The Tell-Tale Heart Narrator

The narrator’s fury towards the old man indicates the narrator has a double personality. This allows him to be kind to a man whom he hates. Readers fear this narrator because he does not hate the man, but the man’s

He shows signs of being a psychotic murderer and shows obsession, but yet tries to cover the insanity up by calling it “being wise”. If he can’t come to terms with his own mental sanity then how could anything he says be considered reliable? In the beginning of the short story, the narrator argues that he is not mad because of the simple fact he is able to tell his side of the story in such a calm manner. Another example to his insanity is at the end of the story while speaking with the police officers; he was hearing the heartbeat of the old man he just murdered. As a result of hearing the pounding heart, he revealed to the officers where the body of the old man was. A sane person wouldn’t have let a deceptive sound create his downfall. In addition to the narrator’s questionable sanity, the amount of time and effort he put into planning and executing the old man’s murder without reason further confirms how unreliable he

The most prominent theme in ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ is guilt. After the narrator murdered the old man, he began to hear the beating of a heart, “…there came to my ears a low, dull sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.” I believe Edgar Allen Poe chose this sound because it’s human, and represents the crime he just committed. The beating persisted, (“…the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant,”) and guilt consumed the narrator until he confessed to his crime. Considering the consequences of your actions ties in with the theme of guilt, as after the murder the beating turned him insane as he was overrun with

The narrator spends a great amount time carefully planning out the murder of the innocent old man, but demonstrates no logical reason for killing the old man, which makes the narrator appear mad. The narrator

The tone in “The Tell-Tale Heart” changes quite rapidly throughout the story. First, the narrator begins by explaining why he hates the old man because of his eye. He gives off a calm attitude because he asks casual questions to the audience and seems to enjoy telling the reader about his plan. Next, the narrator goes through the act of murder without ever questioning if this is right. When the old man least expects it he pounces on him and places the bed over him.

Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever”(41).

Immediately the narrator attempts to convince the audience that he may seem mad because of the murder he intends to go through with. Although, this man is presumed to be some sort of caretaker or butler for the elderly man. But some scholars actually critique that the old man may have even been the narrator’s father. The narrator states “I loved the old man. He had never wronged me.

In The Tell Tale Heart The old man that the main character murdered, had an eye with a film over it. This terrified the main character. “...a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold…”

He argues against the thought that he is mad. In fact, to prove his level of sanity, he demonstrates calmness. The Tell-Tale Heart is based on the emotional instability of the main protagonist character. The writer invokes various stylistic devices to build and depict the narrator’s character as an unstable emotionally disturbed person.

Madness and obsession are the major themes and driving forces for the events of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Madness is defined by the narrator as a dulling of one's senses, self-control, and ability to reason. By this interpretation, the narrator is convinced that he isn’t mad, and tries to convince the reader of this too; however, over the course of the story, it becomes clear that he’s quite insane. As the narrator relates his tale, the true definition of the narrator’s madness is revealed as his unhealthy obsession with the old man’s eye.

Moreover, he tries to defend his sanity by explaining how wise and cautious he was as he was preparing for the murder. Every night he checked on the old man to make sure he got everything right and get ready to execute his plan. The narration lacks of a concrete explanation of the person or place to which it is addressed, which leaves much room for interpretation for the readers. What we can infer from the story is it is not addressed to the police officers since the narrator says he was successful in making them satisfied. Finally, the climax of the story comes as the revelation of the dead body hidden under the planks. Because the story is told as a memento, our estimation might be that the narrator is addressing a court official or personage who may influence over the judgment of the narrator. Therefore, the story that the narrator is telling is most accurately realized as an appeal for mercy rather than just being an appeal to be thought sane.

The narrator of “The Tell Tale Heart” is unreliable because he exaggerates many of the “sane” actions he performed. The narrator boasts to the audience how, “[he]

When people commit murder, they try to justify their actions with logical reasons for doing so. However, if the reasons are not valid, they try to convince themselves that they are. The short story “Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe describes the actions of an unknown narrator who cunningly murders an elderly man at midnight because of his vulture eye. The narrator recounts the confidence in his finesse of the concealment of the body until he hears the first unperceived thumping of the dead man’s heart, driving him to confess to the police. His frantic attempts to convince the reader of his justification of the murder and that he is not insane creates suspense that leaves the reader at the edge of their seats at the moment of his

Edgar Allen Poe is the genius responsible for dark, twisting, and often uncomfortably wondrous gothic tales, and one of the best is 'The Tell-Tale Heart.' This is a classic tale of a confused man who is so incredibly bothered by his housemate's eye, that he (I am assuming this sexless character is male) thinks the only solution is to resort to cold-blooded murder. Poe incorporates the symbol of the old man's eye in 'The Tell-Tale Heart,' which has both physical and psychological meaning, it also helps to develop the plot and central conflicts in the story. The eye allows a better understanding of the narrator's mental state, represents an omniscient/fatherly figure, and helps illustrate the theme of good verses evil.

The speaker starts the story out by explaining that he doe not hate the old man that he is about to kill. In fact he even says that he loves him and that he has always been nice to him. The reason he must kill him however is because of what he calls his evil eye. When