ENGL200 Foundations Seminar: The History of Literature in English

Answers:

The essay will deal with the literary analysis of “Flowers for Algernon” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”, with a discussion made on the consideration of Charlie and the narrator as unreliable narrator

Charlie in the novel can be considered as unreliable character because the point of view and arguments are vague. As his intelligence increases there also occurs shift in his mood and tones. The emotional state is always unstable which makes the narrator, Charlie always evolving (Harding, 2016). It gets difficult for the reader to put his newly found emotions in proper context as they are scattered. Author’s use of these unreliable characters helps in developing conflicts that cannot be assumed. Charlie’s evolving character with various emotions makes the story less predictable as his actions are based on his moods (Harding, 2016).  

The narrator of “Tell-Tale Heart”, is also considered as unreliable narrator as from the very beginning of the story his attempt to makes the reader believe that he is sane constantly puts the reader in a doubt. The belief of the narrator that he has supernatural hearing is unbelievable making the narrator’s facts less reliable (Poe, 2015). The syntax of the narrator is fragmented which indicates his mental instability. The narrator of “Tell-Tale- Heart” is established as another important part of the story as his sanity is questioned by the reader throughout the novel, killing of an old man by the narrator shows a very unstable perspective (Poe, 2015).

In the end it can be concluded that both the narrators of the stories are given a role of unreliable character as they have no aim of developing a steady approach to the plot rather helps in developing mystery in readers.

References

Harding, K. (2016). Flowers for Algernon. 

Poe, E. A. (2015). The tell-tale heart. Penguin.