Literary Techniques Used In Edgar Allen Poe's Tell-Tale Heart

Imagine darkness, sin, and the desire to keep it all hidden from yourself and the outside world. Together Poe and Hawthorne paint this picture of traits which consist of suspense and darkness. Within the stories “Tell Tale Heart” and “Ministers Black Veil”, the two authors writing styles are vividly comparable. With the comparison of these short stories, it becomes more than feasible to feel the true emotion and movement that Poe and Hawthorne wished to give to their readers.

A narrator: defined as a person who guides or tells the story of events through one’s own experience. As far as we are told, the narrator tells the story precisely and can make the words of the page come to life. Yet, is it possible for the narrator to tell the story incorrectly through their own perspective? This well-written horror shows us anything is possible in the art of literature. From reading “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, readers learn that the narrator is unreliable and therefore cannot be trusted to tell the story completely accurately.

After reading many unique stories of great author and poet of his time, Edgar Allan Poe, many may perceive his stories as disturbing, gruesome, or perplexing. Although most of his stories revolve around madness or death, several would be taken back by the fact that he was indeed a true romantic at heart. Throughout his literature, Poe frequently applies the heart motif to impact the characters, move the plot along, and/or affect the reader. The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Masque of the Red Death all are highly symbolic and utilize the heart in a similar way but different situation.

Studies show 36% of people enjoy horror movies. People around the world would kill  for the thrill of a horror movie or book. The story “The Tell Tale Heart” can leave the reader screaming  for more. In this story, by Edgar Allen Poe, a crazy man wants to kill an old man because of the old man's veiled eye. This crazy man narrates his own story, as it was. The three elements; suspense, poor choices, and theme, are best implemented in the story, “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe used similar settings in his work to establish mood. There are similarities in the setting of “The Cask of Amontillado,” “The Raven,” and “The Tell Tale Heart.” In all three of the selections, Poe created a creepy mood.

In the story, The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, Poe describes the anxiety and fear of his characters to create suspense. For example, the reader can feel suspense when he writes, “ He had the eye of the vulture - a pale blue eye, with a film over it”(Poe 89). This proves that he

Suspense is a writing style that authors use to make it so a reader is ahead of the characters in the story. Edgar Allen Poe profoundly used this technique in his story “Tell Tale Heart”. The narrator is psychotic and is particularly tormented by an old man’s ‘evil’ glass eye. He was willing to do close to anything to be rid of the eye, including murder. Through the entire story, Poe had it so the reader always knew something was going to happen, but constantly question when and what. “The Tell Tale Heart” continually makes the reader think and sparks a certain interest.

Upon reading “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, it is a very dark and gruesome story. This story is about a man whom is unknown, who murders an old man for a completely out of the ordinary reason (not that there are a bunch of normal reasons to murder someone). This unknown character tells the story to attempt to prove that he is not absolutely insane There are many things that leave the reader thinking things like, “How could one think like this”, “how could one do something like this”, “why”? There is no doubt that this is a truthfully horrific story. There are a few key points to discuss that will hopefully brighten up the reasoning behind this madness. The key points to discuss

Is the complex character created by Edgar Allan Poe a calculated killer or a delusional madman. In the short story “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the main character has a mental condition which causes him to kill a neighbor. He believes that his neighbor has a “vulture eye” which is the reason why he killed him. Night after night, he watches the man and plans how to kill him. Then one night, he puts his plan into action. He kills the man by slamming a bed over him, then he severs his body and hides him under the floor. Later that night, police come to investigate, but they don’t suspect him. He confidently invites the police man to talk in his house. He is overcome with guilt and ends up

Have you ever wanted to kill someone because of their eye?Most people would not either but, in The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, that is just the reason the crazy main character wants to kill this old man. “He had the eye of a vulture” (Poe 89), he thought. In the story, the foolish main character has a plan to kill an old mean in the dead of night. Suspense is a feeling of tension, fear, and excitement felt by the reader when reading. Poe builds suspense throughout the story when using descriptions of the character’s anxiety and fear, vivid words, and details of a creepy setting.zz

It is the dead hour of night, all is silent but the constant beat of the old man’s heart. The mad man soon attacks. This is the story of Tell Tale Heart. By Edgar Allen Poe. The story takes place in an old man’s house. The main character wants to take the life of the old man cause he hates the old man’s dreadfully creepy eye. But the main character's problem is that he can't get himself to kill the old man without seeing his eye. So he shines a light on the old man's eye and soon attacks. Suspense is the excitement or anxiety of uncertainty of what will happen next. Through the author’s three techniques of suspense he creates a great creepy mood.

How does it feel to be completely lost without knowing you are lost? Always having to constantly reassure yourself of your own sanity? In the short story “Tell-Tale Heart,” Edgar Allen Poe follows the thoughts of a young man who has just committed a murder and is recounting the event in his thoughts. In doing so, he tries to justify his actions and affirm his sanity. “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me” (Poe). Poe’s gothic style brings forth a grotesque and thrilling story full of symbolism that seeks to make the tale much more visual for the reader. He transmits the emotions and feelings of the perpetrator in an attempt to draw the reader into his mind. Without this symbolism, the reader would miss the profound torment of the narrator.

There is always something that bothers us in life, whether it’s others or even our own conscious. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator has a difficult time following through with his cruel acts because a part of him knows it’s truly wrong. Throughout the story, his crimes bring more tension between him and the old man. Suspense is created with his every move, leaving readers hanging on the edge of their seats. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Poe builds suspense by using symbolism, inner thinking, and revealing information to the reader that a character doesn’t know about.

Edgar Allan Poe used the literary device of setting to give a dark, threatening tone in the story by using three main elements. Time of day, mood and atmosphere, and population. All to which are very effective towards the story.

The classic short story of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, written by one of the all time masters of horror, Edgar Allen Poe, has always been used as an excellent example of Gothic fiction. Edgar Allen Poe specialized in the art of gothic writing and wrote many stories that portrayed disturbing events and delved deeply into the minds of its characters. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," Poe revolves the plot around a raving individual who, insisting that he is sane, murders an old man because of his` “vulture eye”. The three main gothic elements that are evident in this story are the unique setting, the theme of death and decay, and the presence of madness.