A Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe

A Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe

Undoubtedly, A Tell-Tale Heart is an entirely riveting short story that is classified as a horror. It is keen to explore the notion of engaging in murder, and the involved persons are made to confess due to the guilt they feel. At the start of the story, the reader is exposed to the narrator, who is unnamed as they address the reader, maintaining his nervousness and not anger as he might be misunderstood. The paper will explore the analysis of this story, its characters, diction, style, theme, tone, and everything else that was used to advance the theme that the author of this story intended for the readers.

Foremost, it is imperative to understand that the narrator brings us to attention through his postulation concerning being misjudged. He begins by maintaining that he will relay a story to the audience, whereby he will confess the reasons for murdering the Old Man and defend his sanity. He says that what motivated him was not the notion of fiscal desire or passion; it was just sheer fear of the Old Man’s eyes that were pale blue. He argues that his murder was not done like that of a madman. Instead, he says his actions were measured and cool. He tells the readers every night, he could go to the apartment of the Old Man and watch him sleeping secretly and act as if nothing happened during the previous night, and much later, down the week, he decided that it was the right time to kill the Old Man (Robinson, 1965). He stalks him and understands the Old Man’s fears as he had also experienced them in the night. Hearing a dull pounding, he imagines it to be the terrified heart of the older man. He thinks that neighbors might hear it, and it makes him attack the older man, dismember the body, and use the bedroom to hide it, taking care not to leave a drop of blood that would be easily visible to anyone close by. A neighbor had alerted the police, who came at 4 in the morning and knocked on the street door while the narrator was still in the house. He lets them in and behaves casually and even leads them to the bedroom where the police discuss with him until he hears a dull pounding and imagines the old man’s heart beating loudly beneath the floorboards and panics. With their pleasant chatter, he believes that they are making a mockery of him, making him confess to the crime.

Secondly, it is crucial to note that Poe makes a very potent use of words economically. In this case, it helps him to explore mental deterioration and paranoia efficaciously. The diction in this short story is that the author takes away excessive details to escalate the narrator’s obsession with particular entities, such as the heartbeat, the claim of sanity, and the eyes of the old man. When paranoia comes to mind, it helps Poe cast a light on the contradictions that arise at the psychological level. For instance, in the story, the narrator says, “…True!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am…” (Poe, 2015). He says this even though he cannot comprehend why he should not be regarded as a mad person. His articulation of the self-defense that he employs is the narrator’s proof that his hypersensitivity should be evidence of his sanity. This assumption allows the narrator to relay his version of the story to bolster his perspective on sanity. The narrator is not able to understand the interlinking of content and the narrative form. Inasmuch as he can master the precision form fully, he unwittingly and inadvertently relays the murder tale to the police and exposes the madness that he so much wants to deny exists in him.

Also, another contradiction that is primary in this story entails the tense relationship between hate and love capacities in the narrator. In this case, the author delves into the psychological mystery that makes people capable of harming others that they love or essentially need in their lives. The fact that the narrator eliminates all possible motives for the gruesome murder is strengthened by a lack of greed for the older man’s personal wealth. He was not vengeful. His reason for the killing is weird because he believes that the Old Man has evil eyes. As such, his intention is to set the old man free from his evil eyes and set him free from the weight of his “evilness.” Besides, it is vital to point out that by murdering the old man, the narrator separates his physical eye and identity. Here, the narrator does not see the eyes as part of the man. As such, it allows him to murder and yet still maintain his affection for the old man.

Further, the enhanced sensitivity to the sound of the narrator inevitably overcomes him because he is incapable of distinguishing between imaginary sounds and those that are real. By so saying, he is not able to tell whether the pounding that he hears is his own heart racing wildly or it is the old man’s. As such, the sounds that he thinks are the old man’s are his, and he has a difficult time discerning the source of the sound. It proves the insanity to the readers because he cannot tell the difference or if it was his own heart. Largely due to his warped knowledge of reality, he is rived by the low beats of the old man’s heart but shows little concern for the old man’s frightful shrieking that a neighbor can easily hear.

Also, the author has largely explored the love versus hate them. In this case, like in most of his literary works, Poe explores the close interrelationship between these two polar aspects. In this story, Poe depicts the psychological complexity of these two notions, laying emphasis on the methods that they interrelate enigmatically together. The author’s insight at the psychological level is able to help the reader understand that these two are universal emotions.

On the other hand, the author has made use of various stylistic devices and symbolism. In the story, for example, he uses the old man’s eye, which symbolizes the paranoia that the narrator has and his insanity because the old man had committed no wrong to be killed and dismembered in such a way. There was no potent reason to warrant his death. When the narrator says that “One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture” (Poe, 2015), it is clear that he was always suspicious of them, and it led to the development of the fetish on these eyes by the narrator. Also, the old man’s eyes could signify a lesser visual clarity than he had. The film over his eyes also hints symbolically at the Old Man’s distrust of people. Generally, people often refer to the eyes as the windows to the heart. As such, in this story, the narrator describes the older man’s eyes as those of a vulture. Vultures are birds well-known to feed on carcasses. However, they are diligent and can have sharp eyesight. As such, they symbolize the penetration of their sharp eyes into the hearts and minds. In this case, the narrator is afraid that the old man could see his fears (Amir, 2018). As such, it suffices to maintain that the eyes were the narrator’s conscience.

Still, the heartbeat plays an integral role in this story. It is a symbolic manifestation of the true nature and capabilities of the narrator. The pounding heartbeat acts as the narrator’s guilt because it torments him to a certain extent that he cannot hold it in and makes him confess to committing murder. In the story, the heartbeat is essential because it helps put the crime to rest and a faster solution. The narrator firmly believes that the pounding he hears in his ears is that of the old man, mocking and threatening to expose him, while all this has been his own. Also, the author’s usage of short sentences plays a part in the creation of the rhythm similar to the beats of a heart.

Lastly, Poe has used various stylistic devices such as hyperbole to bolster the understanding of the mind of the man who is mad. For example, in the story, the narrator says, “I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell”, “It took me an hour to place my whole head…”, “For a whole hour I did not move a muscle…” (Poe, 2015).

 References

Amir, S. (2018). Stylistic Analysis of the Short Story ‘Tell-Tale Heart ’ by Edgar Allan Poe. Angloamericanae Journal, 3(1), 18-28.

Poe, E. A. (2015). The tell-tale heart. Penguin UK.

Robinson, E. A. (1965). Poe’s” The Tell-Tale Heart”. Nineteenth-Century Fiction, 19(4), 369-378.

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A Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe

An analytical essay is one in which you do a close reading of a certain text, whether a work of literature (a story, poem, novel, or play) or a piece of non-fiction (an essay, speech, historical narrative, journal article, philosophical text, etc.). The idea is to reach a deep understanding of the text by examining the writer’s narrative elements (i.e., characters, diction, style, theme, and tone), as well as everything that went into writing the piece.
For this paper, I’ve provided a list of literary texts to choose from (see below), as well as a brief description of each. I’ve also indicated the ones for which I have discussion questions, lecture notes, or chapter summaries. NOTE: Please post a message to me in the Questions for the Instructor discussion board by Wednesday of Week 5 with your selection and any questions you may have about your chosen text. That way, I can give you any tips I may have about your choice and send you whatever study materials I have available.

When you analyze a work of literature, the first step is to read it carefully (usually more than once) and arrive at your own understanding of what you read. The next step is to see what other writers and critics have said about it (that’s the research part) and compare your findings with theirs. Follow the instructions in Canvas regarding length, format, and number of sources (a total of at least three, with at least one peer-reviewed source [an article from a literary journal or published by a university press], and no more than one study guide source, e.g., Sparknotes, enotes, Shmoop, etc.). Any discussion questions, lecture notes, or chapter summaries I provide won’t count as a source.