Representation of Evil in Poe and Hawthornes Stories Essay

Miguel Bonilla Rivera Instr. Adriana Dorado INGL 3104, sec. 080 22 February 2013 The Evil Presence Since the discovery of philosophy by the Greek civilizations man has always tried to find the cause of many fundamental problems that are connected to the reality and existence of factors that contribute to these dilemmas but still remain unknown to humanity. One of the most controversial questions philosophy tries to answer is the origin of what we consider evil, who or what is connected to the main cause of the pain and suffering that goes on throughout the world. â€Å"Evil is when one purposefully causes pain, not pain caused by fault, knowing something is morally wrong, but still proceeds in doing so. Simply by the definition of evil,†¦show more content†¦Children, with bright faces, tripped merrily beside their parents, or mimicked a graver gait, in the conscious dignity of their Sunday clothes† (Hawthorne, 1) places the readers in a small village in the United States in the middle of the 1800’s with an action that lasts for several day s. Secondly, both Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne share a very similar tone through their writings that affects the perception of evil in their stories. For example, â€Å"And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror†(Poe, 11) represents a nervous, yet saddening tone presented by Allan Poe taking in consideration the repetition of a statement made by the main character in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†. As well as Allan Poe, Hawthorne presents a mysterious gloomy tone where the minister’s veil makes the readers question themselves about the main purpose for using the piece of crape. An example of this gloomy and overwhelming mystery tone would be, â€Å"When Mr. Hooper came, the first thing that their eyes rested on was the same horrible black veil, which had added deeper gloom to the funeral, and could portend nothing but evil to the wedding† (Hawth orne, 11) letting the readers know that all of the villagers gathered at the funeral disliked the veil, for it only brought more mystery and sadness.Show MoreRelatedThe Black Cat, By Edgar Allan Poe1240 Words   |  5 PagesIn Studies in Classic American Literature, D.H. Lawrence condemns Americans for dodging their true selves by means of intellectualization and idealization. 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