The personalities and behaviors of characters in the world or in stories develop drastically from the lessons others have taught them, or by enduring a difficult hardship; these experiences impact many people, including the person, as well. Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Tell-Tale Heart is told in the position of a mentally unstable man who describes the murder he committed while hopelessly convincing the reader that he is sane. It is possible that the narrator was hired as a butler by the old man, and had worked for him for some time without bickering or any of the sort. Though later, the butler became intimidated by his employer’s glass eye and started to lose his mind, thus starting his maniacal plot to stalk the man so that the eye …show more content…
Evidence from the text goes to show that the butler “loved the old man and he had never wronged him [or insulted him]” (Poe, 1). The butler had a special relationship with the old man before, and said that he had nothing against him or desired any of his property. This shows that the butler did not murder his employer because of resentment, greed, or any other human sin, but of his fear of the old man’s artificial eye. What is more, the man also stated that he” very gradually made up [his] mind to take the life of the old man” (Poe, 1). The fact that he states it took him quite some time to finalize his decision tells that he was actually sane before, when he was just beginning to take notice of the hair-raising eye. The ill butler was hired by the old man when he was perfectly healthy, mentally and physically, but began to lose his sense of judgement as time passed during his …show more content…
For one, his irrationality affected the way he described his actions. As the protagonist was executing his scheme one night, he stated that he “cunningly thrusted his head [into the old man’s room], and [that] it also took [him] an hour to do so” (Poe, 3). Being that it is impractical to deftly shove one’s head into a room and having it take an hour to do so provides compelling evidence of the man’s dynamic change. The disease that caused the protagonist to lose sight of reality made him resort to murder rather than seeking less-violent solutions to his problems. Another moment in the story where the butler was delusional includes the moment where he unravels his actions of ridding the eye from his life. The man apparently decided, once and for all, to “kill the old man and close [the] eye forever” (Poe, 2). The fact that narrator decided to kill the old man because of his plain fear of the glass vulture eye shows that he is so mentally unstable that he can only rationalize through killing. His decision to kill the man, rather than to find a more logical solution to the problem, only further empowers his schizophrenia. He viewed his dilemma exceptionally, whereas he could have found a peaceful resolution to end his problem, instead of exacerbating the situation with harmful decisions. The reader can understand that it was his schizophrenia at play that made him perform the latter
Edgar Allen Poe’s structural choices in “The Tell-Tale Heart” affect our understanding of the narrator and his actions. An example of this is the way he presents the main character. The main character appears to be unstable, and he killed an old man because of one of his eyes, which the main character refers to as “the vulture eye”. In the story, the character is talking about the murder of the old man after it happened; he is not narrating the story at the exact moment that it happened. You can tell that he is talking about it after it happened because the narrator says “you”, meaning that he is talking to someone, and is telling them the story. For example, in the story he said, “You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what caution—with
It is through the following paragraphs where Poe details both the narrator’s paranoia and scheming as he creeps into the old man’s room each night (Dern 53). Proclaiming that it is because of old man’s eye that he would have to be destroyed. Here Poe uses conjunctions repeatedly to give the story a more serious tone and adding emphasis on the eye rather than the old man (Dern 57).
Despite of this information, how he is a calculated killed, in paragraph 2 it reads,” Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me.” A person who is mentally insane can have uncomfortable behaviors and this information shows that he had nothing against the old man. Therefore, the narrator acted on impulsive behavior and can be described as mentally
Moreover, the diction of the narrator and his repeated pleas to the reader to believe this thought, while not truly convincing, serve as a means to support his case. He asks, ”How, then, am I mad?” and “but why will you say that I am mad?” Beyond what could be considered a maniacal monologue, the narrator’s creepy fascination with the old man’s eye further distinguishes mental illness. What is described as “a pale blue eye, with a film over it” is, in all probability, a cataract, which is not nearly as evil as
The logic the narrator provides is that he thinks the desire to murder the old man results from the man’s eye, which bothers him. He says, “When the old man looked at me with his vulture eye, a cold feeling went up and down my back; even my blood became cold. And so, I finally decided I had to kill the old man and close that eye forever!” (Poe 65). The fact that this man’s eye is what makes him very angry is such an irrelevant reason for the narrator to kill him.
He continuously tells the reader that he is, in fact, sane and has never been more so. The narrators in Poe 's stories are typically not without a flaw that gives the reader a reason to feel pity toward them; they usually have some trait which propels them into being hopeless in situations. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," the protagonist has the flaw of insanity, which leads to his downfall. He admits to the murder after he becomes convinced he hears the dead old man 's heart beating. While the narrator claims he is completely sane, it is due on some level to his awareness he is not. While in denial, he shares his feelings about his condition with others and gives himself away. The narrator does this so often it may cause a reader to wonder if he is doing it on purpose or if he is just that insane. The main character 's biggest conflict is with himself. He practically begs the reader to be blind to his actions and only to hear his words which say his mind is in one piece. Had he thought it through or been saner, he would have seen his words and his actions told two completely different stories. For all the narrator 's claims that his condition was helping him rather than hindering him, he failed to see and take action to prevent this from
In the case of Poe’s narrator, he showed symptom of paranoia He believed that his old room mate’s eye was evil.” One of his eyes resemble...
And when the storyteller couldn't take anymore of the Evil Eye looking at him, he said, "I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever. " This is the start of the storyteller’s madness, and as the reader listens to what he says, the madness within the storyteller becomes very apparent. For eight nights in a row, the storyteller went to the old man’s chamber and cast a shred of light upon the Evil Eye that he so hated. For seven nights, it was always shut, and the storyteller could do nothing because it was only the eye that he hated, not the old man. On the eighth, the storyteller accidentally makes some noise and wakes the old man up.
How can we justify a man is mad or not? A man may talk like a wise man, and yet act like a mad man. In Poe’s "The Tell-Tale Heart", the narrator depicted a story that he killed the old man because of the old man’s so-call "evil eye" which made his blood run cold. Althought the narrator tried to persuade the reader that he was normal, several pieces of evidence of confusing illusion and reality adequately indicates his madness and absurdity. By examining his behaviour and mind, I will expound his madness thoroughly.
Critics make the point that regardless of his illness he does know what is going on because of the detail he gives about his confrontation with the old man (Witherington 473). Using such details about peaking his head in the old man’s room, describing the look of the old man as “A Vulture’s Eye” determines that the character is aware of
The narrator believes he is justified in killing the old man because the man has an Evil Eye. The narrator claims the old man's eye made his blood run cold and the eye looked as if it belonged to a vulture. Poe shows the narrator is insane because the narrators' actions bring out the narrative irony used in "The Tell Tale Heart".... ... middle of paper ...
The fixation on the old man's vulture-like eye forces the narrator to concoct a plan to eliminate the old man. The narrator confesses the sole reason for killing the old man is his eye: "Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees - very gradually - I made up my mind to rid myself of the eye for ever" (34). The narrator begins his tale of betrayal by trying to convince the reader he is not insane, but the reader quickly surmises the narrator indeed is out of control. The fact that the old man's eye is the only motivation to murder proves the narrator is so mentally unstable that he must search for justification to kill. In his mind, he rationalizes murder with his own unreasonable fear of the eye.
Does the narrator show weakness through this mental illness or is it a sophistical mind of a genius? This is the question that must be answered here. Throughout this discussion we will prove that the narrator is a man of a conscience mind and committed the crime of murder. Along with that we will expose Poe’s true significance of writing this short story, and how people were getting away with crime by justifying that they were insane.
The Tell Tale Heart is a story, on the most basic level, of conflict. There is a mental conflict within the narrator himself (assuming the narrator is male). Through obvious clues and statements, Poe alerts the reader to the mental state of the narrator, which is insanity. The insanity is described as an obsession (with the old man's eye), which in turn leads to loss of control and eventually results in violence. Ultimately, the narrator tells his story of killing his housemate. Although the narrator seems to be blatantly insane, and thinks he has freedom from guilt, the feeling of guilt over the murder is too overwhelming to bear. The narrator cannot tolerate it and eventually confesses his supposed 'perfect'; crime. People tend to think that insane persons are beyond the normal realm of reason shared by those who are in their right mind. This is not so; guilt is an emotion shared by all humans. The most demented individuals are not above the feeling of guilt and the havoc it causes to the psyche. Poe's use of setting, character, and language reveal that even an insane person feels guilt. Therein lies the theme to The Tell Tale Heart: The emotion of guilt easily, if not eventually, crashes through the seemingly unbreakable walls of insanity.
“He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” (Poe 1)