The Mummy’s Foot and The Tale Tell Heart are narratives that cleverly incorporate figurative language to help the reader develop a sound picture of what the stories are about. As one goes through the two tales, he or she can identify various forms of figurative language which include similes, metaphors, personification, symbolism and much more. These examples of figurative speech contribute to the overall build-up of the story. It is, therefore, necessary to identify the similarities and differences in the use of figurative language as used by the two authors.

Both stories employ the use of similes to help stimulates the reader’s imagination while they pass forward the necessary information. In the Tell-Tale Heart one can identify the use of a simile which states “It was the beating of the old man’s heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.” (3). Here the narrator was demonstrating to the author how the old man’s heartbeat was increasing his anger and therefore compared it to how a soldier gains courage for was through the beating of a drum. In the Mummy’s Foot, the author also uses similes severally to help elevate the level of imagination for the reader. For instances the author states “His hands—thin, slender, full of nerves which projected like strings upon the fingerboard of a violin, and armed with claws like those on the terminations of bats’ wings—shook with senile trembling”(—-). Here the author needed the reader to develop the image of thin arms with projected veins which is why he compares them to the strings of a violin. Even as the similes work effectively in stimulating the reader’s imagination, the authors also use personification.

Personification is often effective in helping the readers develop a relationship with non-human objects through assigning human characteristics to these objects. The roles compound the overall function of stimulating the reader’s imagination which can help them develop sympathy, empathy or other forms of emotional connections to the object in question. For instances, the use of personification is visible in the Mummy’s Foot when the author states “The great toe, slightly separated from the rest, afforded a happy contrast, in the antique style, to the position of the other toes, and lent it an aerial lightness—the grace of a bird’s foot” (–). Here the author gives a non-living thing a characteristic of happiness which is often identifiable with human beings. It helps the reader understand how the great toe was separated from the rest through how differentiated and more appealing it looked to the narrator.

Similarly, personification is present in the Tell Tale heart as the narrator states “Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped the victim” (2). Here, death is assigned the human characteristics of movement and stalking even when it is a non-human and non-living concept. The reader can develop an image of death as it approaches and stalks it victim to the point where it engulfs him or her. Further, the reader can identify instances of situational irony in the stories.

Situational irony also represents an aspect of figurative language that helps maintain the attention of the reader to the story. The situational irony will often occur when there is incongruence in what is expected to happen and what happens. In the Mummy’s foot, the narrator states “Instead of remaining quiet, as behooved a foot which had been embalmed for four thousand years, it commenced to act in a nervous manner, contracted itself, and leaped over the papers like a startled frog”(—). Here the narrator expected that when he came back to his house, he would find the mummy’s foot on the desk where he had left it, lifeless. Instead, he comes to a very active foot leaping over the papers that were on the table. A similar encounter is present in the Tell-Tale Heart narrative when the narrator states “I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart (539). Here the reader would expect the narrator to have sincere emotions of pity towards the old man. However, the narrator mentions that he chuckles inside which demonstrates that his pity towards the old man is at fault to a certain extent. The irony is further demonstrated in the stories through the use of dramatic irony.

Dramatic irony is often effective in eliciting a particular reaction from the audience. It is demonstrated when something that occurs in the story seems more meaningful to the reader than to the characters because the reader knows something more than the character does. For instance, the narrator in the Tell-Tale Heart states “I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad?” (537). Here the readers understand that the narrator is insane because he hears things in heaven and hell. However, the narrator sees no reason to identify as being insane despite the recognition that he hears things in heaven and hell. Dramatic irony seems absent in the Mummy’s Foot. Throughout, the narrator is aware that he is dreaming about the princess, her foot and the Pharaoh. He identifies it as a dream even before he starts dreaming. It is clear that the audience and the character are at par with what is happening in the story.

It is clear that both stories apply aspects of figurative language effectively and in the process, help stimulate the overall imagination of the reader towards the characters and the events present in the stories. One can recognize the use of similes, personification, dramatic irony and situational irony throughout the stories. These concepts help improve the plot of these stories and convert them into exciting reads.

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