Symbolism In The Tell Tale Heart

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Symbolism in “Tell-Tale Heart”
What is symbolism? Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas in a story. It is known that the famous American writer Edgar Allen Poe has a great deal of symbolic interpretations in his stories. Symbols help the reader understand the main themes and ideas of the story. In the short story The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe, the author uses various symbols to describe his unreliable narrator.
The Eye in “The Tell-Tale Heart” symbolizes the part of the narrator’s identity that he refuses to accept about himself. Eyes are viewed as a window to the inside of a person, and revealing a side of one’s personality that may be hidden. It is the narrators’ belief that the eye represents a part of the old …show more content…
Throughout the story the narrator presents himself as a madman, an animal, and void of any emotions. “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me.” (par. 2). He takes pride in lacking the ability to show sympathy, and bragging about committing the perfect murder. However, the audience can see human senses in him when he begins to feel guilty about what he has done. “No doubt I now grew very pale; --but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased --and what could I do?” (par. 17). He begins hearing the faint heartbeat of the dead man’s heart, growing louder and louder until he cannot bear the guilt of his deed. After all the reader can begin to observe a conscience in the narrator which is the only time he is proven to have any kind of morals. In conclusion, it is necessary to point out that Edgar Allen Poe is a master of horror stories that feature symbolism. “The Tell-Tale Heart” is an excellent example of the author’s use of symbolism. Such symbols as the eye, the lantern, and the beating heart help the reader understand of the narrator’s feelings, ideas, and his emotional stress at the climax of the
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