiences are very important because we're largely the sum of them. Clem and Joel don't have a recollection of how low they became when they were together. All they have to go off is this one magical date. Although they know that they've been down this path before, they don't remember that their relationship was a whirlwind. It was destructive for both of them. Mistakes can be good for us because we can learn from them. They remind us which paths to take in the future because we know from past experiences which ones lead to dead ends or worse, cliffs. That's why its important that we acknowledge and deal with our mistakes. After all they're really only mistakes if we learn nothing from them. Joel and Clem don't properly deal with their mistakes. They choose to take the easy way out, which is why I think they're doomed for a repeat. The audience never really gets to find out whether things work out. I guess your opinion would depend on the message you take from the film.
What I personally enjoyed about this movie were the characters. To a certain extent life is full of two kinds of people. On one hand you've got the Clementines, out-going, unpredictable and impulsive then you've also got the Joels, reserved, introverted and orthodox. You may not be able to identify with one of them entirely but chances are you'll at least be able to relate to parts of each's personality.
Although a lot of the lessons in this film are quite complex, there's something for everyone to take from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It teaches us that its important to confront the past but also its equally important to be able to live in the present. Your past is unique and beautiful, but the present is here and now. Too many people can't let go, whether it be an old love or anything really. Holding on to the past like that is unhealthy. It stops people from living in the now. Take advantage of the present because before you know it, it'll be just another memory.
Clementine: This is it, Joel. It's going to be gone soon.
Joel: I know.
Clementine: What do we do?
Joel: Enjoy it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)