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Examples Of Madness In The Tell Tale Heart

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The Tell-Tale heart written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1843, though it is one of his shortest stories, is filled with vivid images of insanity. The thick atmosphere is being built up through the entire tale, with the climax making the reader almost shudder involuntarily. The concept of crime and punishment is brought to life and made even scarier by the constant reassurance of the narrator – of course he is not mad, he is completely, wholly sane! The Black Cat, on the other hand, is a different from the point of the narrator. In this short story he is actually sure of what he has done wrong. He knows his senses did not deceive him, nor is his mind mad enough to make all that has happened up. Yet at the same time he did not foresee what was coming …show more content…

The most sharpened of those is his hearing and that is one of his proofs aiming to the obvious conclusion - madness is out of question completely, as mad people’s senses don’t quite work normally. Another lead in his big game being the fact that he is a rather smart looking guy, having a big plan, all conjured up in his head, all made up by him and only him himself. And his final drop of claimed sanity is plain simple – he has never acted mean, in any way, towards the old man. All the actions ever conducted towards him had been kind, caring and compassionate. The only thing making him furious and mad with anger is the old man’s eye. “I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture – a pale blue eye, with a film over it,” (336). This very eye keeps the narrator distracted for a long period of time; long enough to make him start thinking about getting rid of it. And how else to get rid of an eye than by killing the one it belongs …show more content…

As he himself confesses not once, his character has undergone a massive change from how it used to be and not only his wife, but even his animals do not recognise their former partner in him anymore. His tenderness of heart is long gone. “I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others. I suffered myself to use intemperate language to my wife... My pets, of course, were made to feel the change in my disposition. I not only neglected, but ill-used them” (290). In addition, the reason behind the author penning the story is not looking for remorse in the reader, but to unburden his soul before he is hanged the upcoming

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