The Tell Tale Heart Symbolism Essay

619 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The tell tale heart by edgar allen poe

The symbol “heart” in the gothic story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by E.A. Poe becomes a metaphor of time. The story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Poe contains several interesting symbols. They were important attributes of the gothic story during Romanticism era in the 19th century literature and usually became metaphors. As one of the central symbols in this story appears to be a “heart”. From the beginning of the story we can notice the word “heart” is used in both ways: in its direct meaning – a muscular organ that pumps the blood to enable breathing - old man’s heart and indirect: “although I chuckled at heart”, “in a hearty tone” (Poe, p.1590), “to open it with a light heart.” (p.1592) The author places the metaphors in contrast with the situation, while still addressing the “heart”, either of the victim or the murderer. We can argue that “heart” is associated with life only, based on more conventional view, like in the preceding epochs of literature. However, in the gothic stories, it might gain a different connotation and in this particular case, it transfers into a metaphor of t...

Show More
Related

  • Passage Analysis Of The Tell Tale Heart Annotated

    371 Words  | 1 Pages

    “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, a short novella, reveals a theme of “Anguish of Remorse.” This short story is very heavy and descriptive, its main character has no mentionable name. The characterisation of the protagonist is very implicit through his action, dialogue, and thoughts. The theme that is found in the story contributes highly to his characterization and his overall development in the passage.

    Read More

  • Tell Tale Heart Figurative Language

    349 Words  | 1 Pages

    Stories frequently use both figurative language and tone to shape their meaning(s). In his short story, “The Tell Tale Heart,” Edgar Allan Poe uses Imagery to enhance his tone of foreshadowing to illustrate the franticness at the end of the story.

    Read More

  • The Tell Tale Heart Literary Analysis

    761 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article, “The Question of Poe’s Narrators” James W. Gargano discusses the criticize in “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe and tries to help the readers understand why Poe writes the way he does and identifies some of the quotes in his work. According, to Gargano, other authors view’s Poe’s work as “cheap or embarrassing Gothic Style” (177). The author is saying that Poe’s work makes the reader look at themselves not only the work. The author explores three main points. Some author thinks that Poe’s life is reflected in a lot of his work, uses dramatic language to show his style in work, and explains how Poe’s work manipulates his readers to understand.

    Read More

  • A Rose for Emily and A Tell Tale Heart

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    The. 15 March 2014. http://xroads.virginia.edu/drbr/wf_rose.html> Poe, Edgar Allan. The "Tell-Tale Heart." Skwire, David and Harvey S. Wiener.

    Read More

  • Tell-tale Heart Literary Analysis

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this particular story, Poe decided to write it in the first person narrative. This technique is used to get inside the main character's head and view his thoughts and are often exciting. The narrator in the Tell-Tale Heart is telling the story on how he killed the old man while pleading his sanity. To quote a phrase from the first paragraph, "The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story." This shows that we are in his thou...

    Read More

  • Symbolism and Irony in The Tell-Tale Heart

    2255 Words  | 5 Pages

    Symbolism and Irony in The Tell-Tale Heart. In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart," the author combines vivid symbolism with subtle irony. Although the story runs only four pages, within those few pages many examples of symbolism and irony abound. In short, the symbolism and irony lead to an enormously improved story as compared to a story with the same plot but with these two elements missing. "

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell Tale Heart

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, the conviction with which the narrator laid out the events leading to him killing the old

    Read More

  • Point of view "Tell-Tale Heart"

    609 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poe writes “The Tell Tale Heart” from the perspective of the murderer of the old man. When an author creates a situation where the central character tells his own account, the overall impact of the story is heightened. The narrator, in this story, adds to the overall effect of horror by continually stressing to the reader that he or she is not mad, and tries to convince us of that fact by how carefully this brutal crime was planned and executed. The point of view helps communicate that the theme is madness to the audience because from the beginning the narrator uses repetition, onomatopoeias, similes, hyperboles, metaphors and irony.

    Read More

  • Moral Insanity In Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart

    1431 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poe Edgar Allan. “The Tell-Tale Heart.” The Ideal Reader 2nd Ed. 2012: ENC 1102 Communications 2. Eds. C.J Baker-Schverak. New York: McGraw-Hill 2012. 218 - 221. Print.

    Read More

  • The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe vs The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    1478 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poe, Edgar A. “The Tell-Tale Heart”. American Literature: Volume One. Ed. William E. Cain. New York: Pearson, 2004. 809-813. Print

    Read More

  • What Is The Mood Of The Tell Tale Heart

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    "It is impossible to say how the idea first entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night." "The Tell Tale Heart,” by Edgar Allan Poe is a story based on horror and mystery. It tells about a man who was insane, he believed that an old man was to be evil because he had a different eye then the rest. That bothered him so much that he decided to kill this old man so he wouldn't have to look, see, or hear about the evil eye that bothered him so much. In Poe's short story the narrator sees himself as a fair-minded person. However, the unbiased reader, understands that he is mad. Poe weaves a horrific tale that creates an anxious mood for the reader.

    Read More

  • Edgar Allan Poe's Obsession with Death

    690 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the end of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Poe’s fascination with death is apparent when the narrator ruthlessly killed an old man with a disturbing eye, but felt so guilty that he confessed to the police. The narrator dismembered the old man’s body and hid them in the floor, confident that they were concealed. However, when the police came to investigate, the narrator heard a heart beating and began to crack under the pressure. Overcome with guilt, he confessed that he murdered him and pulled up the floorboards. The narrator exclaimed, “But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision!” (“Heart” 4). Although the narrator was calm and confident at first, the guilt he experienced drove him mad, causing...

    Read More

  • Mood in The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

    388 Words  | 1 Pages

    This is a critical essay on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." This takes place down in a old cellar with a young man and a older man with a "vulture" eye. In the story the young man stalks the old man for 7 nights and on the 8th night killed the old man with the "vulture" eye. Then after he kills the man he takes him to the tub and cuts him up in to peaces and drains out the water. After that he takes the peaces then places them" ever so slightly so that no human eye could not see". Later on the cops came to investigate, after getting a call from a neighbor. The young man went crazy and confessed the whole thing. In the next 3 paragraphs I will discusses imagery, dialogue, and setting.

    Read More

  • Human Literature: The Dark Side Of Human Nature

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poe uses the protagonist in ‘The Tell-Tale Heart,’ to show how an unstable and disturbed mind can lead to evil. “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” (Poe 885). The protagonist focuses on the old man’s flawed eye, and he believed that it gave him a reason to murder him. This shows that he is not a sane or rational person because he wants to kill an innocent man over a problem that he cannot fix. This signifies broken human nature. “Never before that night, had I felt the extent of my own powers-- of my sagacity” (885). This quote suggests that sinning makes the protagonist feel powerful. This shows that humans can find satisfaction in

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of Poe's The Tell Tale Heart

    1651 Words  | 4 Pages

    On the surface, the physical setting of The Tell Tale Heart is typical of the period and exceedingly typical of Poe. The narrator and the old man live in an old, dark house: '(for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers)'; (Poe 778). Most of the story takes place at night: 'And this I did for seven long nights-every night just at midnight?'; (778). The physical aspect is not the most important component of setting for this analysis. More important are the mental and emotional settings. This clearly explains the personality of the narrator. One can assume the narrator is insane. He freely admits to his listener that he is '?-nervous-very, very dreadfully nervous?'; (777). But he then asks, '?but why will you say that I am mad?'; (777). He also admits that, 'The disease had sharpened my senses?'; (777). If not insanity, what disease does he speak of? The reason for his actions was one of the old man's eyes: '?-a pale blue eye, with a film over it'; (777). This is easily recognizable to the reader as an eye with cataract on it. This is nothin...

    Read More

More about The Tell Tale Heart Symbolism Essay

Open Document