In a short story, there is usually an obstacle that the main character must persevere through. Between the characters of the guard in George Orwell’s “A Hanging” and the servant in Edgar Allen Poe’s “A Tell-Tale Heart,” they both experience the act of taking another’s life. The guard in “A Hanging” works in a prison in Burma where criminals await execution. His job is to lead the condemned to their doom and make sure everything runs smoothly and quickly. While the servant in "A Tell-Tale Heart" is a psychopathic man who lets his obsession with his boss's glass eye lead him to plot and carry out his death. Throughout both stories, the protagonists come to a point where they must take part in the organized murders, but their different views on life and their reactions to the deaths set them apart. As a result, although both the prison guard and the servant played key roles in the victims' executions, they both have different perspectives and reactions to their actions. Faced with the obstacle faced by the prison guard and the servant, they are both able to end the lives of their victims on predetermined dates. The warden, to begin with, works in a prison where "the cells were about 10 feet tall and quite empty inside except for a plank bed and a pot for drinking water" (Orwell 32) and “of brown and silent men” (Orwell 32). in them. The guard mentions that these were “the condemned men, who were to be hanged within a week or two” (Orwell 32). Once the prisoner was presented, the clock struck eight and the military doctor declared: “'For God's sake, hurry up, Francis,' he said irritably. “This man should have been dead by then. Aren't you ready yet? (Orwell 32). This shows that middle of paper ......and a feeling of relief came over him when his duty was accomplished, while the servant felt a rush of excitement, followed by anxiety and nervousness on the part of the the old man's heart beating and the fear of being exposed. Unquestionably, the guardian and the servant see and experience things differently even though they both face the obstacle of ending their lives. They both participate in organized murders and play a vital role in the victims' deaths. But on the other hand, the guardian sees that he values ​​life while the servant doesn't care, and the guardian feels relief after death while the servant experiences a shift in emotions from trust to nervousness and anxiety. Undoubtedly, both protagonists play a fundamental role in determining the fate of the characters they kill, but in turn they also have different points of view and responses to their actions..