The Similarities and Differences between the Tell-Tale Heart and the Show the Wailing Wall

In the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe and the radio broadcast show “The Wailing Wall,” starring Boris Karloff, there are numerous similarities and differences pertaining to the motive, the victim, and the psychological state of the main character leading up to and after the murder.

One of the similarities between “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Wailing Wall” is the motive the main character had to kill their victim. Both characters wanted freedom from something that was antagonizing them.

Gabrielle, the main character from “The Wailing Wall,” wanted to be free from his wife’s constant nagging and the main character from “The Tell-Tale Heart” wanted to be free from the chilling stare of the old man’s “Evil Eye.” Another similarity between the two stories is that the victims caused paranoia among the main characters. Gabrielle became exhausted because his wife was continually irritating him until he reached his breaking point and ended up killing her. The narrator from “The Tell-Tale Heart” was consistently paranoid because the old man’s “Evil Eye” gave him the chills whenever he saw it, making him obsess over it. Because of his obsession, he killed the old man to rid himself of the troubles the eye brought. Moreover, the old man was innocent as he had done nothing wrong to the narrator, while the victim in “The Wailing Wall” was provoking Gabrielle, causing him to commit the crime.

Even though both stories had several similarities, they also have an abundant amount of differences. One difference between the two stories involves the psychological state that the main characters were in leading up to the murder. The narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” convinced himself that he was not killing the man but killing the eye to relieve himself from his obsession. Gabrielle knew that he was killing his wife to free himself from her nagging and so that he could be with his mistress, Dorothy. Additionally, the narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” was very patient with his plans for the old man. He stalked the old man at night for seven nights before the night of the murder. Furthermore, the narrator took an hour to peek his head into the old man’s room and waited another hour on the night of the murder when the old man sat up in bed after he heard the noise that the narrator made when he went to open his lantern. Gabrielle was very direct with his preparations for the murder. He was calm and collected and had all the materials he needed to carry out the murder and to hide the body. In addition, the stories had multiple differences concerning the psychological state of the main character after the murder. The narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” spoke easily and with no remorse when he talked about the murder. He was later confronted by police who were sent to the house because of reports of a shriek heard by a neighbor. The narrator let them inside with no fear of being caught since he had carefully dismembered the body and hid it under planks in the old man’s bedroom. Gabrielle, on the other hand, was nervous about being discovered and decided to live in his house for 40 years. He tried to hide his guilt but at the end of the story, after trying to burn his house down, he committed suicide by jumping out of a hospital window since he wanted to be free of his guilt. He had left a suicide note to admit his actions before he had jumped. The narrator from Edgar Allan Poe’s story admitted his deed to the police after he was provoked by a noise in his ears but did not kill himself from the guilt.

In conclusion, regardless of the copious differences and similarities between the aforementioned stories relating to the motive, the victim, and the psychological state of the main character leading up to the murder and after the murder, both stories are unique in their own ways.

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