Even before reading The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether I had extremely high exceptions because Edgar Allan Poe is such an amazing writer. The language he uses to describe the setting and each character is truly gothic. I always loved mystery and suspense novels growing up and his short story has both elements.
In this text you think at first that something is off about this meeting but you can’t make sense of it. The characters have obvious flaws but you look past them because they are in an asylum and it is to be expected that things are out of the ordinary. Monseiur Malliard at first seems educated about the psychology of the human emotions and the methods to treat “lunacy”. He discusses this method called the “soothing system” and how it became a danger to the patients. He gives reasons to back up his new ideology, which seems convincing till in the end we find he suffers from a psychosis that he still believes he runs the asylum. Throughout the conversation the other characters act in peculiar ways as well, like making animal noises that seem off putting but oddly I didn’t think much of the interaction. There was always this sense that something was out of the ordinary and suspense kept building but I could never pin point what it was. Even when the dining experience was discussed and it was said to be barbaric gave this animal like feel that made you question the other characters. At the end when we find out that the company was actually the patient and the narrator says he still felt that Monseiur Maillard still made some valid points about treatment methods. This leaves you questioning who the lunatics really are.
