Franklin's Virtues and Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"

Introduction: Franklin's Virtues as a Literary Lens

The value of earlier works of American literature is sometimes proven by their application to later works. Such is the case with Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography and his discussion of the Thirteen Virtues. The absence of such virtues can often be the source of complications and conflicts that drive a narrative. This is evident in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," in which both major characters reveal an absence of one or more of the Thirteen Virtues, thereby creating the problems that propel the story. Three absent virtues drive the tale: silence, tranquility, and justice.

The Virtue of Silence

The virtue of silence refers to speaking only when necessary, and only "what may benefit others or yourself." Because the narrator lacks the virtue of silence, he divulges his crime to the police. Had he not broken his silence, the narrator would likely have escaped punishment. "Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! — tear up the planks! here, here! — It is the beating of his hideous heart!" Had the narrator remained as silent as he had been throughout the earlier part of the tale, he would never have given himself away. The beating of the heart existed only in his mind; technically, it was silent.

The old man, on the other hand, also lacks the virtue of knowing when to be silent and when to speak. Franklin affirms, "Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself." By this, Franklin means that speaking in ways that would benefit oneself is the virtuous course of action. Had the old man spoken sooner — called out or sought help — he might have avoided his fate.

The Virtue of Tranquility

The virtue of tranquility is one that neither of the two main characters in "The Tell-Tale Heart" possesses. At first, it appears that the narrator has considerable tranquility in his calculated movements prior to the murder: "I moved it slowly — very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed." The old man, likewise, displays a degree of tranquility, remaining in his bed and crying out "Who's there?" only once, despite being stalked.

Yet once the narrator becomes obsessed with the old man's eye, his tranquility dissolves entirely. "Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees — very gradually — I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever." His lack of tranquility is also what causes his downfall at the story's end: "No doubt I now grew very pale; — but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased — and what could I do?" Instead of remaining calm in the face of what Franklin calls "trifles, or accidents common or unavoidable," the narrator reacts impulsively and incriminates himself.

Conclusion: Virtue, Conflict, and Character

Clearly, the characters in "The Tell-Tale Heart" lack key virtues that generate conflict. The three virtues most obviously absent in Poe's short story are silence, tranquility, and justice. As the story's primary protagonist, the narrator's deficiencies in all three virtues keep the narrative tense and compelling. The old man, by contrast, is a passive figure — a character who exists largely to highlight the narrator's lack of virtue. Together, these two characters illustrate how the moral framework articulated in Franklin's Autobiography can serve as a powerful lens for understanding the moral failures that drive American literary fiction.