The Tell-Tale Heart

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Though Storytelling’s principle has remained the same throughout the years, the way we envision it has changed drastically. From cavemen and hieroglyphics to technology and media, storytelling is constantly making leaps and bounds forward. “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe is one of the many pieces of Storytelling that has stuck with me for longer than I care to admit. It is a 1st person narrative that tells an important life lesson about guilt and the “descent into madness”. “The Tell-Tale Heart” is set in a prison or asylum, and the main character tells a story set in an old man’s home. Edgar Allen Poe roles himself as the main character, and he is described as a mad man that “can’t be described as mad”. He is a well-rounded character, unlike any of the other characters in the short story. The old man is a flat character, never speaking a word or giving away anything on …show more content…

The murder plays a key role for the entire story, without it there wouldn’t be a story! However, Poe’s guilt filled heart was so perfectly described and envisioned, I feel that it can almost take the spot as the “most important”. The plot of the story moves around, starting in the future with Poe in a prison or asylum, and then moving into the past with the details on what happened: The love between him and the old man, the murder, and the confession. For the time frame, the plot is definitely believable. I wouldn’t describe the murder scene as the climax, but it was definitely a big role in the conflict. It set the stage for the rest of the story, and had no reason behind it besides the old man having an “eerie eye”. The climax of the story would be Edgar Allen Poe’s descent into madness. The way he describes it is so perfect, so heavily detailed, that no one can help but get immersed in the well-written detail that is “The Tell-Tale

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