The Tell Tale Heart

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“The Tell Tale Heart” is a story containing a conflict within the narrator. There is a mental conflict within the narrator himself who seems to be in a mentally unstable state. Through obvious clues and proclamations, Poe informs the reader to the mental state of the narrator, which is insanity. The insanity is described as an obsession with the old man’s eye, which eventually causes him to resort to violence. Even though he appears to be insane, and supposedly has freedom from guilt, his feeling of guilt over the murder is too crushing to tolerate. The narrator can’t bear it and eventually confesses his theoretically “perfect” crime. People tend to think that insane people are outside the regular realm of reason shared by those who are in their right mind. This is proven to be false as guilt is an emotion shared by all humans. The most hysterical beings are not above the feeling of guilt and the disorder it causes to the soul. Poe uses tools such as; setting, character, and language to reveal that even an insane person can feel guilt. This eventually leads to the theme of “The Tell Tale Heart”: The sensation of guilt will eventually crash through the nearly indestructible walls of insanity. Poe is has been known for his great works of writing and "The Tell Tale Heart" is just one his many masterpieces that possesses the ability to keep the reader engaged from the beginning of the story to the end. But how exactly is does Edgar Allan manipulate his readers throughout the entire piece? He used three very powerful tools, foreshadowing, shackling information, and character development. He continued using these throughout the piece, which proved tremendously effective. The author first led suspense in to his story right at the beginn... ... middle of paper ... ... to someone's inevitable death. But there is always the possibility that, maybe he did know. Purposely or not, this peculiar instance in the novel compares sex and death in a way that is very interesting. “The Tell Tale Heart” shows the reader the ultimate battle, that being a civil war between an insane individual and their mind. The main cause of this struggle is triggered by the old mans eye. This obsession eventually leads to the unfortunate event of violence. This overwhelming feeling of guilt abruptly spoils the “perfect” plan that is the murder of the old man. Although it is perceived that the mentally unstable are immune to emotions such as guilt, the narrator is clearly overcome by the shameful murder of the old man. This proves to the reader that in the end, the sensation of guilt will eventually crash through the nearly indestructible walls of insanity.

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