Which statement best contrasts these two excerpts? The sound of the beating heart emphasizes the madness of the narrator in “The
Tell-Tale Heart,” while the sound of the crying cat in “The Black Cat” does not. The sound of the beating heart in “The Tell-Tale Heart” is an explained event, while the sound of the crying cat in “The Black Cat” is an unexplained event. The sound of the beating heart in “The Tell-Tale Heart” decreases the tension of the narrative, while the sound of the crying cat in “The Black Cat” increases the tension. The sound of the beating heart in “The Tell-Tale Heart” provides a happy ending, while the sound of the crying cat in “The Black Cat” provides an unhappy ending.
The sound of the beating heart emphasizes the madness of the narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart,” while the sound of the crying cat in “The Black Cat” does not.
Explanation:
In the story "The Tell-Tale Heart," we learn that the narrator of the story is tormented by the sound of a beating heart. This is the heart of a man he killed, and the reader knows that the heart cannot logically be beating. Therefore, the heart is only a symbol of the man's insanity. On the other hand, the crying cat in "The Black Cat" is a real sound that the man is not imagining, and therefore, is not a consequence of his madness.
I believe that your answer is the first option due to how late the crying is, and unlike in "The Tell-Tale Heart" where the heart is constant and represents the slow descent of madness, the cry of the cat only appears at the end.
The portion of the story where it shows the speaker's madness is actually his looking for and finding similarities in the second cat and wishing to kill it.
