Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Poe gives his own birthday – January 19th – to William Wilson and his double. Is Poe making a point here about similarities between himself and his character, or is this just akin to Hitchcock and his famous cameo appearances?
- How much does William Wilson understand about his own situation? What do we know as readers that he does not?
- Does this story read differently the second time around than it does your first read through? What changes about the way you understand each scene?
- What does Wilson mean when he asks us to look for an element of fate in his story? Is such an element to be found?
- How is this story structured in its plot? Does this seem like an organized, rational presentation of events, or the choppy results of a confused and frantic narrator? What do you make of that?