The Insanity Defense In Ronald Schouten's The Tell-Tale Heart
Insanity, arguably one of the most complex topics to talk about and is very difficult to prove or disprove in the court of law. Over the years though, this problem began to spring up in court as mentally unstable people were being thrown in prison so the insanity defense was created. This insanity defense is suppose to separate the crazy from the criminals but in order to successfully use the insanity defense in court the suspect must follow the strict requirements needed throughout the crime. “The Insanity Defense” was created by Ronald Schouten, M.D. and was a overview and detailed document explaining the insanity defense’s purpose and how to properly incorporate it in a court case. “The Tell-Tale Heart” was a story by the infamous Edgar
…show more content…
Some believe that the narrator would be able to use the insanity defense do to the fact that he was constantly showing signs of mental illness’ and did not have proper intent. Throughout the story it became evident that the main character was suffering from schizophrenia and paranoia. The narrator was speaking about the old man’s eye comparing it to the eye of a vulture. Oddly enough it was only the man’s eye that bothered the narrator as he says so in this quote, “...and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye.” This is also the reason it took so long for the narrator to finally kill the old man. The man was paranoid and was constantly thinking things that are not true as well as imagining weird things. For example, “--I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye” in this quote he is watching the old man in his bed which is not something sane people do. Also, the narrator did not have the intent of an average person like money or love, as he mentions in the beginning of the story when he states he wants none of the old man’s stuff or money. “Object there was none. Passion there was none.” This was his statement near the beginning of the story and shows that he had no real intentions except ridding himself of the evil eye. Although these are all good counter-arguments over all the sources are leaning more towards the fact that he was mentally capable of differentiating right from
Some believe that the narrator would be able to use the insanity defense do to the fact that he was constantly showing signs of mental illness’ and did not have proper intent. Throughout the story it became evident that the main character was suffering from schizophrenia and paranoia. The narrator was speaking about the old man’s eye comparing it to the eye of a vulture. Oddly enough it was only the man’s eye that bothered the narrator as he says so in this quote, “...and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye.” This is also the reason it took so long for the narrator to finally kill the old man. The man was paranoid and was constantly thinking things that are not true as well as imagining weird things. For example, “--I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye” in this quote he is watching the old man in his bed which is not something sane people do. Also, the narrator did not have the intent of an average person like money or love, as he mentions in the beginning of the story when he states he wants none of the old man’s stuff or money. “Object there was none. Passion there was none.” This was his statement near the beginning of the story and shows that he had no real intentions except ridding himself of the evil eye. Although these are all good counter-arguments over all the sources are leaning more towards the fact that he was mentally capable of differentiating right from