Appearance vs. Reality
Everyone has someone in their life that turned out to be the complete opposite of who they thought they were. Perhaps it was a guy/girl you liked, or maybe it was even someone as close to you as your best friend. Those people may not actually be who you have always believed them to be. It's just who they appear to be. In reality you might be completely wronging the two short stories " The Tale-Tell Heart," by Edgar Allan Poe and "A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner, give great examples of how Appearance vs. Reality can really cause you to question whether or not the person in front of you is being genuine. Poe created a character who at first sight appears to be a nice man who is just helping a man in need. Then you have Faulkner who created Miss Emily to seem like a stereotypical Southern woman who is very reserved and hidden away in her home. At first both these characters don't seem bad whatsoever: this is where the conflict of Appearance vs. Reality comes in.
Poe's main character in "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a prime example of how people aren't always who they appear to be. He portrays the character as a kind and loving man. He seemingly, just like many other people has a problem with an old man who he works for. The main character states, "I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire" (Poe 1). Hearing such words would lead you to believe that he cares about the old man, but as he continues on he begins to talk about his "eye". The “eye” is driving him crazy and he says, "I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture —a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees very gradually —I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever" (Poe 1). This pushed the main character to stalk the old man for eight nights. On the eighth night the old man wakes up to the...