Your honor and Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, the defendant in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” is insane; using the McNaughton rule it will be proven that the Caretaker should be placed in a state hospital for the criminally insane. The McNaughton rule states that the defendant did not know what he was doing was illegal. They must prove that they have a mental disorder for them to commit a crime. Also there has to be evidence that they are insane. The caretaker should be considered insane because he states that “Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He has never wronged me. He had never given me insult.” In page 89, paragraph 2, and sentence 5. He does not have a reason to murder the man, sinces he has been nothing but nice to him. Most sane people that murder have a clear reason on why to. This …show more content…
In page 89, paragraph 1, sentence 2, the character states “Why will you say that I’m mad.”He does not think he is insane, when he really is. If the character has to prove he is not insane then he is. The character also says something that proves he is mad. “Now this is the point.You fancy me a mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded.” The word ‘fancy’ is also known for imagining or thinking. The character is saying how the readers imagine him as insane. He says that madmen know nothing but he makes himself seem more of a madman. Another thing sane people do not usually do is hear someone’s heartbeat. In page 92, paragraph 2, sentence 2 the character says he hears a beating of the heart. “Now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well too. It was the beating of the old man’s heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.” No normal person hears a heart that
I have recently examined my latest patient, on OCtober 23 at 10:45 A.M. The patient has been accused with the murder of the old man. The patient admits to what he has done but his beliefs make him think that he is completely sane and not mad. “The disease had sharpened my senses-not destroyed-not dulled them”(Poe 203).
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
...o trust him at all. The reader cannot really believe that the narrator could hear the beating of the dead man’s heart. So they think and they might realize that it is one of the police men’s pocket watch, because earlier in the story the narrator describes a beating heart as a pocket watch wrapped in cotton. Now with narrator completely mad and his reader confused and dazed Poe ends his story to leave it filled with suspense.
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 Narrator has a manner of speaking that is repetitive. For instance on page 523, “but why will you say that I am mad?” and “You fancy me mad.” He continues to repeat this throughout the story. As the story progresses, the desperation in The Narrator begins to eat at him, wearing away at his cool exterior. On page 523, “Madmen know nothing,” and then providing more and more examples to prove his cleverness. The Narrator is so set on convincing us that he is not insane, but what is the reason behind all of his defenses? The reason is simple. The Narrator associates being insane with having low intelligence and clings to what he believes is “sanity” because he is afraid to admit or even consider otherwise.
This stance fails to consider the reasoning why the author might be insane. If he was insane why would he pay attention so close to details. "I then took up three pieces of wood from the flooring, and placed his body parts under the room. I then replaced the wooden boards so well that no human eye not even his could have seen anything wrong". In summarization reader isn't looking at his thinking through the whole story.
In a time when all one has to do is say they hear voices to be labeled insane, by claiming the was hearing things made it very easy for the defendant to have an “excuse” to fall back on. Hearing voices is not the only thing that the defendant exaggerates on. He goes into great depth speaking of his sense of super hearing, for instance, being able to hear from both the heavens and from hell. “I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell” (Poe p. 1245). He also said he was hearing the old man’s heart beat. Through out his story there are many exaggerations. The defendant also speaks of being able to stay perfectly still for over an hour while holding a lantern. “For a whole hour I did not move a muscle . . .” (1246). It is humanly impossible to stand perfectly still for over an hour especially while holding a lantern. If one were to attempt this stunt they would merely last fifteen to twenty minutes before giving up from exhaustion. These over exaggera...
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
The Tell-Tale Heart" consists of a monologue in which the murderer of an old man protests his insanity rather than his guilt: "You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing about this. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded. . . " i.e. a. By the narrator insisting so emphatically that he is sane, the reader is assured that he is indeed deranged.
The narrator had been psychotic all along but had succeeded in concealing the body so carefully, as said in the text as “. . . I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye—not even his—could have detected anything wrong. ” Until the officers came, he began imagining that he was hearing the old man’s heart beating louder and louder. Additionally, the narrator states that he heard all the things in heaven and hell, then questions the reader “How, then, am I mad?” This shows that the he cannot differentiate reality from the voices in his head, and believes that hearing these things are normal.
Since the alleged first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto, the human body has been a prominent topic of uncertainty, disruption and transgression, such qualities becoming magnified throughout the texts in question, with torture further enhancing the insanity. Those who enforce torturous acts upon the innocent clearly have a degree of insanity whether it be major or minor. The narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” provides a fine example for such an analogy as he takes pleasure from psychologically tormenting the old man, evident when he says “it was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.” That the narrator can hear the beating of the old man’s heart suggests the stress and psychological torture that has been inflicted upon him and becomes an inevitable part of his “downfall” due the heart’s weakening.
Throughout the text, the narrator is trying to convince that person that he isn’t going mad, though, they realize that they have some sort of mental illness. Therefor, trying to show that he had a valid reason to murder a man only for his
The narrator thinks that if a murder is carefully planned, then the murderer is not insane. Also, the narrator claims he suffers from acuteness of the senses. Regarding the sound of the old man's beating heart, the narrator says, "And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses? --now, I say, there came to my ears a low dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton". The narrator claims he is not imagining the sound, but he is hearing it because his senses are so sharp.
Is the narrator of “The Tell Tale Heart” sane or insane? “Sanity: a sound of mind; not mad or mentally ill (Webster Dictionary pg. 862).” In the short story, “The Tell Tale Heart.” the narrator tries to convince the audience that he is sane; he says “... but why will you say that I am mad (Poe pg. 202).” I believe that the narrator is sane. He tries to prove that he is sane throughout the entire short story that he is not mad. For example, he was very wary during the seven days that he stalked the old man, he felt an intense amount of guilt, and that he made this brilliant plan of murder.
Let’s take a look at Exhibit A that proves that the narrator is not insane rather acting that way to get away from getting punished. “The Tell Tale Hea...