Blog Design Explanation

The title of the blog ‘Master of Madness with a Soul of Insanity’ describes Edgar Allan Poe’s gothic fiction style of writing.  His stories are written in a way that exposes some of the deep horrific thoughts within.  The font used for the title of the blog, ‘Fontdiner Swanky’, was selected because it looks quirky and non-linear, representing the changing emotions that the reader feels throughout the different stories.  The font used for the quotes is called ‘Chiller’, and was selected because of its obvious creepiness and how well it represents the horror of the gothic stories, and it was italicized for a more dramatic effect.  The explanation was written in a font called ‘Impact’, to give the impression that it is a purposeful and scholarly description of what the quote implies, bolded to make it stand out.

The images included pertain directly to each story, giving the reader a visual sense of what to expect.  In other words, the stories are dark, contain a deep meaning, and directly relate to the chosen quote.  The images provide an additional dimension to the quote, as well as to the analysis.  In the blog around character analysis of the Black Cat a video was embedded (both link and video), so the reader could see the story itself, and in the Fall of Usher blog, a link to suspenseful music was included.

 

The blog’s wallpaper was chosen because it looked like an artistic but chaotic pattern of blood spatters and stains.  The background of the post is a dark red because it is intended to arouse powerful emotions.  Red also represents determination, power, blood, anger, violence and danger which are common sentiments found in the stories.  Blog fonts were coloured black for strong contrast.

The Fall of the House of Usher Creates Suspense

“There was iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart-an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of sublime.  What was it-I paused to think-what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Usher?” (Poe 21).

Suspense is a feeling of apprehension, tension and anxiety which everyone has experienced at some point in their life.  It stems from the anticipation of some unexpected but inevitable event which we are powerless to stop from happening.  Like winding up a jack-in-the-box, the lid prevents us from knowing what exactly is inside, and we cannot be sure when the contents will burst forth.  So it is with the House of Usher.  A feeling of melancholy builds to dread and fear as the story progresses, and despite the best efforts of author to help Roderick, he is incapable of preventing Usher’s certain fate.  The House of User is an excellent example of suspense as it takes the reader from just a feeling of insufferable gloom, building to an ominous and foreboding fear, to the climax of a violent storm which destroys the whole house and the family.

Play Suspense Music


 

The Tell-Tale Heart is a Story of Man versus Self

“TRUE! – nervous – very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?  The disease had sharpened my senses – not destroyed – not dulled them.  Above all was the sense of hearing acute.  I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth.  I heard many things in hell.  How, then, am I mad?  Hearken! and observe how healthily – how calmly I can tell you the whole story” (Poe 138).

This quote demonstrates how a person struggling with inner conflict can lose the ability to distinguish between their perceptions and the reality that exists around them.  Turmoil overtakes their mind and alters their consciousness, all while they fight to pretend that everything is okay.   A person who experiences inner turmoil will try to mask their struggles and apply a deliberate effort to behave in an ordinary manner.  The harder they fight their inner fear or guilt, the stronger it becomes.  Eventually those suppressed thoughts or feelings drive unnecessary actions in order to try and manipulate the truth, or justify their actions to themselves or others.  You cannot win a battle against your own conscious because the internal tension will continue to grow until it is reconciled by exposing the truth, or madness sets in.

  

The Cask of Amontillado – A Conflict of Man versus Man

“It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong” (Poe 280).

 

Revenge is the primary theme of this story.  In life, when people are wronged by someone they can either accept and forgive it, or become resentful and consumed with vengeance.  If they allow themselves to focus on resent they become obsessed with hatred, and their focus shifts from pardon to retaliation.  This is a dangerous path that can cause grave consequences as the offended seeks their retribution.  The hatred that continues to fester within does not allow the individual to see things objectively, but instead, can drive them to unreasonable acts. These people become their own judge and jury, pursuing what they believe is suitable punishment.  Unfortunately, a civilized society cannot survive this way, which is why we have an impartial legal process to prevent people imposing punishment on others.  When the offended enforces punishment on the offender, morality and ethics are often lost.

 

The Masque of the Red Death Establishes Mood

“The "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous.  Blood was its Avatar and its seal-the redness and the horror of blood.  There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution" (Poe 41).

 

At the beginning of the story, we learn that the country has been plagued with a repulsive disease which holds no discrimination toward its victims.  This terrible Death invokes a mood of fear and anxiety of an inescapable fate which cannot be avoided despite who you are, what you have, or what you do to try and protect yourself.  Everyone will die, and it is the inevitable factors of when it or how it will happen that causes those to try evade the thought.  Every person in this country will suffer death through blood and pain and this reality creates fear and perhaps avoidance of the reality that awaits them.  While they might try, all their hope and efforts are thwarted because no-one will escape….

 

The Black Cat Reveals Character

“The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fibre of my frame"(Poe,13).

This quote represents the start of a downward character spiral of the story narrator who describes himself as a very sane man who had a tender heart and was especially fond of animals. This occurs at a key moment in his evolution into a delusional madman, fueled by alcohol, just before cutting the eye out of his pet cat with a knife.  From there his insanity escalates while his guilt and remorse fade away, leaving him a character beyond forgiveness.  As anger and resentment continue to build, he kills the cat, and later his wife.  As you read what he calls a factual account of his deeds you realize that despite his claims, he is truly insane, no longer feeling guilt or remorse.  In fact, as he leads police to the basement where he hid his wife’s body, he shows confidence and satisfaction rather than of fear or regret, convinced he will not be found out.

BLACK CAT MOVIE