In Poe’s “Hop Frog” and “Tell Tale Heart,” Poe develops a unique style of writing specifically in narrative point of view. He does so by giving personality and depth in narrators from both stories by using imagery, syntax, and irony.
Firstly, Poe develops the third person point of view in both “Hop Frog” and “Tell Tale Heart” by using imagery to characterize the narrator. For example, in “Tell Tale Heart,” the narrator says, “Above all the sense of hearing was acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell.” This auditory imagery of hearing the sounds in heaven and hell makes the audience perceive him as insane and delusional because it is obvious that he cannot hear these things, but he claims he heard…show more content… In “Tell Tale Heart”, Poe uses syntax- in the form of short sentences- to further establish the narrator’s character as insane. As the story commences, the narrator says, “and thus rid myself of the eye forever. Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me.” The use of short sentences is used as he unexpectedly assures the audience that he isn’t crazy in the middle of his story in a panicked state. This develops second person point of view because the reader can tell the narrator is ancy and paranoid as it seems that the he cannot gather his thoughts very well and just blurts out what is in his mind. In comparison “Hop Frog” develops second person point of view with the use of irony when Hop Frog says, “As for myself, I am simply Hop-Frog, the jester — and this is my last jest.” Here one can see that irony is used when he says “This is my last jest” since Jests are supposed to be funny and lighthearted to amuse the king, but this time he refers to his gruesome murder of the king and his men as a” jest.” In here, the narrative point of view changes to first person into the eyes of Hop Frog. This develops this new narrative point of view because it characterizes the new narrator, Hop Frog, as vengeful since he clearly despises the king as he is amused by his own actions of murder that he considers it merely
