Literary Criticism Of The Tell Tale Heart

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Literary Analysis of “The Tell-Tale Heart” In Edgar Allan Poe’s story “The Tell-Tale Heart” a great deal of sanity, guilt, and nervousness is expressed throughout the entire story. Themes that are used are; guilt and innocence, and sanity and insanity throughout the narrator describing his reasoning for his actions and his mental state. It is expressed that the narrator does not what to kill the old man due to being wronged or insult, but because of his vulture, pale blue eye. He states that he is haunted by the old man’s eye day and night. He becomes obsessed with the thought of getting rid of the eye forever by taking the life of the old man. Although the narrator is aware that this rationalization seems to show his insanity, he explains …show more content…

Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded --with what caution --with what foresight --with what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him.” (Poe, 1843)
As the story continues more actions take place to show the narrators insanity such as how he dismembers his body and hides it under the floor boards within the house. The greatest aspect that shows the narrator is insane is how he thinks he hears the heartbeat of the dead old man. In conclusion, In Edgar Allan Poe’s story “The Tell-Tale Heart” a great deal of sanity, guilt, and nervousness is expressed throughout the entire story. Themes that are used are guilt and innocence, and sanity and insanity throughout the narrator describing his cognitive thought process for his actions and his mental state while planning to murder the old man. The narrator displays sanity and insanity through his constant reassurance to the reader that he cannot be insane because of his cautious and planning of the murder. The narrator exhibits his guilt and innocence thorough his pride in how he handled the police to then a few seconds later when he is overwhelmed with guilt and uncertainty and confesses to the police that he committed the crime. Poe is challenging the reader throughout the story to look at the way they define sanity and the way they rationalize particular

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