The uneasy behavior of the narrator can be supported by textual evidence, when the main character was worried about the police hearing the beating of the old man’s heart. The narrator dreadfully states, “Still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? - no, no! They heard! - they suspected! - they knew! - they were making a mockery of my horror!” (Lines 146-147) Poe uses punctuation and repetition in these sentences to emphasize the narrator’s paranoia. Luckily, in the end, the main character admits his deed, because he can not handle the paranoia, guilt, and derision any longer. If the narrator did not admit his deed, the beating of the old man’s heart could have haunted him forever.
Through reading Poe’s short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” it is clear that Poe had a rough childhood based upon his ideas displayed in the story. Also, the narrator had instability in the way he thought since he wanted to kill the old man, just because he was troubled by his eye. The main character’s lack of humility caused him pain in the end of the story, therefore his overpowering self confidence did nothing for him in the end