ipl-logo

Obsession In The Tell-Tale Heart And Berenice

954 Words4 Pages

Obsession in simple terms it is the act of being obsessed with someone or something; to be unable to control an idea or thought that continually runs through and consumes the mind. There are many types of obsession as well as different levels, however, in the short stories The tell-tale heart and Berenice it is clearly apparent that both narrators suffer from a severe monomania, more specifically of facial attributes. The narrator of this tale, Egaeus, is a scholarly young man who grows up in a large gloomy mansion with his cousin Berenice. He suffers from a type of obsessive disorder, a disease that makes him fixate on objects. She, in the beginning beautiful, suffers from some undetermined degenerative illness, with periods of catalepsy, which he calls a trance. Nevertheless, they are due to be married. One afternoon, Egaeus sees Berenice as he sits in the library. When she smiles, he focuses on her teeth. His obsession grips him, and for days he drifts in and out of awareness, constantly thinking about the teeth. He imagines himself holding the teeth and turning them over to examine them from all angles. …show more content…

I saw them now even more unequivocally than I had beheld them. The teeth! —the teeth! —they were here, and there, and everywhere and visibly and palpably before me; long, narrow, and excessively white, with the pale lips writhing about them, as in the very moment of their first terrible development. Then came the full fury of my monomania, and I struggled in vain against its strange and irresistible influence. In the multiplied objects of the external world I had no thoughts but for teeth. For these I longed with a frenzied desire.” (Kennedy,

Show More
Related

  • Is The Tell Tale Heart Insane

    389 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Tell-Tale Heart is a story about an insane narrator claiming to his sanity after murdering an old man out of anxiety and panic. Many believe the evidence points to the narrator being a calculated killer. After reviewing the symptoms of the narrator I believe him to be a man plagued with anxiety issues and panic attacks. First of all, the only reason the narrator had for such crime was of his eye, the eye of a vulture, nothing else. Not for his gold, property, or vengeance just his eye.

    Read More

  • The Tell-Tale Heart Madness

    370 Words  | 2 Pages

    “I loved the old man. He never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye!”

    Read More

  • The Tell-Tale Heart Thesis

    423 Words  | 2 Pages

    On a dark, misty night a Quill moves from page to page in a leather laced notebook. Paragraph after paragraph, soon all the golden brown pages will be full and a story will be born. One of the stories born was “The Tell-Tale Heart”. This story was written by Edgar Allan Poe and tells about a narrator who kills an old man because of his “Evil Eye,” the narrator says it looks like a vulture's eye because of its pale-blueish complexion. The Narrator in Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” is sane because he feels extreme guilt, is very cautious of how he did his task (not even a drop of blood was left behind), and he was very wise, Someone that is insane can’t feel guilt because they are too crazy to realize anything.

    Read More

  • The Tell Tale Heart The Narrator's Insanity Analysis

    945 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Insanity: n. mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior” (Hill). This definition describes the narrator, a sweet yet deadly man, of “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe seamlessly. (Appositive) A few prominent characteristics demonstrate the narrator’s insanity, and those include his motives, his actions, and his thoughts.

    Read More

  • Tell-Tale Heart Compare Contrast Essay

    803 Words  | 4 Pages

    The author develops this theme by using first person narration and symbolism. In The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe presents the reader with an unreliable narrator that adds to the theme. The narrator tries to prove his is not maniacal but ends up leaving us thinking he is more manical than ever. In the begining of the story the narrator goes on about how he is not carzy and you have to listen to the whole story.

    Read More

  • How Does Poe's Use Of Mental Illness

    419 Words  | 2 Pages

    Modern artists today generally use images of physical and mental illness in literature. In The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, both short stories show the usage of illness, madness, and fear. The narrators in both stories try to convince the readers that the characters are physically and mentally ill. Edgar Allen Poe creates these vivid characters which successfully assist the building of plot and ideas. Poe demonstrates how a person’s inner turmoil and terror can lead to insanity through illustrative language.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Delusion In The Tell Tale Heart

    1213 Words  | 5 Pages

    Humanity’s Delusion Edgar Allan Poe effectively utilizes different elements in the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” to convey his message. Poe believes that literary pieces should be short enough to finish in one sitting yet still be able to tell just as much to give more impact to the readers (Cummings, 2010). As does his other writings, “The Tell-Tale Heart” portrays several characteristics people have, revealing much about certain extremities in human nature and society in general. In the first few paragraphs Poe already presents us important details to the story.

    Read More

  • Madness And Obsession In Tell-Tale Heart

    401 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the, Tell-tale Heart, Poe’s central ideas of madness and obsession are supported by his use of point-of-view, repetition, and punctuation. Poe’s use of a first- person point of view helps the readers understand the central idea of madness. The narrator states, “How then, am I mad? ... observe how healthily-how calmly I can tell you the whole story”. By allowing the readers into the narrators mind, they can clearly notice that the narrator is insane and unstable.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Paranoia In The Tell Tale Heart

    1164 Words  | 5 Pages

    Obsession, internal conflict, and underlying guilt are all aspects of being human but when it’s associated with paranoia and insanity it may be just the recipe for the perfect crime as perceived by Edger Allan Poe in “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Poe uses this as one of his shortest stories to discuss and provide an insight into the mind of the mentally ill, paranoia and the stages of mental detrition. The story 's action is depicted through the eyes of the unnamed delusional narrator. The other main character in the story is an old man whom the narrator apparently works for and resides in his house. The story opens off with the narrator trying to assure his sanity then proceeding to tell the tale of his crime, this shows a man deranged and hunted with a guilty conscience of his murderous act.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Obsession In The Tell Tale Heart

    983 Words  | 4 Pages

    Every day and night that the eye would haunt him, he would receive a better understanding to how he will overcome the eye. An obsession begins as a thought about someone or something, which is what happens to the narrator, the thought of the eye is the beginning of his obsession for it. The author satisfies his obsession “every night, about midnight” by “turning the latch” of the old man’s door and peeking his head through (3.4-7). By doing so, he got to take a look at the old man’s pale blue eye. To the narrator this eye stimulates an unhealthy obsession.

    Read More

  • Captain Ahab's Obsession In Moby Dick

    528 Words  | 3 Pages

    Obsession is caused by numerous things. Once obsession has it’s grip on someone, it’s likely to never let go, consuming that person’s every thought, every action, and, possibly, entire life. Captain Ahab, the main character from the movie, Moby Dick, is a clear victim of obsession. He seeks the harshest revenge on a great, white whale called Moby Dick. Ahab’s obsession is caused by pride which is illustrated by Starbuck’s thoughts of murdering Ahab, the many difficulties of the crew, and countless deaths.

    Read More

  • The Tell Tale Heart Insanity Analysis

    543 Words  | 3 Pages

    The short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe is told from the perspective of a madman. The theme of this story is insanity can be caused by the smallest of things. This is proven by how the man is driven to kill an elder because of his “raven blue eye”. His only motive is coming from the insanity the eye is causing him, and this almost impeccable thing leads to confessing to a murder.

    Read More

  • The Tell Tale Heart Rationale Diary

    1247 Words  | 5 Pages

    Rationale: For this task, I created a diary because I think that this style of writing would be an extremely effective way to show another major character’s emotions and ideas, as it can be written from a first person perspective, giving a huge amount of insight. I based my task on a short story by Edgar Allen Poe, titled “The Tell-Tale Heart.” I chose this piece as it gives the opportunity to be very creative in my writing, but also introduces various constraints, such as writing in a similar style to Poe, and trying to avoid any plot holes. This task specifically relates to part 4 of the language and literature course, being; literature, as the stimulus text is a piece of literature, as is my piece of writing.

    Read More

  • Suspense In The Tell Tale Heart

    1109 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are times in life where people do commit a small mistake, or a huge crime, but what really matters is if one will listen to their conscience. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the main character lives with an old man who has an eye that “resembled that of a vulture--a pale blue eye, with a film over it.” The story revolves around the main character’s obsession over the eye, and how he got rid of it-- by murdering the old man. Towards the end of the story, the young man confesses to the police about his insane stunt after they searched his house. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Edgar Allan Poe focused on having the reader know more than the secondary character, using description, and using a first-person narrator, to build suspense.

    Read More

  • The Tell-Tale Heart Interpretation

    838 Words  | 4 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe was one of the world’s greatest and most influential connoisseur of short story. He was born on 19th January 1809 in Boston, orphaned at an early age and adopted by a merchant called John Allan from Richmond, Virginia. The Tell-Tale Heart was one of Poe’s famous short stories and it was first published on the 1843. The Tell-Tale Heart is generally considered as a classic of the Gothic fiction genre. If The Tell-Tale Heart was a song, it would be such a painful song to be listened to.

    Read More

More about Obsession In The Tell-Tale Heart And Berenice

Open Document