Examples Of Madness In The Tell Tale Heart

“The Tell-Tale Heart” A Story of a Mad Man In the story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator tries to convince the audience that he is not insane through his account of how he killed the old man. He believes his ability to recount the scenario proves his saneness. He states, “Harken! And observe how healthily- how calmly I can tell you the story,” to convince the readers that his actions are not conceived out of madness (Poe 619). This statement in and of itself is evidence of his madness. He murdered his housemate for no apparent reason and he can calmly repeat the incident. Ironically, his sanity defense illuminates his insanity by revealing behaviors indicative of mental illness. The following is an analysis of how the

Notice, this is in contrast to his statement of how easy he could recount the story. Again the reader is made aware of the anxiety of the narrator when he says, “I have told you that I am nervous: so I am” (Poe 621). Nervousness or anxiety can be perfectly normal in the presence of danger or a threatening situation, but “anxiety is abnormal in an existing diseased state” (Hartmann 1). Apparently, there is no reason for the narrator’s nervousness. One could argue that the old man’s “vulture eye” caused the narrator to become afraid or feel threatened; potentially, being the source of his anxiety or nervousness. If that is the case, the nervousness and anxiety would be considered a normal response. Otherwise, the narrator offers no real explanation for his anxiety. The narrator, however, states that his disease has sharpened his senses (Poe 619). This is a normal stress response; with fear, the stress response causes the brain to be alert and ready to act. Since there is no explicit reason for the nervousness and anxiety, one would consider his anxiety or nervousness

Every night, “seven long nights…every night at midnight” he meticulously entered the old man’s room while the man slept (Poe 620). He makes it clear that the eye is the object of his obsession when he states, “But I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye” (Poe 620). Obviously, the eye is the center of the narrator’s distress. Earlier in the passage, the narrator expresses, “Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this!” as his reasoning for killing the old man (Poe 619). In spite of the claims he makes, the nervousness and obsessive thoughts of the narrator reveal to the reader that, he is indeed mentally unstable. The narrator continues to insist that he is not mad by explaining how cunningly he proceeds in his quest to kill the old man. He presents, “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded” (Poe 619), as the argument for his sanity. His argument could be seen as though the murder was premeditated, but according to psychiatrist Dr. Felthous, “Some deluded