THE TELL-TALE HEART, by Edgar Allan Poe (1843)

THE TELL-TALE HEART, by Edgar Allan Poe (1843)

Introduction :

This is one of Poe’s shortest stories, in which he provides a study of paranoia and mental deterioration.

I/ The narrator’s claim to sanity :

This story illuminates the psychological contradictions that contribute to the narrator’s murderous profile. For example, he admits, in the first sentence, to being dreadfully nervous, yet not mad. In deed, he uses many repetitions of the sentence « I’m not mad » or he repeatedly questions the reader about « Would a mad man… ? » in order to articulate his self-defense against madness.

He uses his wisdom and high capacities to convince both the reader and himself that he is far form being mad. Indeed, he views his hypersensitivity as a proof of his sanity, and not a symptom of madness.

However, he confesses to a tale of murder that betrays the madness he wants to destroy.

Furthermore, he is cleraly unable to sidtinguish between real and imagined sounds : he’s obsessed about the low beat of the old man’s heart, and yet shows little concern about the shrieks that are heard by the neighbour.

The more the narrator’s proclaims his own sanity and cool manner, the more he cannot escape the beating of his own heart, which he confuses with the old man’s dead heart.

Finally, he adresses the police officers as being « villains », once more underlining his inability to distinguish between their real identity and his own villainy.

II/ Love and hate :

Poe’s narrator loves the old man. He’s not greedy for the old man’s wealth, nor revengeful because of any mistreatment. On the contrary, he takes good care of him : helps him to go to bed, to eat… He even shows kindness.

The narrator confesses a love for an old man whom he then violently murders and dismembers = gothic delightful horror.

III/ The symbol of the EYE :

The narrator fixates on the idea that the old man is looking at him with an Evil Eye, thus transmitting a curse on him. He compares it to the eye of a monstrous vulture.

He wants to separate the old man from his evil part, unaware that he’s going to kill the man. Who’s the real monster ?

The EYE is the “I” : the old man’s identity. The eyes symbolize the essence of human identity and cannot be separated from the body.

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