The Tell Tale Heart looks in depth at the actions taken by a mad man and the reasons behind them. The narrator has grown disgusted by the old man’s cataract eye and decides that he must get rid of it in order to live in harmony. However, there is another major conflict in the story questioning the man’s sanity. By claiming more than once in the story why he isn’t mad, he is basically revealing how sick he really is. In a strange humor, the story describes a man who thinks he’s perfectly fine, while calmly explaining the murder of an old man with a cataract eye.
The biggest conflict in Poe’s short story is simple; the main character is insane. He will not be satisfied until his problem is gone. Unfortunately, this means someone must die. The narrator’s madness is triggered by the old man’s cataract eye. It gradually wore on him until he could tolerate no more. The narrator states that the old man, “had never wronged me.” He claims that he loved the old man yet he made up his mind and decided that he must,” rid myself of the eye forever.” So there it is, the theme of the story right? Perhaps, but what about another conflict ? It seems as if the man is
Another problem occurs when the narrator calmly explains the murder. He begins to realize how cleverly it was done and becomes arrogant. “You should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded.” So as he shows how proud he is of his work, he also adds proof to his madness. So is this the real conflict going on in the story or just a distraction from the murder? At this point in the story it’s almost hard not to forget about the main goal of the narrator. It all comes back together again when the madman enters the old man’s room. He’s on a mission to destroy the awful eye. As he looks at the sleeping old man he just can’t work himself up to perform the evil task. After all, with the old man’s eye closed the narrator can only see innocence rather then hate. This provides another example of the man’s state of mind.
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