How Does Poe Use Situational Irony In The Tell Tale Heart

Edgar Allen Poe’s use of personification and irony helps create a sinister tone in his short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart”. While standing motionless in the old man’s room, the narrator thinks that he “knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart” (Poe 3). This shows that the narrator’s insane excitement at the chance to kill the old man outweighs his compassion for him through the use of irony, the contrast between sympathy and killing intent also helps define his character as an insane man with no morals. He is able to shove aside his compassion to get the job done. Earlier on in the story, the narrator admits to the old man’s innocence, “I loved the old man. He had done me no wrong” (Poe 2), this show that

There are many writing techniques/crafts that authors write about in their story. For example, stories could have metaphors, flashbacks/flash forwards, or tone. But, in the story The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism, revealing actions, and descriptive language to show why the narrator wants to kill the old man.

Edgar Allen Poe uses dramatic irony in the “Tell Tale Heart” in the line “I moved it slowly一very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man’s sleep”(Poe 1). This line is saying the narrator is moving into the old man’s room and looking at him but, the old man doesn’t know that the narrator is looking at him. This creates suspense by the reader knowing that the narrator is sneaking into the bedroom and looking at the old man but, the old man does not know. Dramatic Irony creates suspense by the readering knowing more about the situation than one of the characters does. So, in this case we known the narrator is planning to kill the old man but he does not know. This is how the “Tell Tale Heart” uses dramatic irony.

Poe uses irony in “The Raven.” A raven flies into the narrator’s room and can talk just like a person; the narrator would ask it a question, but its response would always be “‘Nevermore’”(48). The irony in the example is that ravens cannot actually speak; consequently, either the narrator is having a hallucination or he is asleep, dreaming. The raven coming to him and speaking displays the longing that the narrator has for his lost love. Also, in “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the narrator tries to prove that he is sane and has full control of his mind. The narrator opens the door to an old man’s room and merely stands and watches him. But, from the old man’s doorway, the narrator believes he is hearing “the beating of the old man’s heart” (2). The fact that the narrator can hear the old man’s heart is ironic because one is physically incapable of hearing another’s heartbeat without putting their ear to their chest or using a stethoscope. Poe’s utilization of irony lets the reader know that the narrator is unstable and out of his mind; the reader can’t trust the narrator anymore. Another example of irony in “The Tell-Tale Heart” is when the narrator says he hears “all things in heaven and all things in earth.” He also claims to be able to hear “many things in hell” (1). The statement is

Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something the characters don’t. An example of dramatic irony in The Tell-Tale Heart is the fact that the caregiver wanted to kill the man because of his “evil eye. “This is dramatic irony because

Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart” is a short story about a insane narrator which tries and eventually kills the old man, the narrator is his waiter, because of his vulture eye. In this story, readers feel curious and shock because of the dramatic and situational irony. First, Poe uses dramatic imagery to make the reader feel suspense. The mood is created when the narrator becomes determined to kill the old man because of his vulture eye, thus the reader knows the narrator wants to kill the old man, but the old man doesn’t know about it. ”I made up my mind to take the life of the old man” (Poe ) This make the reader feel suspense because it makes the reader like the old man’s hands are tied because he can’t overpower the narrator and he’s unaware of the narrator’s intention. Furthermore, Poe uses situational irony to create a mood of shock. The mood is created when the police officers knock on the old man’s door and come to investigate because of the narrators shriek, and the narrator started hearing the old man’s heartbeat, yet it grew louder and louder until he thought that the police officers are hearing the heartbeat and are mocking the narrator, so the narrator couldn’t take any more and admitted

“True! --nervous-- very, very dreadfully nervous…” Does fear lead people to do irrational things, even sufficient to commit a crime? Every year, about 18.2% of the American population suffer from mental illness which is caused by fear according to www.newsweek.com. Fear causes anxiety which is leads to mental illness. Fear can change the aura of others and may cause mental illness. Edgar Allan Poe commences the story, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” with the narrator’s fear towards the old man’s “vulture” eye. The old man’s blind eye petrifies the narrator because it symbolizes a vulture’s eye, it symbolizes as an vulture’s eye because a vulture would stare down its prey with it’s eyes. The old man never wronged the narrator in any way, but the old man’s “vulture eye,” is enough reason to haunt him and that leads to him to murder the old man out of fear when haunted by the idea. In the “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Poe uses dramatic irony, and the narrator’s point of view to convey the abstract theme of perverseness, which leads to his fear, paranoia and symbolism.

Edgar Allan Poe. A sinister and mysterious writer yet caring and giving husband, Mr. Poe lived his short forty years of life in a seemingly state of disarray and torment. We all know his famous works for their perverse styles and gruesome detail but what caused his limitless collection of murder, insanity, and longing for a lost love that is found within his pages?

Upon examining Edgar Allan Poe’s life, one is not surprised that he chooses to write such gloomy and sinister stories. Poe’s life is far from happy and nurturing. According

Edgar Allen Poe's use of irony helps portray his horror style by joking about the death of his characters and showing their madness by having them say the opposite of what they mean. One example of this is in The Tell Tale Heart when in the beginning the main character says “Harken! And observe how healthily- how calmly I can tell this story.”(1) Showing that he is insane but doesn’t want anyone to know about it, a perfect example of just how insane he really is. This ties into Poe’s style because the insanity of

Edgar Allan Poe wrote many famous works of literature, some of which are: The Raven, The Fall of The House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Black Cat. Most of his works were filled with horror as his background was one we all are glad we never had. With his background his atmospheres of horror are far better and deeper than most writers.

In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” irony occurs throughout the story. For example,irony occurs when the old man tries to keep evil out by barring his windows. Poe writes, “Its room was as black as a pitch with the darkness(for the shutters.)” (page 62,paragraph 4.)By looking at this quotation we can see that the old man was afraid of being robbed. To avoid being robbed the old man put bars on his windows so “evil” couldnt get in. This method did not work because evil is inside the narrator.

First, Poe uses irony, or a contrast between expectation and reality, to build an uncanny and unsettling mood. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the narrator creeps into the pitch darkness of the old man’s room, and notes that “the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers” (Poe 355). The old man closes all the windows to keep intruders out, while his killer waits outside of his door. The old man’s precautions present situational irony, because he attemps to prevent outside threats, while the biggest one is on the inside, living in his house.

One of the theme’s more prevalent themes that present it’s self in the Tell-Tale Heart the theme of is insane verses sane. This theme is one of the central themes in the story. You can see this in the first sentence of the story in which the person says “True!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am but why will you say that I am mad” (Poe, 331). The more the man tries to convince the people he is retelling the story that he is sane the more it shows how very much insane he actually is. When he tells the story of the old man that he murdered he tells it calmly and remorseless. He states in his retelling that he did not hate the old man or that he wanted the old man’s wealth when he murdered him. He says the reason he murdered the old man is that his one eye which was pale with a film over it resembled an eye of a vulture. (Poe, 331) Then he says “Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you

How does the symbolism affect the meaning of a written piece, does it make it more or less important? Symbolism is used to represent ideas; that may imply deeper, hidden meaning than what the text directly states. Symbolism can be used in different ways throughout different books; for example, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, by Edgar Allen Poe and “Once upon a Time”, by Nadine Gordimer, contain a variety of symbolism that have the possibility of having two or more meanings. The problem with this is identifying what the text could really mean, and how that changes the story. How does comparing the use of symbolism in both stories and showing the difference in the stories direct text and length, with and without the implied symbolism, answer the