The Tell-Tale Heart (by E. A. Poe) summary

In “The Tell-Tale Heart“, the narrator confesses to a murder he has committed.

He tells about how he felt compelled to kill the old man living with him because

of the man´s “evil eye“. After watching the man in his bedroom for seven nights

in a row, he finally kills him, cuts the body into pieces, and hides them under

the planks of the floor. When the police arrives the next morning to inquire

about a scream heard by neighbors during the night, the narrator is very

confident that the police will not find out about the murder. However, the

longer the police stay at his house, the more unsure he becomes. He imagines he

can still hear the old man´s heart beating under the floor planks, and he

finally confesses to the murder because the sound of the beating heart is

“The Tell-Tale Heart“ starts out with a plea for sanity. In sentences like “why

will you say that I am mad?“, “How, then, am I mad“, “you fancy me mad“, and

“would a madman have been so wise as this“, the narrator appeals to the readers

and tries to persuade them that he is sane. However, as the story progresses,

eye“ is unclear. Of the numerous interpretations, two shall be explained here:

why the narrator feels compelled to confess the crime. Since he cannot stand the

elements are mentioned. In other words, Poe completely neglects any outer

9. Psychopathic and destructive emotions

the very room where he killed the man. The way he finally arrives at his

Some topics in this essay:
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