Tell-Tale Heart: An Analysis

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In the short story, “Tell-Tale Heart,” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator, although he tries to deny it, is mentally insane. There are many pieces of evidence to prove the claim that he is psychologically disordered; the first being that the narrator fantasizes he can hear heaven, hell, and earth. Secondly the young man has mental instability because he often has hallucinations about the old man’s heart beating. And lastly, the murderer, before killing the man takes seven days of observing and takes careful precautions about how to rid of the old man’s body without leaving clues behind. All these pieces of evidence manifest the point that, although he says he is just wise, he is truly mad. The narrator begins the short story by trying to inveigle …show more content…
On lines 35 and 36 he says that he undid his lantern cautiously to watch the man “for seven long nights-every night at midnight.” He also states that he had a tub where the blood would drip and a place under the floorboards cut out for the old man. These pieces of evidence lead to the conclusion that the narrator took wise precautions and thought everything out thoroughly; except, he didn’t think that the body might start to reek after a period of time. Some may say that he is sane, but although he thought of everything for the death, his intent for killing the man were evil, for it was all about the man’s “vulture eye.” He could have talked to the old man or left the house. But he chose to kill instead; this action shows that he is clearly mad. In conclusion, the story teller from the “Tell-Tale Heart,” by Edgar Allan Poe is a nervous, malicious, and obsessed character. Foremost, the narrator concludes he is lucid because he can hear heaven, hell, and earth, and tell his story serenely. Moreover, when the young man is uptight he starts having hallucinations. Ultimately, when killing the old man he believes he does it wisely. To sum it up, the narrator in a way speaks with the reader to try to convince that he is not insane with his
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