The Tell-Tale Heart and Symbolism

Poe writes “The Tell Tale Heart” from the perspective of the murderer of the old man. When an author creates a situation where the central character tells his own account, the overall impact of the story is heightened. The narrator, in this story, adds to the overall effect of horror by continually stressing to the reader that he or she is not mad, and tries to convince us of that fact by how carefully this brutal crime was planned and executed. The point of view helps communicate that the theme is madness to the audience because from the beginning the narrator uses repetition, onomatopoeias, similes, hyperboles, metaphors and irony.

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dreamed before” (Edgar Allan Poe). Darkness and sadness are strong characteristics of Edgar Allan Poe’s writing. The tragedies during his life, such as the death of his biological and adoptive moms, followed by the death of his young wife Virginia were important factors which formed his gothic style. Poe is known for his drinking problems and use of drugs. Those habits had a big influence in his life and in his works.

Overall, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” by Edgar Allan Poe is an astounding short story. Personification illustrated a sinister feeling through the whole story, making the reader feel uncomfortable

It can show fantasy, darkness and it is possible that the old man in the story never existed. It is the capacity of the narrator’s imagination which makes him creates the old man. It all seems that nothing that he says happens in real life. For instance, the old man eyes, heartbeat, the night, the police, and so on, are all fruits of his fantasy. The eyes could represent his psychological sin and guilt, and the old man depicts his own personality. He wants to get rid of the eyes because it has a darkness sin which does not allow him to have a good sanity. The narrator separates the old man’s personality to his eye, and in the end, he assumes by getting rid of the eyes he could still love the man and live in peace with his mental sanity. However, this strategy does not work out well and turned against him because does not only kill the eyes but also the old

The narrator’s relationship with the elderly man is never disclosed in the story. What is known is that he feared the man’s “vulture eye”. It is describe as pale blue with a film over it. The narrator states that “Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold…” Due to this discomfort, the narrator believes the only rational solution to this problem is by killing the old man. His actions demonstrate the possibility that the narrator suffered from some variation of mental illness. In addition, the narrator tends to repeatedly tell readers that he isn’t mad. He doesn’t believe that any of his actions in the story make him mad. The narrator acts in a wisely but, cautious manner as he carries out the stalking and eventual murder of this poor old man, something in which he

After the narrator killed the old man, he thought that he heard the old man’s heart beating louder and louder. However it was his and and that guilt was to overwhelming and led him to crazily admit that he killed the old man. The narrator says “But anything was better than this agony” (4). So as you can see, he can’t bear the guilt and regrets killing the old man. At this point, he would rather confess than live with this feeling. He also says “I admit the deed” (4). This part is significant of the short story because it tells the exact part where the guilt became too much for him. He committed the perfect crime but it was too much for him. In the end he gave up because of the heart, and the guilt that came along with

may also be symbolized through the intense beating of the old man’s heart. The narrator says, “It was the beating of

The story brings the reader in for a closer look at the mind and thought process of the narrator who killed an old man because of his “pale blue eye, with a film over it.” The narrator had no hatred for the old man at all yet was almost compelled to kill him simply because of his eye. The story goes on to describe how the narrator believes his thought process to be sane and even justified. This can be summarized when he says, “Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen knows nothing. But you should have seen me.” This seems to be an observable trait in human nature where we can see how the narrator, much like psychopathic murderers today, are delusional and even hysterical. In fact, one can even diagnose the narrator of numerous different psychological disorders through WebMD. The average person may see the actions of a murderer like the narrator to be crazy and even insane; however, the murderer himself//herself can still be delusional in thinking that he/she is sane. Although the readers may not relate to the narrator on a personal level, whether or not we approve of his actions, we can understand where he is coming

Next, he wrote about madness/ insanity. What he wrote was about insanity and how it could drive you to do crazy things. This relates to Poe’s life such as the

This essay will discuss the themes in Poe’s writing that mirror his personal life and, in addition, the fear and supernatural motivators for his characters. First, I will discuss Poe’s background and explore how he became best known as a poet for his tales of mystery and macabre.

While in the room where the old man was is buried, the narrator is sitting on a chair, which is above where the old man’s body parts are. He engages in conversation with the policemen. In the narrators mind, he starts to feel guilty his anxiety rises. He believes he starts to hear the old

“The relationship of Poe’s work to the Gothic tradition... For Poe, both the stylistics and the thematics of Gothic fiction became a major aesthetic imperative, partly because he found in the Gothic a means of giving objective expression to the subjective demons at large in his short, sad life…” (Thomson, Voller, and Frank, 331) In essence Poe’s stories are almost as if they were journal entries of his own, since his characters and himself are often going through similar problems at similar times. He found comfort in this genre simply due to the fact that this is what he could relate to most.

literary devices such as point of view and symbolism to give it a more dramatic effect and add to the madness the narrator portrays.

Edgar Allen Poe was known for his dark-romanticism writings which evoked horror in readers. Seen specifically in his short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, readers are able to get into the mind of the mentally ill narrator who murders an elderly man, one whom he claimed to love. Poe created conflict in this story by having the narrator admit to loving the man and having him be his caretaker. Conflict, and the story line, is created because it makes readers question why he would commit such a heinous crime as killing and dismembering the man. Readers eventually find out that it is the elderly man’s eye that pushes the narrator to do what he does. The narrator is trying to justify his actions and prove his sanity by explaining how he observes

Authorial intrusion, which is uncommon in most works of contemporary fiction, is arguably the most important literary device Poe uses to construct the narrator’s manic voice. Though the entire story is written as a confessional, the unnamed chronicler frequently interrupts his recount to attempt to convince the reader that he actually isn’t insane. After explaining his egregious crime along with the motivation; the narrator proceeds to state  “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me” (92). These erratic sentences interrupt the flow of the writing but are extremely important in developing the narrator's voice as it further  Following the quote he explains the methodical lengths he went through; lengths that only an absolute psychopath would find rational, and attempts to justify them as his own cunning intellect rather than an insatiable desire to kill. He reiterates a similar variation of this sentence multiple times throughout his recounting of the events, “If you still think me mad, you will think so no longer” (95) and “have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses?” (94), which again helps to reinforce this idea that the narrator is truly unaware of his own madness.