How Does Poe Create Fear In The Tell Tale Heart

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe is an enthralling and terrifying tale of an insane and paranoid Narrator suffocating his own roommate in his sleep. Throughout the story, fear and dread is a common theme. At every twist and turn Poe creates a sense of uneasiness. Using this, Edgar Allen creates fear and dread through the Characters, Conflict, and Suspense, making the “The Tell-Tale Heart” a scary, and captivating story.
Edgar Allen Poe creates fear and dread in “The Tell-Tale Heart” through his characters, more specifically the Narrator. To begin with, The Narrator is insane and unreliable. He states someone as intelligent and through as him could not have possibly “proceeded with what caution, foresight, and dissimulation” (Poe 303) as he did in his

At a moments notice, the narrator could do anything. Moreover, this fact continues throughout the story all the way to the end. The Narrator acts extremely excited after the fact that he has killed the Old Man, yet this façade is completely abolished when confronted by the police, as he is overtaken by the guilt of the murder. Another character in the story is the old man, who also creates fear and dread in “The Tell-Tale Heart”. The old man, being oblivious to what is happening around him, is struck by paranoia as throughout the night sounds have been heard around him. As some may know, not being able to see what is heard in the night may lead to an over exaggeration what may be causing it. Thus, causing suspense and a connection between them and the story, as many fear the unknown. Next, the descriptions used to describe the old man’s eye were extremely unsettling. The eye was said to “represent that of a vulture, a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever I fell upon it my blood ran cold” (Poe 303). The last statement is almost telling how the reader should feel when they think about the old man’s eye.