Tell-Tale Heart Edgar Allan Poe\'s

Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe's 1843 short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" puts across an episode from the life of a man responsible for murdering the old man he is living with on account that the victim had a "vulture eye." It is difficult to determine the exact meaning of the "vulture eye," especially given that one can feel the tension and difficulty with which the narrator tries to explain his thinking. One of the murderer's main interests is to demonstrate his sanity, as he is obviously concerned about the fact that readers are likely to consider him a madman. In spite of his apparent confidence in himself, his psychosis is eventually revealed through the fact that he still hears the dead man's heart beating from underneath the flooring (the hiding place for the body).

The story's narrator is to a certain degree aware of his condition, only that he mistakes his madness for a state of nervousness. He believes that his senses over-developed and that he is capable of seeing things that other people cannot. His choice regarding killing the old man that possesses a "vulture eye" is told with great simplicity, as he does not hesitate to give details concerning his every move and thought consequent to the crime. He most probably considers that the sincerity he employs in telling the murder story is an example of his ability to put across rational behavior. However, the fact that a human being is capable to recount a narrative involving him killing another human being actually serves as proof that there is something wrong with the narrator.

Although most readers are likely to consider that the moment when his insanity becomes obvious is when he starts hearing the heart beating under the floor, this is only the apogee of his mental illness. It would virtually be impossible for someone to tell a murder story with such ease. Even the narrator himself appears to be tensioned concerning his account on what happened in the murder room. Whereas his initial narrative is rather slow, he picks up the pace as the storyline progresses, showing that he is discomforted with the overall state of affairs.

Although the narrator describes the chain of events leading to the murder and the crime itself as if he would transmit a confession, the fact that he does not keep a steady rhythm makes it difficult for readers to keep up or even to believe him. The fact that the murder story is told with such lucidity virtually makes readers ignore details and concentrate on the more abstract elements of the narrative: the "vulture eye," the heartbeat, and the fact that the narrator constantly stresses how he is perfectly sane.