The Tell Tale Heart Literary Devices

The Tell-Tale Heart is written by Edgar Allan Poe and published in 1850 and tells a story about an unnamed Narrator wanting to kill an Oldman he loves. The story is widely considered as a classic but why? The author uses techniques in his work to make his story more proficient by using what makes a story: the concept, setting and the way it is written. All of those are compulsory to making a story into a great one.
Edgar Allan Poe has created a unique and original story that at first glance it will instantly hook you. The story is gripping as the reader follows an unnamed Narrator wanting to kill an old man which had never wronged him; the Narrator stated ‘I loved the man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me an insult. For his gold
Edgar has made night time a character as it makes the old man feel isolated and vulnerable when everyone is asleep, and it does make the Narrator so much eviler. We don’t get a description of what the old man bedroom looks like as the Narrator described the room as it is ‘black as pitch’, this creates more of a tension, as we, the readers will asked to ourselves: is the old man asleep? We don’t know because the Narrator doesn’t know which makes it more of a fun to read; it’s unpredictable and more thrilling that way. Another use of setting is the bedroom, the bedroom is supposed to be a place of privacy, where you can rest and not worry about being murdered or be scared but the Narrator completely violates that privacy of the room and kills the old man. The impacts it will have on the readers are going to be negatives, you being more scared than ever, thinking about someone under your roof, spying on you at night for weeks, wanting to kill then acting normal in the day; the thought of it is terrifying but the positive is you were engaged if that thought sticks out. Edgar uses the setting to bring tension, terror and suspense to the action and makes it more effective to its