When I first walked into Cecilian Hall, I wondered quietly to myself exactly what I had committed my time to actually doing. But, after James McBride was introduced and began to speak my doubts seemed to immediately seize. I never realized that James McBride was such an influential person not only to listen to but also as a citizen in our society today. I never fathomed that I would learn the wealth of knowledge that I did from this individual.
James McBride started off by simply stating that if we came away from this experience with one thing he essentially wanted us to realize that we have more commonalities than differences. This statement really caught my attention to the ultimate fullest. I know even in my own life that I usually will look at certain individuals friends, family, or strangers and think to myself that we have more differences than commonalities. If I really sit down though and deliberate for hours or days, I can actually see that these individuals are not actually that different from me. We actually suffer through similar things, enjoy similar things, and are essentially all equal on a continuum or concrete structure.
James McBride then continued on with his stories that both included his life as well as his ever famous novel, The Color of Water. I did not read this book, but I did learn from this novel the power of one man’s voice. I learned that if everybody had the courage like James McBride to tell his story the world would be a better place. Often, individuals will hide their stories and not completely verify the good or the bad things they have endured. Our society is actually hurting because the reason is based on the fact that so many stories are lost because of silence. James McBride was not a victim of this he used his mother’s story as a basis to build a wonderful story that society has and continues to benefit from it.
The next topic that I really picked up in James McBride’s speech was the power of forgiveness. He brought the relationship between his mother and his mother’s sister up to the audience. In his speech, I really found myself questioning my own ability to forgive in my life. Through this speech, I realized that the art of forgiveness is built upon in time and when it is near perfected an individual will realize that not forgiving only hurts you. I did not realize that a speaker at Seton Hill University would actually have an affect this enormous on me as a whole. I am definitely a better person as a whole from listening to the astounding author, James McBride. He has definitely given me a sense of memory and hope, which is essentially the topic of our course.
I cannot really compare this experience to anything else that I have encountered in my life. I usually hate to read and find authors that do any type of speaking to talk too intellectually. I think of myself as a smart individual, but I find their speeches completely over my head. James McBride was certainly different than my preconceived notion. He talked on a very basic level and used proper humor. I have learned so much information that I cannot even relate it to a previous experience. This essentially to me is regarded as one of the most, if not the highest, experiences that I have ever gone through in my life.
The College Objective that I really believe I perfected nearly to exactness is that of Reflection. I took the information that was presented to me and ultimately reflected upon it and interpreted it as being something that is occurring in my own life. I plan to take the information that I have learned and use it to teach my future students. I believe that depending on the age of my students that this book would be definitely something that could be used either to help my students identify with who they are or relate somewhat to the family’s story. I hope that it will give them a sense of memory and hope, which is exactly what I have received from his speech.
I wonder exactly what your thought are in regards to this excellent speaker. Did you find him to be as exceptional as I did? I felt this was a wonderful opportunity for the whole community both Seton Hill University as well as the Greensburg area. If you would like to read other information on this speaker or thoughts on his presentation, Dr. Jerz has also posted his comments and feelings on the New Media Journalism at Seton Hill University. I hope to see more authors that were similar to this man brought to Seton Hill University over the coming months as well as even the years to come.
After writing in my previous blog and being really intrigued to investigate more topics in regards to the Scarlet Letter, I decided to not necessarily investigate more in the relationship between Reverend Dimmesdale and Mr. Chillingworth but I wanted to look more heavily at the author instead. This was really brought about by Amanda and her comment that really made me wonder if there were more factors to the book that were not necessarily mentioned but somehow implied. So, I give credit to Amanda for getting my creative juices flowing!!
When reading and completely finishing The Scarlet Letter in its entirety, I found myself to feel as though I was lacking some very important information. With these feelings that I found to possess, I personally made a pledge to myself to investigate the only part of the novel that I had yet to read. This was essentially the introduction located at the beginning of the novel that gave history not only of the author but the novel as well. The questions that I found to develop were very similar and both included the governmental aspects of the New England in contrary to that of the Old England. I will in the next several paragraphs discuss quotations from the introduction that gave me more insight into what actually the true meaning or basis was behind Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel.
In reading the end of The Scarlet Letter, I found one chapter to bring up the concept of comparing the New England and the Old England. The novel goes into great detail in Chapter 21 and describes the Old England as “a time when the life of England, viewed as one great mass, would appear to have been as stately, magnificent, and joyous, as the world has ever witnessed.” The novel then begins to compare this world to the New World, which can be summarized as “being born to an inheritance of Puritanic gloom.” When analyzing these two descriptions, I contemplated on why there was such a harsh difference between that of the two worlds. I was determined that there was occasional differences, but I had never fathomed that the differences would be explicit and yet so deep.
After reading the introduction, I began to question if Nathaniel Hawthorne was indeed adding his own emphasis to the comparisons of the two worlds because of the struggles his government was facing during the time he wrote the novel. Nathaniel Hawthorne when speaking in regards to President Taylor states, “It is essential, in order to complete an estimate of the advantages of official life, to view the incumbent at the incoming of a hostile administration.” While Nathaniel Hawthorne was writing this novel, he was experiencing the same tribulation of a new government. In reading the novel, I questioned exactly why there was such emotion in the details of the Old and New World. I now believe or rationalize that after reading this introduction that Nathaniel Hawthorne consciously or unconsciously may have put his own emphasis into the comparisons of both forms of government his as well as the Puritans.
The second part from the novel that corresponded with a quotation found in the introduction was also related to the theme of government. However, this specific point was aimed more towards the head officials. Again in Chapter 21, I was questioning the down sizing of the prominent Puritan leaders. The rulers and leaders of Puritan society were described or said to be that of “gray and sable tinge, which undoubtedly characterized the mood and manners of the age.” I felt as though the novel really left me wondering exactly why these prominent individuals were described in such a way.
When reading the introduction, I realized that Nathaniel Hawthorne actually stated one of his own thoughts or biases towards those individuals holding eminent powers. He believes as stated in the introduction that “there are few uglier traits of human nature than this tendency—which I now witnessed in men no worse than their neighbors—to grow cruel, murkily because they possessed power.” I now rationalize and understand that Nathaniel Hawthorne in describing people of power in the Puritan age may have added the extra emphasis and emotion because he essentially felt this particular way through his own experiences with individuals holding eminent power.
I feel that in reading the introduction and relating it to questions raised in the novel that I have rationalized to the best of my own personal ability the information that was presented to me. This rationalization may be strictly personal, but I truly believe that I now have answers to questions that have ultimately bothered me for some time now. I do fully understand why in The Scarlet Letter the author speaks so passionately in regards to a new government as well as those holding the reigns.
For Annie
By Edgar Allan Poe
Written: 1849
First Published: Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900.
Thank Heaven! the crisis --
The danger is past,
And the lingering illness
Is over at last --
And the fever called "Living"
Is conquered at last.
Sadly, I know
I am shorn of my strength,
And no muscle I move
As I lie at full length --
But no matter! -- I feel
I am better at length.
And I rest so composedly,
Now, in my bed,
That any beholder
Might fancy me dead --
Might start at beholding me,
Thinking me dead.
The moaning and groaning,
The sighing and sobbing,
Are quieted now,
With that horrible throbbing
At heart: -- ah, that horrible,
Horrible throbbing!
The sickness -- the nausea --
The pitiless pain --
Have ceased, with the fever
That maddened my brain --
With the fever called "Living"
That burned in my brain.
And oh! of all tortures
That torture the worst
Has abated -- the terrible
Torture of thirst
For the naphthaline river
Of Passion accurst: --
I have drank of a water
That quenches all thirst: --
Of a water that flows,
With a lullaby sound,
From a spring but a very few
Feet under ground --
From a cavern not very far
Down under ground.
And ah! let it never
Be foolishly said
That my room it is gloomy
And narrow my bed;
For man never slept
In a different bed --
And, to sleep, you must slumber
In just such a bed.
My tantalized spirit
Here blandly reposes,
Forgetting, or never
Regretting its roses --
Its old agitations
Of myrtles and roses:
For now, while so quietly
Lying, it fancies
A holier odor
About it, of pansies --
A rosemary odor,
Commingled with pansies --
With rue and the beautiful
Puritan pansies.
And so it lies happily,
Bathing in many
A dream of the truth
And the beauty of Annie --
Drowned in a bath
Of the tresses of Annie.
She tenderly kissed me,
She fondly caressed,
And then I fell gently
To sleep on her breast --
Deeply to sleep
From the heaven of her breast.
When the light was extinguished,
She covered me warm,
And she prayed to the angels
To keep me from harm --
To the queen of the angels
To shield me from harm.
And I lie so composedly,
Now in my bed,
(Knowing her love)
That you fancy me dead --
And I rest so contentedly,
Now in my bed,
(With her love at my breast)
That you fancy me dead --
That you shudder to look at me,
Thinking me dead: --
But my heart it is brighter
Than all of the many
Stars in the sky,
For it sparkles with Annie --
It glows with the light
Of the love of my Annie --
With the thought of the light
Of the eyes of my Annie.
In reading the poem, For Annie by Edgar Allen Poe, I found that I actually understood the work better than what I may have previously believed. I truly think that this was mostly possible because of my ability to research the unknown. The unknown mostly consisted of previously foreign vocabulary terms to me that only after researching intensively seemed to put the poem together more as a whole. I will not only in the next paragraphs discuss with you my new acquired terms in the English language, but I will more importantly display how in learning these words I ultimately made an informed decision in preparing my oral interpretation. By the end, I hope that it will be common knowledge to my audience that I indeed developed understanding of the text, For Annie by Edgar Allen Poe.
The first term that I came to in the text that really seemed to puzzle me was that of naphthaline. I learned that naphthaline was a word used primarily in the past to represent a crystalline aromatic hydrocarbon usually obtained by distillation of coal tar and used especially in organic synthesis. This definition really helped me to clarify the text in a way that is almost unexplainable. Before researching this word, I was under the impression that this term could have possibly meant calmness. However, I now realize the text was actually stating that the man so in love with Annie felt so strongly for her that he feels this passion is to actually die for. The word naphthaline in my opinion could have been replaced with love. This toxic poison of love quenches every thirst and you feel complete as if another drink or touch of another would no longer be needed. I chose to display this word very quietly rather than loudly because I truly believe it changes the previous tone that Edgar Allen Poe had intended in the lines both above and even below.
The second term that I stumbled upon in the poem, For Annie, was the word accurst. I acquired through my research that this word actually implied that something or even someone was under a curse. The meaning of this word is the part of the text when I started to realize the poem was not intended to describe a funeral but was discussing a power that felt almost like a poisoning curse. In feeling that this part of the text was a major turning point from the theme of a funeral to the describing of a higher level emotion, I decided to quietly say this word because it shows a change from the other lines around it, which have certain louder toned emphasis on words, that I decided to make in my oral interpretation.
The next terms that I researched meanings upon are both that of rue and myrtles. When reading the context of this poem, I found to guess that these words pertained to some type of flower or bush because of their use with the words roses and pansies in the text. However, I was unsure if the words were similar or opposite from the words they were being grouped among. I actually found that these words referred to a very fragrant and beautiful bush and herb. In learning the meaning of these words, I decided to use these terms and lines in a very serene and calm vocal tone to almost insinuate a walk through a garden. I chose to act in this particular manner because it shows Edgar Allen Poe’s switch from discussing a poisonous curse to a very beautiful smell of a garden.
The last and final term that really was a bothersome for me was that of tresses. I had heard this word several times before but I had never fully grasped its true meaning. When looking the word up in an online dictionary, I was surprised that it meant actual locks of hair. I found this a perfect opportunity to not only use my voice but also my body to clarify for my peers that Edgar Allen Poe was signifying that when laying on the chest of Annie he felt as though he was drowning or surrounded by her long locks of hair. I believed the easiest way to portray this word was to simply stress the word drowned and then through my gestures portray locks of hair.
In learning these terms and reading the poem over repeatedly, I found that I had actually made meaning of this poem, For Annie, by Edgar Allen Poe. I believe the first part of the poem by describing a funeral and death it ultimately signifies his love for another. I then found that the poem takes on another meaning of the love being portrayed. With the describing of the beautiful garden like scene, I view that the love is not necessarily a curse of death but something with a deep and passionate meaning. However, by the ending of the poem I believe that Edgar Allen Poe is describing hostility over a force not allowing him to be with Annie. I gathered this through the constant remark of “you fancy me dead.” I truly believe since this poem being written near the time of Edgar Allen Poe’s death was simply to honor the sweet lady Annie by expressing the meaning of the love that was shared and the disappointment of not being able to be with her. I also believe that I have made clear and concise growth in analyzing this poem. I realize this poem can take on several meanings, but I personally believe that I have done the best of my personal ability to rationalize and make informed decisions in regards to orally interpreting my poem.
When reading Poe’s famous poem The Raven, I found myself to constantly be formulating various educated guesses into exactly what the underlying meaning behind the appearing bird meant. In reading two other works of Poe that being The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart, I believe that Poe is simply continuing his study of guilt. The narrators of the two previous works were actually murderers and essentially speaking out of guilt. I believe in my following paragraphs I will explain in great depth why I believe from my opinion and research that The Raven is a continuation of Poe’s ongoing theme of guilt in his works.
The man’s reaction to the loss in The Raven has been colored by some type of mysticism that we are not fully aware of knowing. We know through several passages in the poem that the man is filled with fear when receiving a visitor at his door, before he even views the mysterious raven, with its single utterance, “Nevermore.” The most influential passage that indicates to me that the man is frightened can be outlined with his simple phrase that indicates his anxiety when he states that he is trying “to still his beating heart.” This to me obviously proves that the man is somewhat uptight over the visitor he has received at such an early time in the morning.
I also believe that The Raven is a continuation of Poe’s guilt theme because of the several possibilities the man gives for the reasons of the recently appeared bird. The beginning possibilities seemed to be rather positive, however, his later inferences show more and more guilt that had built up in his heart and even soul. A particular line in the poem really showed to me exactly the strength of his emotions. The man making reference to the bird’s “eyes having all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming” indicates to me that he truly sees the bird as a sign of evil. I do not believe that the man would view the bird as a demon if he was in possession of a clean conscience.
I believe and agree with my fellow classmate, Nabila, and her opinion that the man does too suffer from a guilty conscience like I had stated previously. When analyzing this poem, I tried to take it even a step further than this and describe what I actually believe may have happened that caused the man to have a guilty conscience. I then began to pinpoint things that would cause an individual to feel the emotion of guilt. The man may have wronged Lenore in a sinful manner. This may possibly include the following: adultery against Lenore, the murdering of Lenore, or even something as simple as abandoning Lenore. These, however, I must note are just my personal opinions and reactions to the readings that I have completed. I feel that I can understand especially poems better when I communicate different possibilities aloud to other individuals.
I continue to believe that the man in Poe’s poem The Raven was a continuation of the guilt theme that I have seen in his other works. This is an actual opinion that I had and backed with my research that was conducted. This was essentially not only my personal feelings in regards to the poem but something I believe to have proven as well.
The title of the poem that I chose is For Annie. It was written by Edgar Allan Poe. It was published in the year of 1911. I chose this poem because I felt it was beautifully written by Poe, but I also feel that I can personally relate my emotions more to this poem than to others. I believe it illustrates an array of feelings, which is the study of my major as a whole. I know that through this poem I can simply use my knowledge gained to portray the real meaning of the poem.
When doing my search for poems, I seemed to haphazardly stumble across this writing of Edgar Allan Poe. I believe this poem is of exact length. I also liked how in reading this poem the word "Puritan" was mentioned in one of the verses. This word seemed to intrigue me because of my recent fascination with the novel, The Scarlet Letter, which also involves the Puritans. I am excited to begin to learn how to Orally Interpret this poem to my fellow classmates.
When Dr. Jerz first said that we would be reading The Scarlet Letter, I was somewhat disappointed. I felt the book would be both a hard read as well as very dull. However, I finished the book and even did research on it and truly found myself a fan of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s. The part of his reading that I really became a fan of is simply how he used symbolism throughout the novel. The symbolism that especially interested me was how the letter “A” throughout the story takes on so many forms.
Symbolism can simply be defined as being the art or practice of using symbols especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations (Merrim-Webster Online Dictionary, 2004). I feel that this definition was thoroughly utilized by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the book, the Scarlet Letter is first to stand for adultery thus the letter “A.” But, after reading I found that the letter “A” actually shaped who Hester would and did become.
I actually found a similar essay that agreed with several of my points of view (Symbolism and The Scarlet Letter, 2004). In this essay as well as my own, it is portrayed that America was actually shaped by everything that had happened in Hester Prynne’s life. This included all the various people and cultures, mistakes she made, and her relationship with other countries. Hester Prynne’s letter can now be symbolized with adulteress, American, and able. Able grew from her ability to simply be a strong woman throughout the story. She took her punishment when issued to her, cared for Pearl by herself, and then became both a seamstress and a Sister of Charity to care for her daughter and herself. In doing this, Hester Prynne was “able” to turn her punishment into penance as most people would eventually look upon it as being.
The other symbolism that I found in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s reading was in reference to the ever occurring rose bush. I like how the author strategically placed this type of symbolism throughout the novel. In looking at the definition of rose, I found this word could actually mean to exert oneself to meet a challenge (Merrim-Webster Online Dictionary, 2004). When reading the novel, I would constantly concentrated on this word to only be in reference to the flower. It was not until after I finished the novel that I thought this word might actually symbolize another meaning.
After seeing the experiences that Hester Prynne endured, I then wondered if rose was to mean something other than a flower. The roses found in the beginning of the book during Hester’s sentence as well as the roses found on the way to the King’s house both had separate but similar meanings. These rose bushes were both found when Hester specifically had to exert herself to meet a challenge. This was essentially both during her punishment and her meeting to discuss the future of her daughter. They were instances that Hester actually did exert and meet the challenge with both courage and strength. This may not actually be the symbolism that Nathaniel Hawthorne was intending; however, it is the most probable and likely to me.
I guess that I am simply a fan of symbolism and look to find it wherever possible. This is an aspect, however, that I truly enjoy investigating in depth. The novel, The Scarlet Letter, has allowed me to simply realize that I am an individual that likes symbolism both in my own life as well as the novels that I choose to read.
I wanted to simply just write a little insert of my feelings and thoughts regarding the second part of our assigned novel, The Scarlet Letter. The first chapter I felt really allowed me to take a deeper look upon that of the leech (Roger Chillingworth) and his patient (Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale). I really became interested in the different tactics that Roger Chillingworth would use to get information regarding his suspicions of Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale being his former wife’s, Hester Pryne’s, lover. The first example Roger Chillingworth (page 120) used was telling Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale, “Why should not the guilty ones sooner avail themselves of this utterable solace?” This comment was in response to a religious comment made by Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale. I believe that Roger Chillingworth is trying to get a confession by referring to religious beliefs held by Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale. This is essentially a very smart tactic because it is something that could possibly work, but Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale seemed to outsmart Roger Chillingworth and did not reveal the burden or secret he ultimately holds deep inside. These and other facts really made this chapter one of my favorites thus far.
The next two things found in the assigned chapters was Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale’s outbreak. I believe this chapter really allowed us to see exactly how the inner secret is making him physically ill. I really questioned his psychological health in this part of the book. His screaming outburst and then his standing on the town square with Pearl and Hester really portrayed to me how his inner guilt was beginning to surface more each day.
In regards to Pearl, I was impressed at how the author illustrated her with age becoming more mature in several various ways. She is now beginning to piece together the correlation between the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale holding his heart and Hester Prynne’s “Scarlet Letter.” This is very important for me because working with children I often see how they grow intellectually as well as personally as we have seen with Pearl.
The last and final aspect that I want to touch upon is how the “Scarlet Letter” took on more meanings than just standing for adultery. She is now seen as having this letter stand for repentance in the town. This is explained through her help of the poor among other things. This to me is very captivating in a sense. The letter that started as standing for something terribly can and actually took on a different role or meaning.
I really continued to enjoy this book in several different ways. I find myself with every chapter to become even more interested than I had been in the beginning. I cannot wait to finish the end and finally have closure to this novel. So, I can finally hear how the story completely ended as a whole.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book, The Scarlet Letter. I found myself after the first nine chapters to not really want to stop reading. I simply wanted to know the rest of the story. The book really taught me how actual life was conducted during those days. I could not believe that it was an actual holiday for the children and the townspeople to come and look and state nasty words to Hester Prynne, whom was being punished for adultery. I could not even begin to imagine the feelings that she had running through her mind let alone her entire body. I am sure that she was already humiliated from the act that the punishment just simply added more pain to her already open wounds.
I also picked up upon Hester seeing a familiar face in the crowd, but I would never have believed that it was her long lost husband!
The chapter that really was essentially my favorite was the one that was labeled as Pearl. I liked how the author had Hester describing both Pearl's physical beauty but also her personality, which also attributes to her inner beauty. I could see how Pearl brought her mother both joy but also turmoil in how she reminded her daily of the evil act that she committed. The one particular way that I saw this completely detailed was when the infant was young and would often grab at the embroidered gold and red letter "A". I can see from working with children how they innocently they seem to pick up on little things and are ultimately sometimes cruely honest. They often times mean no harm by these acts, but they simply do not know any better. However, I see in this chapter that Hester often takes these acts as the devils way of tormenting her. I can see where she would make this assumption, but I also believe that it was also just silly child's play.
I also enjoyed the very last chapter in which Roger Chillingworth and Reverend Dimmesdale began to become very close friends. I found some of this to have an ironic twist. The two become very close yet there seems to be an unknown tension especially with Reverend Dimmesdale. The doctor tries to heal his ailments by using herbs. This does not work or cure his problems. The doctor then believes that he ultimately has something troubling him. He (Roger Chillinsgworth) first makes statements like he feels that he is going to announce that he plans to marry a women from the town. However, this is not the reason so Roger Chillingworth continues to wonder. The townspeople or some of the townspeople believe that Roger Chillingworth may actually be tied to a demon conspiracy to take over Reverend Dimmesdale. However, my hypothesis from this novel makes me believe that Reverend Dimmesdale's ailment is actually guilt because he has something to do with the "Scarlet Letter." This is simply a hunch and should only be taken as that. It is just an inner gut feeling that I received in reading the assigned text.
I found reading An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge, to be rather interesting and it ultimately captured my attention to the fullest. I like how the author of this piece never really comes out and explains the setting of the story, but rather gives several clues that allows us to discover the period in time. I also like how the author switches from the present to that of the past throughout his writing. The only thing that I was not really sure upon was whether or not Peyton Fahrquhar was actually delirious when he states and gives a long draw out story about escaping from being hung. The only reason that I thought he was delirious was because he states that he made it eventually back to his house, but the very last sentence states that he died of a broken neck and was swinging back and forth between the timbers. I believe truly that he actually was delirious primarily because it was said in the story, but did he escape and then they caught him again and hung him after his escape. I really believe that my first intuition is more like the truth, but I want to clear up a lingering doubt that I have had in the back of my mind constantly questioning my actual intuition.
I found "Bartley the Scrivener" by Melville to be quite an interesting piece of literary work. As with everybody else that read this assignment, I was particularly surprised and even amazed at how Bartleby would answer his boss figure in such a manner and then not be fired at all. The boss allowed Bartleby to first start off by denying his services to small requests but then he just decided that he would "prefer" not to do anything whatsoever. I can understand to a certain point why his boss would feel some compassion for the man that he discovered was living in the office and did not have a home, but I believe there comes a point when the production of the business takes priority. When Bartleby's boss did decide to fire him, he simply refused to leave. If I were the boss of this company, I fould certainly not move my entire business in order to get rid of the employee. I really do not comprehend why he simply could not find the strength within himself to rid the company of the unwanted employee.
The first assignment that we were given is to read Poe's, "The Raven" which was somewhat a new and even different literary piece for me. I often found myself specifically questioning where this author was going and primarily what actually the bird that landed on the man's perch was actually signifying. The croak of "nevermore" could really have meant a variety of different aspects but essentially was there for one absolute and primary purpose. I primarily thought at first that the croaking of "nevermore" was simply signifying that he was not to concern himself anymore with his lost love Lenore. However, I was proved wrong when this possibilty was actually brought up as an actual possibility. The ending completely shocked me to an utter astonishment. I could not believe that the bird's eyes were actually compared to that of a demon's that is dreaming.
I believe that after reading this story that the man is actually guilty of some actual act or even aspect that he may have committed. This may simply be that he may have killed his wife or possibly commited a cruel act that may have directly hurt her is some fashion. My conclusions are simply based upon the noises that he hears and as stated before the reference to the demon's eyes at the end essentially points to me as either he is guilty of a major crime or of a tainted conscience.