First Things First…
Is this connected to “Shadow—A Parable”?
It’s the next story in Poe’s complete works, and the structure of their titles is identical.
That story is a precursor to “The Masque of the Red Death”—shorter and less fleshed out but following similar themes. It’s also my favorite of Poe’s early stories so far. So if it turns out this is somehow connected to it, I won’t be upset.
1 Thing I Like
1. The Deafening Sound of Silence
For as abstract and reliant on imagery as this story is, the message is straightforward—silence is more terrifying than chaos.
We see this through an unnamed man who trembles in fear but remains where he is, even as he hears the roars of hippopotami, followed by…
“… a frightful tempest gathered in the heaven where, before, there had been no wind. And the heaven became livid with the violence of the tempest—and the rain beat upon the head of the man—and the floods of the river came down—and the river was tormented into foam—and the water-lilies shrieked within their beds—and the forest crumbled before the wind—and the thunder rolled—and the lightning fell—and the rock rocked to its foundation.”
Yet, when the demon that caused this commotion gets angry that nothing drives the man off and curses the entire region with SILENCE—quieting the river, the tempest, the forest, and even the water-lilies—the man can’t bear it for more than a few moments before he flees.
What I find interesting is that I see two ways to read this…
The negative way is the one that’s probably more common. Many people know they struggle to sit in silence, left with their own thoughts. The man represents anyone who needs noise, or movement, or action so they don’t despair at being left alone with their own mind.
But here’s a more positive read—and it’s actually the first one that came to mind as I read the story…
Many of us also try to quiet things down in our lives. We don’t want to upset the status quo. We get into a routine and do our best to never deviate from it. We cling to our comfort zone. We stop going out and stop taking chances.
In this case, silence represents the emptiness of a life devoid of anything unknown—while noise, commotion, and chaos, though scary, represent truly LIVING.
0 Things I’m Mixed On
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. Demonic Framing Device
“’Listen to me,’ said the Demon, as he placed his hand upon my head.”
Narrator
That opening line of the story above grabbed me. Poe writing about demons? Count me in…
Sadly, the story isn’t about demons. A demon is just part of the framing device. He told the narrator this story about the guy who fled silence.
That much is fine. Unnecessary, but fine.
But the story ends with one final paragraph—an epilogue of sorts—with the narrator talking about “the fine tales in the volumes of the Magi.” He says this story that the demon told him is the finest tale of all.
The demon also curses the narrator because the narrator couldn’t laugh along with the demon. I just don’t get why this is here. To me, it only detracts from the story.
Tim Matassa
