The Tell Tale Heart Unreliable Narrator

“The Tell-Tale Heart”, by Edgar Allan Poe, is a short story about the murder of an old man told by the unnamed narrator who committed the murder. The narrator gives a very detailed account of the event which gives one a good look at what is going on inside the narrator's head. Throughout the story the story it becomes increasingly evident that the narrator of the story is not in his right mind and, therefore, is an unreliable source.
It is evident that the narrator lacks the ability to reason logically. The reason the narrator gave for killing the old man was that the old man’s “vulture” eye vexed him. He was unable to get the eye out of his head and it drove him to kill the old man. There was no other reason behind the murder besides the hideous eye; the old man had never done anything against the narrator. The narrator even went so
This statement leads one to believe that he is delusional. The narrator claims that he can hear the thumping of the old man’s heart, even long after he had killed him. Towards the end of the story, two policemen come to the door and the narrator invites them into the house. At first, the narrator seems calm, but while talking with the officers, he begins to hear the thumping heart. The narrator assumes that the police can hear the thumping as well, but the police show no signs that would prove that they could hear it. This means the thumping heart is part of the narrator’s own delusions. There is clear proof throughout the story that the narrator is an unreliable source. The fact that he feels the need to prove his sanity is more proof of his insanity. The narrator is delusional, impulsive, and obsessive. He is unable to distinguish between reality and his delusions. The combination of all of these factors makes the narrator incapable of recounting the story without adding in his own delusions and fallacious reasoning to the