Obsession In The Tell-Tale Heart And The Possibility Of Evil

“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.

This was important because it showed how Fortunato caught on and deprived Montresor of the revenge he wanted, the type a true avenger would have received. By Fortunato not answering the calls, Montresor grew sick to his stomach because he knew he would never get the chance again. Likewise, both characters had a change of personality. In contrast, Montresor changed from being cunning and enduring to careless and impatient; while in Gilman’s story, the narrator was passive and submissive then towards the end became impulsive and abrasive. This is because Montresor planned the perfect time to seek revenge on Fortunato, the perfect time, the perfect place, and the perfect distraction.

Macbeth's lust for power becomes blatantly obvious based upon his fears that "to be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus", prompting him to kill Banquo and make an attempt at his son, Fleance. To relieve himself of his insecurities, he manipulates two murderers to believe than Banquo is their "enemy" and the source of all of their problems, displaying his twisted nature. He does not, before the act is already committed, share news of the "deed of dreadful note" with his "dearest chuck", Lady Macbeth, proving he has made his face a "vizard to [his] heart" not only for the public, but also to his once-cohort. Macbeth's peers' opinion sinks so low that he is often merely referred to as a "tyrant" rather than by his name. He is not only a traitorous and cruel king, but the extent to which he is "unfit to govern" makes him "unfit to live" - deserving of death for how he has let down Scotland.

In “The Masque of Red Death” Edgar Allan Poe uses a significant amount of irony to prove his continuous

The unfit parent’s narcissistic personality disorder clouds his judgement and leaves him unable to think

(Ch.8) and without the acceptance he yearned for, he became bitter and resentful, acting out ruthlessly. The monster was completely misunderstood and at no stage a welcome guest. In spite of his benevolent and kind spirit, he was beaten up and even shot at. No one was willing to attempt to understand him except for Agathe who was blind, but even that was short lived as Felix was quick to attack the creature. Although labelled as a horrifying monster, nothing but his exterior fit this description, until he was discriminated by society.

Macbeth’s Moral Deterioration Throughout the years where ruling and power took place everyone has always wanted to feel powerful and wouldn't stop at any lengths to have it even if it means hurting others along the way and choosing the wrong path . For others not so much, but some will choose anything to have power for instance in the tragedy of Macbeth. This is a story of an unsuccessful ruler who became king by murdering and manipulation. He chose to kill and lie in order to have power. His immoral decisions eventually lead him into extreme feelings of guilt and remorse later on in the tragedy.

I believe most of us are proud of our succeed in doing what people have not done before even though the results are not good as we expected. However, as the inventor of the Creature, Victor already does an impossible thing. Instead of being satisfied with his creature, he is disappointed because of its ugly appearance. Obviously, Victor’s attitude indirectly affects to the Creature personalities.

The narrator in “The Tell Tale Heart” quickly reveals his insanity towards “vulture eye,” as he raves, “... for it was not the old man that vexed me, but his evil eye…”(523.) In this story, the eye represents judgment, therefore the killer is not paranoid about the eye specifically, but rather the opinion it gives the old man. This fear of judgment grows into an obsession and overwhelms the narrator, consuming any sanity he possessed, and leaving him guilty and illing to confess his crime. This same paranoia and fixation is demonstrated by Prince Prospero in “The Masque of Red Death.” The Prince however is paranoid by the inescapable Red Death, so much so, that he isolates himself: “A strong and lofty wall girdled it[the castle] in.

The creature was trying to help this girl, but he was punished because of his looks (101). This causes his fury to build into evil and bitterness: “Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind,” (101). The creature was in pain from being shot, and he vowed to get revenge against all humans (101). Without friends, the creature has felt no love or kindness from anyone, except from blind De Lacey (95-96). This need for friends has developed into him being evil; where as if he had friends, then he probably would not want to cause pain and misery upon everyone.

Poe creates fear and dread in “The Tell-Tale Heart”. One way he does this is through the internal monologue of the narrator. The narrator tries to convince the reader that he is not mad, but the reasons he gives prove otherwise. For example, the narrator claims that he can hear all things in heaven, hell, and on earth, yet considers this to be an acute sense of hearing. One quote from the story that creates fear says, “It was impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but once conceived, it haunted me day and night.”

Edgar Allen Poe’s “the tell–tale heart” is a better example of insanity because he uses comparison, questioning, and long pauses in the story to emphasize the insanity of the narrator. To begin with Edgar Allen Poe uses comparison to emphasize the narrator’s insanity by comparing the narrator’s actions or feelings to the things that normally insane people would use. The text states “His eye was like the eye of a vulture these of those terrible birds. ”(Poe 2).