Preview

The Tell-Tale Heart

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
207 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Tell-Tale Heart
Analysis on The Tell-Tale Heart Edgar Allan Poe’s short horror story “The Tell-Tale Heart” describes a young man with psychological problems killed an old man with a “pale blue eye”. At last, due to pressure and guilt, the young man had Psychorrhexis by hearing the old man’s heart beats.
Poe sets the story in a gloomy bedroom of an old house and the murder happens in the midnight. The setting foreshadows something bad may happens. In addition, the plot exceeds the reader’s expectation on the story since the narrator murdered the old man and he confessed the crime at last. Poe uses an unreliable narrator who claims he is extremely nervous but not insane. However, the words he says cannot be trusted in certain extent. The fatal flaw of narrator’s

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    With all the terrorism that has been happening around the world, it might remind you of the way the narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart goes insane and makes irrational actions. The short novel The Tell-Tale Heart written by Poe is one of his best works from all the stories that I have read that was written by him.…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The story begins with the declaration, “TRUE!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? . . . Hearken! And observe how healthily—how calmly I can tell you the whole story.” Notice how the author made sure to give very little detail on the story’s background, except that the narrator had an obsession with the old man’s deformed eye. (“One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture—a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold . . .”) which made it difficult to pin point an exact audience, to whom he could have been talking to, that is until we realize that we don’t know anything about the relationship between the old man and the narrator, although it can be presumed that the younger man is a nephew tasked with caring for his aging uncle, or, possibly, a servant whose mental state has diminished by virtue of his daily exposure to the old man’s eye. Poe chose not to provide those details as he also, doesn’t provide us with who he’s speaking with. But the only thing we receive is how the narrator has continuous references to his mental state (“Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me”). Which is why the audience is led to believe that the reason he is describing is crime in such great detail is because he’s trying to convince his psychiatrist of his…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Tale Tell Heart is one of the best books I read in middle school and is written by one of the greatest writers of the 18th century.Tell Tale Heart is based on a story about a man killing an old man because of his eye.At the end,the narrator managed to hide the old man’s body,and later on he confessed to the police because he heard the heartbeat of the old man.I believe theTell Tale Heart is apropriate for middle school kids.Even thogh the is about murder,it could teach kids about maturity and influence and encourage other kids to become gerat writers like the author of the story:Edgar Allen Poe.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One of the most famous authors in American history is Edgar Allen Poe, thanks to his intricate and unsettling short stories and poems. One of the strongest aspects of Poe’s writing style is the allure and complexity of the narrator of the story. These narrators, ranging from innocent bystanders to psychotic murderers, add depth to such a short story and really allow Poe to explore the themes of death and murder which he seems to have an unhealthy obsession towards. Furthermore, he uses these narrators to give a different perspective in each of his many works and to really unsettle the reader by what is occurring throughout the story. The narrators, whether an innocent witness of death as in “The Fall of the House of Usher” or a twisted murderer as in “The Cask of Amontillado” are used by Poe to discuss the themes of death and murder within these stories and, depending on their point of view, give a different take on such a despicable act such as murder.…

    • 1987 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Tell Tale Heart Opinion

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Have you ever read Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe?Do you think your kids should read interesting stories like Tell Tale Heart?I think it is a good book.The Tell-Tale Heart is a story about a man that is kinda insane sane and sane at the same time .It is about an old man with a blue eye that made the man`s blood run cold,so he decide that he will go ahead and kill the old man.Then he cut the old man up and put him under the floor.I strongly believe that Tell-Tale Heart is appropriate for my grade.…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In his short story “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Edgar Allan Poe, creates an unreliable narrator shown through by his over-exaggerated statement and his loss of sanity from killing the innocent old man, because he suffers from a mental disorder called monomania. The narrator goes through a disease that sharpens his hearing senses and proclaims it as a benefit for himself. While declining the fact that he is a madman, the narrator calmly explains “I [hear] all things in the heaven and in the earth...I [hear] many things in hell” (Poe 92). His ability to determine that there is heaven and hell is questionable, on top of that, he can also hear things inside the earth. Thus, the readers can already feel the uncertainty of trusting…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Edgar Allen Poe is famous for his works displaying gothic themes, brutality, and unstable characters. The Tell-Tale Heart is one of his best known stories, involving a narrator with an irrational state of mind. The narrator takes an old man’s life, due to an obsession over his eye. The narrator lacks sufficient motivation for his murder, only that he was terrified of the old man’s eye. The narrator executes and successfully covers his murder, but eventually gets caught due to his own insanity. It becomes obvious that the narrator lacks principles of logic and reasoning in his decision to commit murder and confess to the crime, conveying his madness.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The killer in “ The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. The killer went to the old man’s house at midnight for 8 days. Upon the 8th night the killer was more than usually cautious in opening the door (pg. 145). The killer had his head in , and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening , and the old man sprang up in the bad , crying out - “Who’s there ?” ( pg.146). Then , the killer went in the poor old man’s bedroom to kill him. The old man’s hour had come! (pg. 147). In an instant I dragged him to the floor , and pulled the heavy bed over him (pg. 147). The killer had the cops at his and the old man’s house.The killer went down to open it with a light heart - for what had the killer now to fear (pg.148)?…

    • 204 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The narrator suspects that the officers are onto him because of the supposed beating of the heart, however, in reality, the officers are growing suspicious from seeing the narrator become more and more fidgety and manic. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of telling the story through an unreliable narrator adds tension and intrigue to the reader throughout the work by creating a sense of unease and suspense for the reader. While this sense of uncertainty helps to keep the reader engaged and interested, it also creates tension between the characters and tension between the narrator and the reader. Poe also creates this tension through the conflicting events and perspectives between what the reader infers from the story versus what the narrator is telling the reader. The narrator tells the story as if he knows what he is doing and he has a well-thought-out plan for how he will kill the old man and how he will dispose of the body.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Edgar Allan Poe; through his masterpiece provides access to the life of a narrator who insists on his sanity even after committing murder. The short story dubbed “The Tell- Tale Heart” provides an insightful view of the life of the unnamed narrator who showcases his abhorrence of an old man’s eyes that he describes as reminiscent of a vulture’s. Edgar Allan Poe uses diverse techniques to make the story a memorable piece. The techniques consequently bring out the various themes that feature in the short story. Therefore, the ultimate purpose of this literary work is to provide a conclusive analysis on “The Tell-Tale Heart”.…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Tell-Tale Heart

    • 1827 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”, presents to the reader a psychological depiction of a narrator who describes his crime with detailed accounts. This Gothic short story shows the dim side of individuals. The story is narrated in first-person; as a result, the reader is not able to conclude a great deal of what the narrator is saying is true. Poe utilizes his words prudently throughout the story to expose a review of paranoia, insanity, and mental declination. The story is stripped of additional elements as a method to intensify the narrator’s fixation with certain and unembellished objects like the eye of the old man, the heartbeat, and his assertion to sanity. Even though the narrator constantly affirms that he is not insane, the reader could presume otherwise due to his bizarre way of thinking, actions, and dialogue.…

    • 1827 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The short story “The Tell Tale Heart the narrator”, felt like he was expressing himself through the old man. The old man feels like no one is beside him and it shows how the narrator portrays the old man as lonely because no one bothers getting close to him. The old man's personality can be described as grumpy, depressed, and mentally disordered in my opinion.Because he was crying in his bedroom (pg 63)" a low cry of fear which escaped from the old man". While the other man can also be described as mentally disorder because of the way he was hallucinating at himself; thinking that the old man eye was going to kill him.…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart,’ an interesting character was the unnamed narrator. He was an interesting character because he demonstrated the important theme of guilt in the short-story. This is shown in a variety of ways, including the language techniques used and the narrator’s actions in response to the feeling of guilt.…

    • 742 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Tell Tale Heart

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A widely acclaimed author named Edgar Allan Poe is known for his bizarre stories on murderers, madmen and mysterious women. In his short story, “The Tell Tale Heart”, the narrator leads us through his thoughts on himself and the actions he took on the old man. The narrator cunningly devised a plan to kill an old man because of his vulture-looking eye. For him, the eye was very disturbing and he decided to forever get rid of it. He doesn’t even find himself mad for doing so. Isn’t it funny how the insane never admit to them being crazy? “The Tell Tale Heart” shows us a fine example of how insane people view themselves and what we think of them as. Thus, this essay will elaborate on the differences between the narrator’s perception of himself and the reader’s perception of him.…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tell Tale Heart

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, The Tell-Tale Heart, it focuses on a disturbed man who has an intense infatuation with his elderly neighbor’s “vulture eye”. The madman or the narrator says that the eye is evil and states several times that it needs to be terminated. The story builds up to the climax point where the madman snaps and kills his elderly neighbor. Throughout the tale, the man expresses to the audience that he is not mad at all, that his actions are justifiable. The man starts off by saying, “Why will you say that I am mad?” (41). This is one of the first few sentences in the story, which makes this sentence very significant. It caused the reader to already question the sanity of the narrator and truly ask themselves, “is this…

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays