Poe’s stories are all alike. His male characters usually have a problem and have some odd mental issue. This is really a way for Poe to add himself to the story. His female characters are all said to be beautiful but yet sick or dead (Szumski 35). Also, his writing has a fixation with death, whether it’d be the physical signs, the wonder and mystery of it, deathbeds, etc. (Szumski 92).

“What is this story about?” you may ask yourself. The story focuses on the Narrator’s murder of the Old Man he is living with. The Narrator, however, is really trying to rid of the Old Ma

The story’s main themes are fear and death. Both are something we all feel. The Narrator plans the murder out in his head. This process really is a sign of the man’s own fear of death (Canario 119). If he wasn’t afraid of death, then he could have easily murdered the Old Man without all the work and manpower. The Narrator doesn’t, however, show a real fear of getting caught. In fact, he says, “…for what had I to fear?” (558). This is just as the officers come to the house to ask the Narrator about the screams heard. This whole sense of murder and getting caught may add to the reader’s own fears.

The “Evil Eye” is the Narrator’s motive for the murder. Its intention in the story was to darken the mood. It is described as “the eye of the vulture, a pale blue eye with a film over it”. Some say the eye represents the Cyclops or the symbol on the back of the one-dollar (Canario 119).

Fear and death allow Poe to make his characters human. This allows the reader to connect the characters, causing the themes of fear and guilt to appear all the more real to the reader. This helps add intensity to what is being read.

An interesting thing about “The Tell-Tale Hear” is how it is very similar to Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. Both MacBeth and the Narrator cover up the evidence of their murders. However, the fear and guilt they feel end up being their downfalls. Also, the victims of the murders are both somewhat similar. The character Du

Some topics in this essay:
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